The Speckled Band

I saw this film in 1931at a time when most British movies creaked

along. As I recall, this was a cut above most of its contemporaries,

with convincing performances b y Massey, Baddeley and Harding.

Most impressive was the opening: camera ranged through the

dark halls and passages of an old English manor in a sustained

dolly shot to the eerie sound of some kind of Indian wind

instrument. The sequence ended with a jump cut to the face of a

young woman, screaming in her death throes. Most alarming and

impressive. For me it ranks with one of he best shock openings

I've ever seen. Today, they'd probably play such a scene before the

main title.

An interesting footnote: In later life, Angela Baddeley, the heroine,

was to play Mrs. Hudson, the cook, in the unforgettable British

series, Upstairs, Downstairs.

The only version of this film which survives today appears to have lost some twenty minutes of its running time, and has obvious gaps where scenes, or parts of scenes, are missing.

That said, what remains is very good indeed. Raymond Massey, in his film debut, makes his only appearance as Holmes, wandering about in his technological empire in Baker Street in his silk dressing gown, looking more like Noel Coward than a master of crime prevention. However, his manner and sarcasm when comparing his memory to that of his machine index of criminals saves the day and stops the character descending into caricature.

Watson - Athole Stewart - is convincing as an ex-army man who served in India, and one senses he is more than a match for the villain of the piece, the scene-chewing Lyn Harding recreating his stage triumph as Dr Rylott. Our heroine is played by Angela Baddeley - who is remembered best these days for her work in the 1970s as TV's Mrs Bridges in 'Upstairs, Downstairs'. Here she definitely sounds more upstairs than down, with her cut-glass vowels, and seems to have but one emotion - wide-eyed terror.

With a few character additions, notably a Native servant as befits a Sahib from the Raj, the tale of the 'Speckled Band' is largely faithful to Conan Doyle, although the transformation of Baker Street HQ into a bust office with a secretary and typists is simply a curio, and does not compare to the traditional chaos and pipe smoke we would usually expect.

Massey's Holmes is devious, sharp, clever, and almost fey. I particularly like the ending, which frames the characters of both Holmes and Watson - it would have been interesting to see this develop into a series with the same pair of actors. As it is, it remains an adaptation one can savour even with the cuts and jumps in plot which have become a casualty of time.

Can be obtained on DVD in several budget sets.

It is clear to see why Sherlock Holmes has been popular in film, with the care and quality given to this early film as an example. When this was produced, all the stories had been written, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was dead. Audiences of the day had perhaps seen a few screen versions--most likely the awful John Barrymore vehicle--but Holmes was already known all over the English-speaking world. So here, before the B movies of the '40's, we have a really fine production that is beautifully true to Sir Arthur's creation. Raymond Massey, a young Canadian actor in his first film outing, interprets the part solidly, and imaginatively. The pace is a little slow for modern tastes, but perhaps that is respect. An admirable effort.

The only print I've seen of this is pretty badly chopped up. They didn't make much of an effort to preserve these "b-movie" mysteries back then.

The film is directed in much the same manner as Browning directed the Lugosi "Dracula" around the same time - slow, stagy, with emphasis on atmosphere, and with all the young women given over to hysterics.

The film unnecessarily violates the Holmes canon when it shows us the bevy of young starlet secretaries Holmes has hired to aid in his investigations (?!), But most of the story, and its characterizations, are faithful to the original story.

The real surprise here is Raymond Massey - he is an absolute magnificent Holmes, every bit as good as the great Jeremy Brett of the Granada TV series; and, given the stodginess of the rest of the film, I suspect that he essentially directed himself - he moves quickly, easily, and directly, while the rest of the cast stands around waiting for their cues.

I can only recommend this to Holmes completists; but Massey's performance is not to be missed by anyone who admires the master sleuth of Baker Street.

Had I seen the director's cut of The Speckled Band I might have given it a higher rating. But the version I saw was one released in Canada and only ran 50 minutes. Still the basic idea of the famous Sherlock Holmes mystery came through and Raymond Massey was a fine Holmes.

A slight change in the plot that Arthur Conan Doyle wrote has Dr. Watson played here by Athole Stewart called in on the inquest on the death of Joyce Moore. That was a mistake because Watson being a doctor and also having served in the Afghan War would have known exactly what the cause of death was and Holmes would never have to be called in.

In any event her sister Angela Baddely is fearful for her own life and fearful of a coarse and brutal stepfather Lyn Harding. Harding is also a blusterer and he dares Massey to pin anything on him.

Harding also served in India and that's the key to what happened to Moore and almost to Baddely.

I would like to have seen the full version of The Speckled Band as it is considered one of Arthur Conan Doyle's best Holmes stories. Still as an introduction to Holmes it's not a bad one and Massey's portrayal stands up well. In fact it was his first real cinema role of note.