The Scarlet Claw

DVD, The Scarlet Claw (1944) film

The Scarlet Claw (1944) (approx. 71mins)

Not based on an existing story this was a complete fabrication combining a trip to Canada with scenes from an English country village. The first time I saw this I thought it was the best of the films, but tastes change and I found it less than thrilling this time, even though I'd forgotten who the murderer was. Amid the usual foggy scenes and undeniable black and white contrast that freezes the visuals with an artist's eye, there were moments of brilliance that impressed me - the false Nora, 'her' face in shadow, advancing on the victim was one and any film would be improved by a villain that leaps through a window into a river to escape.

The chilling and callous murders, enacted upon this maniac's personal stage of vengeance remained the work of a cunningly concealed malice. That the enemy is one so public and unexpected applauds his ingenuity of the acting profession, but awes us with a horror that such a man can inject such different personalities into his life. The story uses some of the tricks of 'The Hound of The Baskervilles' and is suitably namechecked by Dr. Watson along with the Sussex Vampire to get us into the correct mood, though we aren't going to be fooled twice so it's no surprise that phosphorus is the rational explanation of the monster. The dark and forbidding bog also pays homage to the Grimpen Mire, but this time the villain isn't destroyed by his own choice of hideout even if he is killed by his own weapon.

The weapon in question - a five-pronged garden fork - doesn't exactly strike fear into the viewer and looks to be a rather ineffective means of dispatch, but those kind of details aren't too important. The mood is different from some of the other films in that there are no other regular characters along with Holmes and Watson, but there are some familiar faces as several had been in other films in the series, true to it's tradition of recasting. The story isn't bad, and there are comforting signs of the affectionate partnership between Holmes and Watson (who is more a part of proceedings as opposed to the previous film), but did feel a little too drawn out, and while it is an engrossing tale, the sense of dread (which attempts to be evoked by mentions of the occult and monsters, are not appreciated) doesn't come through enough. And the speech at the end comes out sounding like an advert for Canada holidays!

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