ng in contemporary times but Rathbone had a remarkably close appearance to Holmes as drawn by Sidney Paget and the chemistry between the two actors was evident on the screen. And besides whatever time frame the Holmes stories are set in it is somehow always 1885.Holmes is the genius, looking down on the bumbling but lovable Watson as a parent would a child. Watson for his part is fiercely loyal and provides much comic relief.
So successful was Rathbone's Holmes that for many people he is Sherlock Holmes and I must confess he is my favourite - OH I know Jeremy Brett is probably the closest to Doyle's creation and Peter Cushing put in a more nuanced performance but there is something comfortable about the Rathbone Holmes movies.
The plot of this one, borrows heavily from The Hound of the Baskervilles as well as Universal's cycle of horror films from the 30's and 40's and also contains some neat wartime propaganda when Holmes praises Canada. The story takes place in the small village of La Morte Rouge in Canada which looks deceptively like an English village of Victorian heritage.
A strange glowing creature has appeared on the fog shrouded marshes, sheep have been found, their throats torn out. We meet Holmes when he, along with Watson attend a meeting of The Canadian Occult Society where a certain Lord Penrose is chairing the meeting. However Holmes and Lord Penrose comes to blows when Holmes scoffs at the supernatural legends. Penrose's wife is found dead, her throat slashed but he doesn't want Holmes on the case. However Holmes receives a letter written by the dead woman, asking him to come to the village as she is in fear of her life.
"Consider the tragic irony, Watson. We've accepted a commission from a victim to find her murderer. For the first time we've been retained by a corpse."
The Rathbone Holmes films were very much B pictures and Rathbone hated them - but Rathbone was missing the point as the perfect medium for the pulps has always been the B-picture. And Conan Doyle's original tales were very much of the pulp variety. It doesn't pay to take them too seriously but if you indulge yourself, go with the flow then you will discover that these movies really are guilty pleasures.
Next on The Archive - THE CANON PART 1 - THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
4 comments:
Though flawed, the films are still wonderful. Luckily, we also have the Rathbone-Bruce radio series, in the era where it belongs.
I've always enjoyed the Rathbone series. And The Scarlett Claw as one of the best. Rathbone's patriotic rant about Canada at the end of the film is truly magnificent.
Bill Kemski
I have four other Rathbone-Bruce Holmes movies, but not this one -- unfortunately, since it is generally the best reviewed.
I also like the earlier portrayals of Holmes on film by Arthur Wontner, as I mentioned in "Blast from the Literary Past" (www.blackhorsewesterns.com/bhe13 )
Chicago journalist, book critic and pulp fiction writer Vincent Starrett said, "No better Sherlock Holmes than Arthur Wontner is likely to be seen and heard in pictures in our time."
Wontner received a congratulatory letter from Conan Doyle's wife for his interpretation.
There were two very different sets of Rathbone Holmes films.
The first, by Fox in in 1939, were two higher-grade productions set in the Victorian era. In fact the Rathbone Hound of the Baskervilles was the very first time this story was filmed in the correct setting.
The second series of 12 films were set in the 1940s. Though these were B movies, some were still very good indeed. And as this post notes, The Scarlet Claw is excellent. You can see a list of the 10 best Rathbone Holmes movies and DVDs which has more details about each movie and the various DVDs/collections of them.
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