Crooked Professor Moriarty is acquitted of a crime - Holmes seemingly has evidence that can convict him, but the double jeopardy law sets Moriarty free (my how times have changed). However, when socialite Ann Brandon starts to receive a series of bizarre letters she assigns Holmes to try and find out what's going on... As will soon be revealed, things are not as they seem and even the wonderful and smart Holmes may be merely a pawn in the grand scheme of things...
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is probably one of the best examples of a good vs evil battle royale. With Moriarty and Holmes you have 2 very smart people effectively trying to outsmart each other. It's a classic battle of wits affair, but the praise for this film, at least as far as I'm concerned does not end there.
This is the only film in the Nigel Bruce/Basil Rathbone era where I have actually seen Nigel Bruce being used well. He's a good actor and is top-notch in all of the Holmes films, but he really excels in this film... he's a bumbler, he's funny and he's almost like a stooge to Holmes.... why did this not continue in the other films? I've always questioned Watson's point in the other films, but here it makes perfect sense. The banter between Holmes and Watson and Watson's performance was exemplary and set this film apart from the others. To use American football analogy "It was good, it was all good!"
I have to admit that it's also a lot smarter than some of the other Holmes films; you have Moriarty playing games with Holmes (whom you feel is Holmes' only equal), but the whole red herring murder angle was fun as well (of course we all knew this was a red herring, but figuring out the culprit was part of the appeal).
If we look at the acting then mostly it is superb: Basil Rathbone I simply cannot fault - for me he is Sherlock Holmes. Nigel Bruce was also terrific and was given so much to do here (he's funny and was the perfect double act to Holmes). I was a bit less taken with Lupino - I just didn't see any star quality there and Alan Marshal just came across as a poor man's Clark Gable.
Pound for pound though out of the classic Sherlock Holmes films that I've seen this stands head and shoulders above the rest and for me is one of the finest and best mystery films that I've seen.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is probably one of the best examples of a good vs evil battle royale. With Moriarty and Holmes you have 2 very smart people effectively trying to outsmart each other. It's a classic battle of wits affair, but the praise for this film, at least as far as I'm concerned does not end there.
This is the only film in the Nigel Bruce/Basil Rathbone era where I have actually seen Nigel Bruce being used well. He's a good actor and is top-notch in all of the Holmes films, but he really excels in this film... he's a bumbler, he's funny and he's almost like a stooge to Holmes.... why did this not continue in the other films? I've always questioned Watson's point in the other films, but here it makes perfect sense. The banter between Holmes and Watson and Watson's performance was exemplary and set this film apart from the others. To use American football analogy "It was good, it was all good!"
I have to admit that it's also a lot smarter than some of the other Holmes films; you have Moriarty playing games with Holmes (whom you feel is Holmes' only equal), but the whole red herring murder angle was fun as well (of course we all knew this was a red herring, but figuring out the culprit was part of the appeal).
If we look at the acting then mostly it is superb: Basil Rathbone I simply cannot fault - for me he is Sherlock Holmes. Nigel Bruce was also terrific and was given so much to do here (he's funny and was the perfect double act to Holmes). I was a bit less taken with Lupino - I just didn't see any star quality there and Alan Marshal just came across as a poor man's Clark Gable.
Pound for pound though out of the classic Sherlock Holmes films that I've seen this stands head and shoulders above the rest and for me is one of the finest and best mystery films that I've seen.