La maison de la peur

A club of retired rich men called "The Good Comrades" lives at an isolated Scottish castle. One by one the men are being killed off and an insurance agent believes one of them is responsible. Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) investigate but fail to prevent more murders from occurring. Soon they are joined by Inspector Lestrade (Dennis Hoey), who will undoubtedly get to the bottom of things ("Suffering cats! What IS going on here?!?").

Fun Sherlock Holmes movie from Universal, the eighth in their series (tenth overall, counting the first two Fox films). It's loosely based on the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle "Five Orange Pips" story. Really the only similarity is the murder victims receiving envelopes with orange seeds before they're killed. That story is hardly one of Conan Doyle's best, by the way. The series regulars Rathbone, Bruce, and Hoey are all great. The supporting cast is made up of good character actors like Holmes Herbert, Paul Cavanagh, Harry Cording, and Aubrey Mather. Solid direction from Roy William Neill with interesting camera-work from Virgil Miller. Nicely paced with great "old dark house" atmosphere. Not the best of the series but a very entertaining one.

I'd have to rate this as one of the best of the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes films. It has about everything you would want in these movies - suspense, action, a clever story and some good humor courtesy our friend Dr. Watson. The latter is in top form with a number of funny lines and reactions to the happenings around him.

Meanwhile, this plays like the Agatha Christie story, "And Then There Were None." Instead of "10 Little Indians," there are the "orange pips" which are sent in an envelope to the members of the "The Good Comrades" club up in Drearcliff, Scotland. Whoever receives the envelope is shortly thereafter murdered in a grisly way. Holmes, Watson and then Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard, all venture up to the Scottish mansion to investigate the murders.

This is good stuff with nary a lull during the 69-minute film that features a variety of suspects, from evil-looking to the nicest guy in the house. Who is committing these murders is anyone's guess, right down to the end.

This is one of the best of the low-budget Sherlock Holmes films with Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Watson.

Seven men, the "Good Comrades" have formed a club, and they all live together in a castle on the North coast of Scotland. They all have life insurance policies of high value, the beneficiaries being the surviving members of the club. Holmes is called in by the insurers when two of them die violently in quick succession.

It all takes place in the castle, and more of the Comrades meet an end, so it's Ten Little Indians territory.

Rathbone and Bruce, with the cheerful support of Dennis Hoey as Lestrade, do their usual number with a fairly intricate plot, and a jolly good time is had by all.

The direction is pacy, and it rattles along very satisfactorily; the production values are pretty low, but we're only looking at story-telling than brilliant cinematography.

Enjoyable stuff.

Sherlock Holmes and his mumbling sidekick Dr. Watson go to Scotland to investigate the deaths of members of "The Good Comrades," a group of seven lonely men that make a pact to split the money of each dying member. A maid has been given a letter to give the members of the group at dinner. The letter contains a number of orange pips(pits) that coincides with the remaining number of the group. After receiving the letter, the member shortly dies after. This is highly enjoyable fare from the Sherlock Holmes team of Rathbone, Bruce, Dennis Hoey as Lestrade, and director Roy William Neill. The film zips by at a nice pace, and it has a unique mystery which I could only partially unravel. Rathbone is at his best, but Bruce tends to steal almost every scene he is in with his mumbling antics and comedic abilities. The rest of the cast of stalwart British character actors do just as ably with Aubrey Mather really standing out as the genial owner of the home where the Good Comrades stay. Lots of dark atmosphere, rainy nights, and Scottish lore to surround this intriguing tale.

With lots of atmospheric detail and an interesting, involved Sherlock Holmes mystery story, this is one of many enjoyable features in the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce series. The plot is, to be honest, pretty far-fetched, but it makes for a very entertaining story with lots of intriguing developments. The supporting cast features Dennis Hoey as Inspector Lestrade, Aubrey Mather as an interesting oddball character, and Paul Cavanagh in a good role as one of the suspects.

The story takes some of the basic elements from Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Five Orange Pips", but places it in an entirely new setting that works much better on the screen. It also adds many other ideas, some from Doyle, and some from other sources. The good cast and the effective atmosphere in a remote corner of Scotland help to keep the story interesting instead of straining plausibility.

Roy William Neill does one of his many solid directing jobs in the series, keeping a good balance between entertainment and mystery, and between the original characters and the contemporary setting. It might not be the most tightly-crafted of the series, but it's certainly one of the more enjoyable ones to watch.