Sherlock Holmes: Une étude en rouge

As long as one understands this version of A STUDY IN SCARLET bears no resemblance to its source material, one can enjoy the performance of Reginald Owen -- best known for playing Scrooge -- as the inimitable Sherlock Holmes. The story as such involves a secret group of individuals who are being knocked off one at a time. A fortune is at stake! Holmes is called in and more or less immediately identifies the killer(s), but the movie stretches events out to feature length, and a bad movie it is not. Owen makes an acceptable Holmes, even though the story has been moved forward to the time in which the movie was made. Warburton Gamble's Dr. Watson leaves something to be desired, but most movie Watsons can be found lacking. Only Ian Fleming in 1935's TRIUMPH OF SHERLOCK HOLMES and the Dr. Watsons of the Jeremy Brett TV series come even close to the Watson of the Conan Doyle stories. Worth a look as a novelty.

KBS Productions paid for the title, but not the plot, of Doyle's 1st Holmes story. Instead, and I might never have known this if not for some helpful contributor to the IMDB, they adapted-- unofficially (and presumably, UNPAID!), Belgian author Stanislas-André Steeman's 1931 detective novel "Six Hommes Morts". I've looked around, and I haven't yet found any evidence that this novel, published in French, has ever been translated into English. However, I've just learned it has been adapted to film at least 4 times, with this being the 1st version. The others were "THE RIVERSIDE MURDERS" (UK / 1935), "LE DERNIER DES SIX" (France / 1941) and "L'inspecteur Wens: SIX HOMMES MORTS" (an episode of the 1975 French anthology TV series, "Les grands détectives")! Now I'm interested in tracking those down for comparison.

Physically, Reginald Owen reminds me a bit of a young Ray Milland (or, a bit, of stage actor William Gillette). He may not look like the traditional idea of Holmes, but thanks to the script, he certainly SEEMD like him, making all sorts of amazing observations that escape the notice of Inspector Lestrade and Dr. Watson (who's mainly here as the audience-identification character, for Holmes to explain the plot to). Owen fares better as Holmes than he did as Watson in Fox's "SHERLOCK HOLMES" only 6 months earlier, while Alan Morbray, who was Scotland Yard inspector Colonel Gore-King in that, returns here as Lestrade.

I've seen this movie at least 4 times now, and have enjoyed it more with each viewing. Part of it is the slowly-developing plot, part is seeing some of the wonderful character actors of the period who I've come to recognize from other films turning up. Among them are Anna May Wong (who once played Fu Manchu's daughter), Halliwell Hobbes (who was in several Rathbone HOLMES films), Olaf Hytten (ditto; he also played "Sheerluck Jones" in the insane comedy short "Lost In Limehouse", which came out only a month before this), and Billy Bevan (a policeman in "Dracula's Daughter", he serves a comic-relief role as a tavern customer, similar to Herbert Mundin in the earlier Clive Brook film).

Given the similarities to "The Five Orange Pips" by Doyle, "Six Dead Men" by Steeman, or "Ten Little Indians" by Agatha Christie, I have to wonder WHICH story Christie might have been borrowing from when she wrote HER novel several years after this!

I only wish someone could locate a complete print of this and do a proper restoration, as between the poor picture and sound quality, and all the words missing due to frequent cuts, this is in almost as bad shape as Raymond Massey's "THE SPECKLED BAND". The screenplay here would have made an excellent installment in the Universal HOLMES series with Rathbone; if it had been, it would have been fully restored by now, as those 12 films were!

"A Study in Scarlet", somewhat more than loosely based on Conan Doyle's very first 'Sherlock Holmes' novel published in 1887, stars this time Reginald Owen, one of Hollywood's most famous British character actors who during his long career played about everything from Ebenezer Scrooge to King Louis XV. - and even Dr. Watson, in the previous Sherlock Holmes adventure with Clive Brook in the title role. It was the only time Owen portrayed the master sleuth - unfortunately, for he did QUITE well in this role!

Definitely less haughty and pedantic and more sympathetic than Basil Rathbone (who, nevertheless, was admittedly the most 'true' impersonator of Doyle's original character), yet just as clever and quick-witted, Owen alias Holmes is being asked for help by the widow of a member of an obscure 'organization' who's been tricked out of the money her husband would have soon been to receive from the shady 'business transactions' of that organization. At the same time, a strange newspaper ad, obviously written in a kind of code, intrigues Holmes - and it all finally leads him to one of his 'favorite' enemies, lawyer-blackmailer Merrydew...

A very nice, entertaining crime story, with much love for every detail and a perfectly recreated atmosphere of England in the 1880s, from the shady back streets of London to the quiet countryside, where Holmes (that is, Owen) delivers a hilarious impersonation of a wealthy elderly gentleman - just about like the disguises Chester Morris impressed us with many times as 'Boston Blackie'! Some genuinely English 'characters' complete the picture, a whole 'epidemic' of murders and murder attempts provides the adequate suspense... Not to be missed by fans of Sherlock Holmes in particular, and fans of classic crime in general!

This early sound-era portrayal of Sherlock Holmes is good for its era and genre, with solid acting and an interesting story that is set in a believably mysterious atmosphere. An important note is that the story has no real similarity with the Arthur Conan Doyle story titled "A Study in Scarlet", but rather draws its characters and material from several different stories, plus at least one Agatha Christie novel. As long as you don't expect to see the original story, there is certainly enough to make this a feature worth seeing.

Reginald Owen is solid as Holmes, although he does not leave his mark on the role in the way that Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett did. Owen does have the unique distinction of having played both Holmes and Dr. Watson (having played the latter in "Sherlock Holmes" the year before "A Study in Scarlet").

The rest of the cast likewise play their characters in a straightforward fashion, allowing the story and atmosphere to get the main focus. The one who does stand out is Anna May Wong, who adds beauty and a mysterious presence, although unfortunately she does not get a lot of screen time.

The story itself has numerous turns, and keeps you guessing. The atmosphere might not always be Holmes-like, but it is quite suitable for the story, and it is aided by good use of the lighting and photography. Overall, if you can set aside the misleading (for Holmes fans) title, it is an entertaining mystery with some good touches.

I had never seen Reginald Owen in anything but a somewhat weak Christmas Carol. He plays a larger, more imposing Sherlock Holmes. Holmes' appearance is usually rather striking, so actors play on his idiosyncrasies. In this movie, he sort of blends in. The story has nothing to do with the story. It will probably never be produced as written because of it's religious issues. This is an attempt to apprehend the big cheese in a series of murders involving the "Scarlet Circle." Men are dying according to the same poem used in Christie's Ten Little Indians (And Then There Were None). Holmes is aware of what is going on, but can't really strike quickly. This results in deaths not being prevented. While there is a seriousness to this film, there is a lot of humor as well. The characters are rich and interesting and the acting is pretty good. See it for another angle on the Holmes canon.