The Devil's Foot

Dying Detective, The (1921)

** (out of 4)

Sherlock Holmes (Eille Norwood) knows that a man has killed a former partner but he can't prove it unless he finds a dying detective who knows what really happened. Norwood would play Holmes in over thirty films and he's quite good in the role bring an intelligent looking character but that's about the only good thing here. The story is somewhat hard to follow and again, Holmes isn't given much to do.

Devil's Foot, The (1921)

*** (out of 4)

Sherlock Holmes (Eille Norwood) is on vacation when he stumbles into a house and discovers two bodies. Both have been dead for hours but there aren't any visible signs of violence and soon other bodies start to pile up. Here's one I actually enjoyed since we get to see Holmes investigating the murders. As with the other film, Norwood turns in a good performance and the mystery works nice as well.

Man with the Twisted Lip, The (1921)

*** (out of 4)

Sherlock Holmes (Eille Norwood) begins an investigation into a dead man but clues make him think there might not be a body at all. Once again the mystery here is pretty good and Norwood delivers another good performance.

Decent entry in the silent series directed by Elvey. The cast is well chosen, the acting is fine, and this one has a lot of movement in it, but the whole movie is marred by the fact that Holmes is a cerebral character, and there is no way to do a mystery without a lot of talk.

Here is a great Holmes story, well adapted and produced on location--at least, the exteriors look like Cornwall. The staging is good; the acting fine; the action fairly crisp. I hope more of there titles turn up, and I hope someone restores these shorts someday.

Mr Norwood set a high standard for subsequent Holmes interpreters, though it appears William Gillette, who played the part on stage for twenty years, exerted more of an influence. Orson Welles, in an introduction to a radio production, paid high tribute to Gillette; Bosley Crowther, an influential New York theater critic, wrote "I would rather see William Gillette play Sherlock Holmes than to be a child again on Christmas morning." At eighty-three years old, he starred in the very first Holmes radio show, on 20 October 1930.

Probably these two-reel Stoll shorts didn't get much marketing in America--Hollywood productions were going strong by the '20's and maybe there wasn't much interest. But the ones I've seen stand up well.

Enjoyable: historic.