The evil criminal genius Professor Moriarty, having narrowly escaped the gallows, vows to ruin the reputation of London's master detective Sherlock Holmes by pulling off the crime of the century under his nose. He cleverly diverts Holmes' attention, appealing to his ego and intellect by anonymously drawing him into a mysterious murder case with very unusual features as a cover for his real intentions - to steal the Crown Jewels !
A follow-up to Twentieth Century Fox's original teaming of Rathbone and Bruce as Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson in The Hound Of The Baskervilles, this exciting caper is an equally impressive production and almost as exciting as its predecessor. The script, based on a play by William Gillette, is a corker - the whole Brandon murder mystery (a great story in itself, involving a gaucho killer who uses a bolas to strangle his victims), which takes up more than half the running-time, is a dummy to cover Moriarty's dastardly plot. Rathbone is sensational in the lead (don't miss his song-and-dance-man bit), and there are terrific supporting performances from the beautiful and talented Lupino and the consumately villainous Zucco. Unlike the later Universal films, this also benefits from a hefty budget, with horse traps racing through fantastic moody fog-filled Westminster streets and Holmes and Moriarty fighting atop The Tower Of London. One gripe with the story though - why does Moriarty, when his plan has worked perfectly, waste all his time gloating in the Jewel Room at the Tower, allowing Holmes the opportunity to rumble the plot and race back to catch him ? That aside however, this is a classic black-and-white Sherlock Holmes adventure for mystery fans everywhere.
A follow-up to Twentieth Century Fox's original teaming of Rathbone and Bruce as Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson in The Hound Of The Baskervilles, this exciting caper is an equally impressive production and almost as exciting as its predecessor. The script, based on a play by William Gillette, is a corker - the whole Brandon murder mystery (a great story in itself, involving a gaucho killer who uses a bolas to strangle his victims), which takes up more than half the running-time, is a dummy to cover Moriarty's dastardly plot. Rathbone is sensational in the lead (don't miss his song-and-dance-man bit), and there are terrific supporting performances from the beautiful and talented Lupino and the consumately villainous Zucco. Unlike the later Universal films, this also benefits from a hefty budget, with horse traps racing through fantastic moody fog-filled Westminster streets and Holmes and Moriarty fighting atop The Tower Of London. One gripe with the story though - why does Moriarty, when his plan has worked perfectly, waste all his time gloating in the Jewel Room at the Tower, allowing Holmes the opportunity to rumble the plot and race back to catch him ? That aside however, this is a classic black-and-white Sherlock Holmes adventure for mystery fans everywhere.
