A Mulher de Verde

I'm a big fan of the Basil Rathbone/Sherlock Holmes series. This review is of the restored black and white 35 mm version issued in 2003. Having watched all of the Holmes films on TV or videotape, with bad prints and lousy sound, this restored version is the one to see. The restoration is perfect and shows the visual beauty of the film which is without question.

Basil Rathbone immortalized Sherlock Holmes in 14 films. The Woman in Green was the 11th in the series. There is a hint of tiredness in Rathbone's portrayal in this one. The story is interesting and involves severed fingers, the sinister Professor Moriarty and the mysterious Woman in Green. Henry Daniell is a good Professor Moriarty and Hillary Brooke as The Woman in Green is mysterious and seductive. As always, Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as bumbling Dr.Watson are fun to watch.

At 68 minutes the film is short. As with all Holmes films, we wish for more. By all means see it.

Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) step in to help Scotland Yard when a series of murders hits London. They're all women and their right forefingers are missing! It seems an evil, beautiful woman named Lydia (Hillary Brooke) and Prof. Moriarty (Henry Daniell) have something to do with it...

Very good entry in the series. It's well-done with some very inventive direction (for this series) from Roy William Neill--especially during the hypnotism scenes. Rathbone is good as always; Brooke is very beautiful and just great and Daniell seems rather subdued. Bruce once again plays Watson as a buffoon--but I blame the screenwriters more than him. And we don't have the annoying Inspector Lestrade in this one.

Worth catching.

Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) once again faces off with his nemesis Professor Moriarty (Henry Daniell), as well as a beautiful hypnotist (Hillary Brooke), in this entertaining entry in Universal's Sherlock Holmes series. Henry Daniell was probably my favorite Moriarty from the series. He wasn't hammy at all. The guy just oozed intellectual evil. Rathbone and Nigel Bruce are excellent as Holmes & Watson, as usual. Purists balk at Bruce's Watson but I think he's lots of fun and immensely likable. Hillary Brooke has one of her better roles here. Some good direction from Roy William Neill. This is one of the Universal Holmes films now in public domain so make sure you watch a good copy.

It's an excellent film of the splendid Sherlock Holmes Basil Rathbone series including two first-range nasties : one man , Henry Daniell as Doctor Moriarty and one woman, Hillary Brooke as an illusionist with malignant aims.

In the flick appears the usual of the Arthur Conan Doyle's novels : Mycroft (Sherlock's brother), Dr.Moriarty, Mistress Hudson , and of course Doctor Watson.

The film has a creepy atmosphere , it's in black and white with lights and shades that originate an eerie setting.

Set design is of first rate , the movie is very atmospheric ,the dark and gloomy slums of London are very well designed.

Basil Rathbone's interpretation is magnificent, he's the best Sherlock Holmes in the cinema , likeness to Peter Cushing and Jeremy Brett in television.

Basil Rathbone as Holmes plays in a clever, broody and impetuous manner.

Nigel Bruce plays as Watson with humor, goofy and joy , he's the perfect counterpoint to Holmes.

Rating : Better than average , 7/10 . Well worth watching .

So why would a serial killer sever a finger from each of his victims. It's a real puzzler that Holmes must solve before the bodies pile higher. Solid entry in the Holmes series that holds interest throughout. Note how well mounted Holmes' room is at 21 B Baker St. It's full of the kind of interesting clutter expected of an eccentric like the great detective. In fact, the whole 70 minutes is an aesthetic pleasure to look at, helped along by producer-director Roy William Neill's imaginative camera angles. Note too the suggestive dialogue in the opening lounge scene, unusual for a popular programmer of the time. And what a great pair of cold-hearted schemers Hillary Brooke and Henry Daniell make in their duel of wits with Holmes. Still and all, I thought the screenplay went too far in poking fun at Nigel Bruce's Dr. Watson. The series always played him for comic relief, but here he's made to look especially foolish in the hypnotism sequence. He is, after all, a doctor of medicine, an accomplished professional. Too bad Neill died not long after this production. For I suspect it was his guiding hand that maintained the general superiority of these little features to many others of the time.