Sherlock Holmes contre Moriarty

This is the second Arthur Wontner-Sherlock Holmes movie I saw on a two-sided dollar DVD (The first was The Sign of Four). Silver Blaze has Holmes and Watson (Ian Fleming, no not THAT one!) visiting the Baskerville house to spend a little holiday there. The title character is a horse that a bookie doesn't want to win since he'll lose his shirt if that horse finishes first. Holmes' nemesis Prof. Moriarty (Lyn Harding), for a certain amount, will make sure that won't happen. A bit talky for my tastes until the end when Watson gets...Well, I'll just leave it to anyone who reads this to seek this movie out. The print I saw was a little better looking than The Sign of Four though it still could have used some improvements. Well worth seeing for any Holmes fans or even those who love '30s British pictures.

Arthur Wontner played Arthur Conan Doyle's famed investigator, Detective Sherlock Holmes, on numerous occasions in the 1930s, and – behind Basil Rathbone – his portrayals are often considered among the best early efforts. Wontner's final Sherlock Holmes film, 'Silver Blaze' was based on Doyle's 1892 short story of the same name, published in the collection, "The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes." However, in addition to the basic mystery, director Thomas Bentley and writers H. Fowler Mear and Arthur Macrae (both uncredited) have tossed in a few twists and turns of their own, most notably the addition of Inspector Lestrade, Sir Henry Baskerville, and, of course, Holmes' arch-enemy Professor Moriarty and his ruthless assassin Moran. In 1941, for the film's release in the United States, the title was changed from 'Silver Blaze' to 'Murder at the Baskervilles,' most likely to cash-in on the success of Sidney Lanfield's 'The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939),' which starred Basil Rathbone as Holmes.

The basic plot of the mystery remains much the same as the original story, though certain details and characters have been added and changed. Whilst Holmes and Dr. Watson (Ian Fleming) are visiting their old friend Sir Henry Baskerville (Lawrence Grossmith), the good-natured by rather dim-witted Inspector Lestrade (John Turnbull) approaches them to solve the mystery of the disappearance of the famous racing horse, Silver Blaze. Just days before an important race, the horse has mysteriously disappeared, and the stable lad who had been looking after him has been fatally poisoned. After following Silver Blaze's subtle footprints in the grass, Holmes happens upon the murdered body of James Straker (Martin Walker), whose family had owned the horse. The prime suspect in the murders – due to some substantial bets he had made against Silver Blaze – is none other than Sir Henry Baskerville's future son-in-law. Holmes, however, feels that there is more to this mystery than meets the eye, and he quickly suspects the evil and cunning Professor Moriarty (Lyn Harding) to be behind it all.

Arthur Wontner is an excellent Sherlock Holmes, possessing the mild-mannered but shrewdly-brilliant air of Doyle's famous literary character. Based on Sidney Paget's original illustrations for 'The Strand' magazine, he even looks like Sherlock Holmes! He delivers his dialogue with all the calmness and confidence that you'd expect from Holmes. My personal favourite, to Inspector Lestrade, who really has no idea how to proceed with the case: "We're old friends. I should hate to see you make such an ass of yourself as wrongfully to arrest the future son-in-law of Sir Henry Baskerville." Dr. Watson – who doesn't really have much to do until the end of the film – has a pleasant and curious personality, and Ian Fleming (not to be confused with the author of the James Bond novels) brings this very nicely to the screen. Strangely, Fleming somehow reminds me, in his general manner and delivery, of Charles Chaplin in his talkie years.

Though undoubtedly low-budget, 'Silver Blaze' is a competent Sherlock Holmes mystery, and a pleasant way to spend an hour or so. There are a few ambitious moments; I was most impressed by the scene in which a jockey was shot with Professor Moriarty's trademark silent air-gun whilst riding a horse in full flight. This one is worth a look.

Although Arthur Wontner is little remembered today, in his time he was considered by many to have been the best of those who had portrayed Sherlock Holmes on screen. "Silver Blaze", the last of the Holmes series that starred Wontner, is a solid feature that takes the Doyle story of the same name and adds to it some of the characters and elements from the other Holmes stories.

The strength of Wontner's performance is that he looks very convincing as the Holmes of literature, and he also looks very much at home in the Victorian era settings. While his portrayal of Holmes lacks the sharpness and forcefulness of Basil Rathbone or Jeremy Brett, Wontner is certainly adequate in the challenging role of the great detective. He does well here despite the low-budget look to everything else.

"Silver Blaze" is also of interest in adding Moriarty, Lestrade, and the Baskervilles to the original story. As Moriarty, Lyn Harding has some screen presence, but he doesn't really make Moriarty seem like the brilliant strategist that you expect him to be - here he is more like a tough guy whom you wouldn't want to cross. His role is mainly used to create some extra suspense sequences. The central mystery itself is an interesting one, with some of the unusual details that you hope for in a Holmes story. Overall, this is a solid if unspectacular feature.

SILVER BLAZE was quite inappropriately retitled "MURDER AT THE BASKERVILLES" when it was released in the US in 1941. though it has nothing much to do with this great Sherlock Holmes story--other than adding the Henry Baskerville character for no apparent reason. Instead, the film is roughly Conan Doyle's "The Silver Blaze"--but with many changes--most notably the addition of Moriarty and Col. Sebastian Moran. Oddly, these characters (especially Moriarty) were included in many Holmes films even though in the books he was only a minor character (the same could be said of Inspector Lestrade). In reality, Moriarty appeared in just a few stories and was ultimately killed in a fight with Holmes mid-way through the series. Unfortunately, the addition of Moriarty didn't do much to bring excitement to the film and this master criminal seemed inexplicably involved in a very petty case that seems beneath his genius.

I really don't want to describe the plot--others have done so and IMDb has a summary. Instead, it's important to talk about the overall effort. The film was made by a "poverty row" studio (Astor Films) and sure bears the earmarks of such a cheap film. Many of the outdoor scenes are clearly sets--and not very good ones. The acting is okay, but combined with a rather dull script and music, it just seems to have no life. Now I am not necessarily blaming those who played Holmes and Watson. Holmes was much closer to the books than the flamboyant character played by Basil Rathbone and Ian Fleming managed to play a decent Watson--not a total idiot like he was in many films (though not in the books). While their performances were decent, they cannot hold a candle to the Granada Television series of the 1980s--the Jeremy Brett series was just perfect and the scripts stayed extremely close to the brilliant original stories.

So overall, this is a very watchable but jumbled film plot-wise. The acting is okay--not great but not bad, however the whole thing lacks energy. Worth seeing if you are a Holmes fan, but otherwise you'll probably find the whole thing a bit dull.

Twenty years after solving the famous 'Hound of the Baskervilles' case, Sherlock Holmes is invited to return to Baskerville Hall to take a holiday. At Watson's urging he accepts and the pair head to the West Country. They haven't been long when a stable boy working for a local race horse owner is found murdered and the prize horse, Silver Blaze, is missing. Following tracks onto the moor the horse's trainer is found dead... presumed murdered. Holmes soon begins to suspect that his arch nemesis Professor Moriarty is behind the events.

While this is far from the best Sherlock Holmes mystery it is still rather fun. Certain aspects of the story are fairly easy to figure out, such as who actually stole the horse, but others are less obvious. Arthur Wonter does a solid job as Holmes and Ian Fleming is a decent Watson. Lyn Harding isn't bad Professor Moriarty although the case does seem a little trivial for such a master criminal. Given the fact that it is over eighty years old it isn't surprising that it shows its age somewhat; but that shouldn't put anybody off. It might not be a must see but if you are a fan of inter-war cinema it passes seventy minutes nicely enough.