Les aventures de Sherlock Holmes

As a fan of Sherlock Holmes and of Basil Rathbone, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The plot is very silly, but is compelling enough and enjoyable throughout the whole duration. The film is well paced and well directed too mostly, while the production values are very nice. The photography, scenery and costumes are beautiful, but what I loved most about Sherlock Holmes was its evocative and haunting foggy London atmosphere. The script is of top-notch quality as well, often intelligent, funny and sophisticated.

The acting I had no qualms with either. George Zucco is an interesting Moriaty and does really well of not being too sinister or too hammy, his performance was a nice balance I felt. Nigel Bruce is decent as Watson, though I can see why people are annoyed by his interpretation of the character. I liked the enthusiasm and blimpish bluster Bruce gave, but there are times here when he does come across as a little too clownish. However, he does have some believable chemistry with Basil Rathbone, who is just superb as a more charismatic and sophisticated not to mention very eloquent Holmes.

Overall, a lot of fun and a case of where any minor flaws are completely overrided by the many strengths. Recommended! 9/10 Bethany Cox

Released in the landmark movie year of 1939, this is my favorite Sherlock Holmes film. It is set in the proper period, has a reasonable budget, excellent sets, and fog so thick one would have to cut it with a razor. The story has to do with Professor Moriarity's scheme to steal the crown jewels. More than anything, however, the movie is a vehicle for Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, whose interpretations of Holmes and Watson are so engaging and larger than life that several decades later actors are still compared (usually unfavorably) to these two whenever they attempt to take on these roles. Rathbone makes an impressive Holmes,--cunning, gentlemanly, high-minded, somewhat competitive, intensely focused. One of the many things that makes Rathbone so perfect as Holmes is that while he may fall short of the mark in his portrayal of the character Conan Doyle created in print, he is an ideal movie Holmes. There's an heroic quality to him. Rathbone was more than a bit of a swashbuckler on screen, as is obvious in his many duels with Flynn and Power, and he brought some of this edgy, assertive quality to his interpretation of Holmes, and as is so often the case when an actor varies somewhat from a character created in fiction (Bogart is a far cry from Hammett's "blonde Satan" of a Sam Spade), this can actually work in his favor. Rathbone is Hollywood's Sherlock Holmes, and I can't imagine a better one. Bruce often played Watson as a bumbler later in the series, but in the early entries was more serious and competent. His movie Watson is overall somewhat comical, and creates a charming contrast to the grim, determined Holmes, and works for me because I like a little respite from the seriousness of a mystery, any mystery, since the genre is melodramatic, and hard to take when it gets too heavy. With Bruce on hand it never does.

The cast, atmosphere, & action in this version of "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" are all good reasons why it is an enjoyable feature. The story is very loosely based on a play that itself had freely adapted some of Doyle's characters and plot ideas, and thus the plot is essentially entirely new, yet the Victorian atmosphere and Basil Rathbone's portrayal of the great detective give it a pretty good "Holmes" feel.

The basic story idea has Professor Moriarty scheming to exploit one of Holmes's few weaknesses, and although the plot in itself does not come from the novels, it is a perceptive way of using the characters. There are some loose ends in the story that would have been tied together except for some studio-decreed cuts; the notes that accompany the DVD release are quite helpful in covering what was omitted.

George Zucco makes fine use of his screen time as Moriarty, and Ida Lupino makes her character a demure and appealing heroine in distress, while showing some good spirit at the right times. Nigel Bruce's Watson has a rather different feel from Doyle's character, but he gets some good moments of his own here, and Bruce does well with them.

For a great many Sherlock Holmes fans, nothing can now rival the magnificent Jeremy Brett versions from the 1980s and 1990s, with their marvelous atmosphere, careful story adaptations, and Brett's penetrating portrayal of Holmes. But until those were made, Basil Rathbone's portrayal of the detective was as good as any of the many actors who had played him. This movie and its predecessor "The Hound of the Baskervilles" are among the most enjoyable of all of the Rathbone features, for their atmosphere and their lively stories.

The only other in-period Rathbone Holmes film, this is brim full of atmosphere and high production values, never mind about how good the acting and direction was too. The many long scenes were taken leisurely which enabled me to get a real feel for Victorian London with all the fog outside the Fox set windows. Sadly the one aspect slightly lacking was the story but only through the comparison to Hound, overall Adventures is easily the best of the rest and the best Holmes-Moriarty duel on film.

Rathbone and Zucco souped up the mental jousting and added something more to the legend, it really was a pity Zucco couldn't do the other two Moriarty outings at Universal. Although Atwill and Daniell were both excellent as well - maybe the part couldn't fail as Holmes' foil! Ida Lupino played her melodramatic part well, she could have smiled at least once though! Nigel Bruce as faithful Watson was perfect as usual, at one point even to lying down and rolling over in the gutter for his ... master.

All in all, a notch down from Hound but in quality a long drop down from this to the Universals, much as I love them too.

... played live whenever you happen to be around.

This is the second of two Fox films made for the series with Basil Rathbone as Holmes. The film starts with a jury acquitting Dr. Moriarty (George Zucco) of murder. Right after that, in bursts Holmes and Watson with evidence that proves Moriarty was guilty, but the judge says it is too late. And believe me the judge is not happy about it. As Moriarty shares a cab with Holmes as they leave the courthouse, they both provoke and prod each other verbally. Moriarty says that he intends to break Holmes by pulling off the crime of the century right under his nose. Then he says, with Holmes' reputation ruined, he can retire in peace.

In the following days Holmes gets two requests for help. One is for the crown, helping guard a rare emerald that is to be added to the crown jewels. The other is from a young wealthy woman (Ida Lupino as Ann Brandon) who has received a drawing indicating her brother will be murdered and even gives the date. Ann is not being hysterical, as her father received exactly the same kind of note right before he was murdered when she was a child. This double duty requires Holmes to practically be in two places at once. Is Moriarty up to something? Of course he is! But as to what, watch and find out.

Zucco makes a very good Moriarty. After returning home after his acquittal he goes into his greenhouse to admire his plants and notices one of them is dead. He chastises his manservant for having "murdered" a plant by not watering it properly. Later, when his manservant is shaving him, he practically dares him to kill him with the bare blade. He's evil, he's edgy, and he prevents his role from descending into camp.

There are a couple of odd things I had questions about. At one point, Holmes and Moriarty are having it out in a gun battle and Holmes runs up the stairs of a building. Moriarty chases Holmes. With the police on the way. Up the stairs of a building where there is no exit. Did Moriarty get confused and think this is the twentieth century where a helicopter can arrive with his minions and help him make his escape? Also, the bit with the death threat to the Brandon family. Did Moriarty have something to do with the murder of Ann Brandon's father years ago, or did he just know about it and duplicate the elements? This is never explained.

Nigel Bruce gets some good lines in as Dr. Watson. At one point he is lying in the street helping Holmes reenact a crime. A passerby asks him if he should get a doctor. Watson replies "I'm a doctor, what's the matter with you?".