Sherlock Holmes: Une étude en rouge

I first started reading the Holmes saga almost 40 years ago.Since then,my search has included all of the stories in the Canon,a great number of the pastiches,a vast number of the films,plays,and T.V. specials,and other works.So,while not considering myself a TRUE expert,nonetheless,I have a working knowledge of many of the adaptations.

There has yet,to my knowledge,to be a dramatisation of the original story of this name.And,it seems,for good reason.The plot involves the murder of 2 American tourists to London,both of whom being members of the Church of Latter Day Saints.The framework story then opens,and shows a fictionalized,and highly derogatory account of a Mormon totalitarian police state.Dissidents are terrrorized,nonconformists are murdered,and travelers are slaughtered so that new additions can be obtained for the harems of the Elders.

Understandably,given these details,one can understand as to why NO adaptation has yet,and probably never will be completed.Not only would it never play in Salt Lake City,but it would also alienate a major religious body.

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.

"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!

I was intrigued by the thought of Reginald Owen playing Sherlock Holmes because I disliked him as Ebeneezer Scrooge in MGM's " A Christmas Carol" (1938). In that role he was very subdued and did not bring the character to life, although I have been spoiled in this regard by Alastair Sim; would the same happen here?

Happily, he was much better as Holmes, but once again I have been spoiled by Basil Rathbone and Arthur Wontner. Nevertheless, he was more than adequate but was done in by the leaden pace of the proceedings in A Study In Scarlet - it could have been so much better with a little tension and suspense and a few less dead spots, as the the storyline was excellent. I especially enjoy mysteries in which the murderer is unknown until the last scene.

A good entry in the Holmes series - unless you've seen the aforementioned Rathbone or Wontner in the title role.

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!