Sexton Blake and the Hooded Terror

George King directed a series of Victorian melodramas starring Tod Slaughter in a variety of dastardly roles. This film, also from King, is a little bit different from the others. In it Slaughter again is a gleeful villain but this time he shares billing with the hero of the piece, namely Sexton Blake who is clearly a different version of Sherlock Holmes. The Holmes films starring Basil Rathbone were very popular at the time so perhaps this is not so surprising but the similarities are massive, even extending to both detectives living on the same street! But in any case, this is the lower rent version for sure.

Slaughter is always an entertaining presence and here is no exception. However, because he is not the sole star of the show he doesn't get as much screen time as usual. This means that the film's trump card isn't utilised as well as it could be. Much of the running time is dedicated to the detective story, rather than Slaughter hamming it up big time and that's a shame. For this reason Sexton Blake and the Hooded Terror cannot be described as vintage Slaughter. Still, like all the other King/Slaughter films it does have some entertainment value. Unlike those films, this one has a very enigmatic ending, clearly designed as such to allow for future adventures starring the villainous Hooded Terror. Well, these films never materialised so the ending here remains simply a little unusual.

I'm sure that David Farrar could not conceive of later playing Sexton Blake in another film when as Granite Grant in Sexton Blake And The Hooded Terror he handed off a case to George Curzon as Sexton Blake in this story. I rather accepted Farrar better as a tough guy than I did Curzon.

Sexton Blake was a pulp fiction British detective who under various authors went for almost a century in adventures that entertained the British juvenile public. He's upper class like Sherlock Holmes, but more of a tough guy. In fact this thing is such a ripoff of Holmes stories it's ridiculous. He's got himself a housekeeper, a general factotum in Tony Gwynn, and he resides on Baker Street.

He's also got an arch nemesis called the Snake played here by Tod Slaughter who leads an army of criminals. Why Arthur Conan-Doyle didn't sue is beyond me. In any event the story takes place in London, Paris, and Cairo as Blake foils another dastardly plot.

Unlike Holmes, Blake gets a bit amorous in also helping French insurance detective Greta Gynt. Gwynn's character is not anything like Dr. Watson, he's more like Edward Brophy is to the Falcon.

One of those British quota quickies. Holmes fans might resent someone else moving on to Baker Street.

In SEXTON BLAKE AND THE HOODED SHADOW, the titular, London-based Private Detective (George Curzon) is brought in on the case of an underworld crime syndicate and its mysterious leader, The Snake. Meanwhile, multi-millionaire, Michael Larron (Tod Slaughter) is seemingly up to no good. Could he be involved in the case?

If you detect some similarities, and even some direct lifts from a certain Mr. Holmes, don't be surprised. Mr. Curzon plays Blake in a very Sherlock-like manner. Tony Sympson is his goofy assistant, Tinker. You guessed it, they even live on Baker Street! And don't forget the housekeeper!

Mr. Slaughter plays the diabolical Moriarty-type of the piece.

An altogether harmless, entertaining yarn...

Sexton Blake (George Curzon) and his sidekick Tinker (Tony Sympson) try to unmask the head of a crime syndicate in "The Hooded Terror," a 1938 B British film. Sexton lives on Baker Street, I guess up the road a bit from Sherlock, whom he takes after with his scientific experiments, his assistant, his landlady, and his amateur status.

Somehwat slow-moving, this film is a combination of suspense with a touch of horror. Tod Slaughter plays the villainous Michael Larron, and Greta Gynt is Mademoiselle Julie.

If you're a Slaughter fan, you will enjoy this perhaps better than I did. Curzon and Sympson are pleasant, but they just don't have the panache and bite of Sherlock and Watson.

When Granite Grant arrives at detective Blake Sexton's door on Baker Street, he has every intention of delivering news of the Black Quorum (the most powerful criminal organization of the century) and it's leader, the Hooded Terror. But he is garroted before Sexton's housekeeper, Mrs. Bardell, has time to answer the door. A clue on the body reveals the identity of the Hooded Terror to Sexton, who begins to pursue the Black Quorum, with the help of his faithful assistant Tinker and Mademoiselle Galley, a French secret service agent.

Yes, Sexton Blake outwardly bears some similarity to Sherlock Holmes such as being a genius detective, having a maid and living in Baker Street as well as having a sidekick, but character wise I didn't find Blake to be too similar with Sherlock as Sherlock tends to be more complex and up himself.

This is quite a fun B mystery thriller with a deliciously creepy performance by Tod Slaughter as the leader of the hooded terror, an odd and atmospheric sequence featuring dummies at the casino table, plenty of danger for our hero and a fast moving plot. Ok it's not as sharp as Basil Rathbone's Sherlock series and it can be a bit talky, but it's a decently entertaining film.