I think I see your problem. You have this list. It’s a list of people you need/want to buy a Christmas gift for. The trouble is that they’re into home theatre, and you don’t know Star Trek from Star Wars. You couldn’t tell a Wolf Man from a Wolverine. And you always thought that Paranormal Activity was something too kinky to talk about. Fortunately, Upcomingdiscs has come to the rescue every Christmas with our Gift Guide Spotlights. Keep checking back to see more recommendations for your holiday shopping. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them. With conditions as they are, shopping won’t be easy this season. The nice thing about discs is that they’re so easy to get from places like Amazon that you can give a great gift and stay perfectly safe while you do it. The Film Detective Presents: The Sherlock Holmes Vault Collection on Blu-ray.
“I’m just Holmes the busybody retained by the police to supply their deficiencies.”
In 1887, readers of the popular periodical Beeton’s Christmas Annual were to receive quite a special treat. There wasn’t much fanfare or hype to the event. Inside the pages of the magazine was a story called A Study In Scarlet. It was a detective story, perhaps like many published before, except for the detective himself, a certain Mr. Sherlock Holmes. Together with his faithful companion and chronicler Dr. Watson, Holmes would win the hearts of those holiday readers. It might have been an ordinary day, but the world was about to change. Sherlock Holmes would become the most famous detective in the world. His stories would remain in print nearly 130 years later. Over 100 films would be made featuring the character. There would be television shows and cartoon spoofs. No other character has appeared in more productions. When his creator dared to kill the beloved detective in order to move on to newer stories, his very life was threatened. It would seem that Doyle was on the verge of becoming a victim much like those in his stories. There was only one man who could save him from such a grim fate, and he did just that. It was Sherlock Holmes himself.
Today, Holmes has enjoyed a bit of a resurgence. There’s been a stage production of Hound Of The Baskervilles. Robert Downey, Jr. played a more modern action-figure version of Holmes in two very successful blockbuster films. It seems that Holmes has more lives than a cat. One of the most memorable portrayals of Holmes was provided by Basil Rathbone in a series of thriller mystery films from Universal. Nigel Bruce would play his assistant, Watson. It is from Bruce that we actually get the rather rotund and comical vision of Watson that has survived today. Watson provided the comic relief in these films. The first three films brought the detective into the modern world. For the first time, Holmes would interact with automobiles, telephones, and airplanes. It was during the years of World War II, so the studio pitted Holmes against Nazi spies and plots to sabotage the Allied war effort. Later the duo returned to the more traditional crime stories, but remained in contemporary times. What started with two films made by 20th Century Fox grew to 14 with the remaining titles at Universal until 1951.
But there was an earlier collection of films featuring the master of detection. Now Film Detective brings back these earlier films in a Collector’s Edition set that includes all four of these films along with an impressive collection of extras. The set also comes with a mini Lobby Card for each film and a nice booklet with plenty of historic information. So if you have a Sherlock Holmes fan on your list, this one they likely haven’t gotten yet.
Sherlock Holmes’ Fatal Hour (1931)
This is the first of four films (one is lost) that star Arthur Wontner as Sherlock Holmes and Ian Fleming as Dr. John Watson. I was rather surprised to see Fleming’s name and thought he might have been the famous creator of James Bond. I’m sorry to report this isn’t the same guy, and there’s no relation. And while Fleming wasn’t incredibly dynamic as Watson, Wonton is actually one of the best actors to play Holmes. My favorite remains Basil Rathbone but this guy would now be high up on my list, which also includes Tom Baker, Peter Cushing, and Ian McKellan. He bears a rather striking resemblance to the early illustrations from the publications of the Holmes stories. These films have an atmospheric filming style which reminds me of the classic Universal horror films of the 1930’s. The music also calls back to those films. The film was originally titled The Sleeping Cardinal but was changed before its release to Sherlock Holmes’ Fatal Hour. The film combined the plots of two Doyle stories: The Empty House and The Final Problem.
Ronald Adair (Perrins) has been playing bridge for high stakes with some rich acquaintances, and he’s also been cheating. He’s winning enough to start driving his pigeons away, and it seems his secret might get out when he’s blindfolded and taken to speak to a mysterious man behind a painting. Meanwhile his sister Kathleen (Welsh) is worried about the situation and asks Dr. Watson for help. He introduces her to Holmes, who puts together the pieces of a complicated conspiracy. A bank guard was killed and $70,000 was left behind at the scene of the crime. Holmes posits that it’s his old nemesis, Moriarty (McKinnell). Of course the cases are connected as Moriarty blackmails the card cheat to help him smuggle counterfeit bills out of the country. The bodies continue to pile up before Holmes catches his man.
Extras on this disc:
Sherlock Holmes And The Blue Carbuncle: (39:23) a recreation of a radio broadcast.
The Adventures Of Sam Sherman Part One: (7:40) These appear on three of the films and feature the titular man talking about how he encountered these films and tried to secure the rights for television syndication.
A Black Sherlock Holmes – 1918: (14:38) Not much of the story remains in what is often just animated stills. Apparently much of the film is damaged beyond use, and some of it was edited for “family friendly” enjoyment. There’s obviously some racially insensitive material here.
A Study In Scarlet (1933)
This is the one that is not like the others as they used to say, and likely still do say, on a certain PBS educational street. This time Reginald Owen steps into the pipe of Sherlock Holmes, and Warburton Gamble fills the shoes of Dr. Watson. Honestly I think both were miscast and should have swapped roles. The performances were not nearly as good, and even though this is the only one of the films most directly taken from a Doyle story, it’s a bit dull throughout.
A man is murdered in the locked berth of a train. The death is ruled a suicide, but he’s the second member of a secret organization to die in a few days. At a meeting of the Scarlet Ring Society, we learn that they split the wealth of departed members and cut out the widows. One of those widows goes to Sherlock Holmes for help, and the detective must puzzle out a game of Ten Little Indians to find out who the mastermind of this conspiracy really is. Doyle used the nursery rhyme six years before Agatha Christie did in her famous book.
Extras on the disc:
The First Cinematic Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes: (26:28) This is the best feature in the collection. It’s a documentary that looks at the very early films of Sherlock Holmes with a big emphasis on these films but not limited to them.
Slick Sleuth – 1926 (7:14) A Mutt and Jeff cartoon where they open a detective agency and mimic Holmes to try and bring in a crook to claim the reward. It’s a silent cartoon.
The Triumph Of Sherlock Holmes (1935)
This truly is a triumph, because they bring back the team of Arthur Wontner and Ian Fleming to the series, where they will remain. This was actually not their first return. They did a Holmes film called The Missing Rembrandt, and ironically it is considered a lost film. The film is very loosely based on the Doyle story The Valley Of Fear, but brings in elements from several Holmes stories.
Sherlock Holmes has announced his retirement. Watson, now married, is taking over their famous flat for his medical practice. But Holmes is enticed out of retirement when his old enemy, Moriarty (Harding) challenges him to remain retired and out of his way or face the consequences. If that doesn’t convince him to return to the detection game, Lestrade (Mortimer) brings a new murder mystery to his attention. It appears there is an American gangster on the lamb in London, and Moriarty has blackmailed his gang buddies into helping him with his own criminal forces. This film differs from all other Holmes films because a large part of the story is told in flashback by the gangster’s wife. He joined a local outfit in the United States that branded their symbol on one’s arm, and he ends up in a bit of a spot with the gang that I won’t spoil for you here. Now he’s dead in London, and Holmes and Moriarty are at it once again.
Extras on the disc:
The Copper Beeches – 1912: (1909) This silent film was based on the Doyle story, and Doyle himself supervised the production.
The Adventures Of Sam Sherman Part II: (6:08) The continuing story.
Blindman’s Bluff – 1954: (26:28) This is from 1954, but the menu incorrectly identifies it as from 1965. This is an episode of the Sherlock Holmes television series starring Ronald Howard, no relation to Opie, as Holmes and Howard Marion-Crawford as Watson. It lasted one season for 39 episodes. There was indeed a 1964 series that starred Peter Cushing as Holmes, but this was not that show. I liked the episode and really liked Howard in the role.
Silver Blaze (1937)
The last of these films harkens back to the most famous and most filmed story by Doyle, and that is of course The Hound Of The Baskervilles. There was a bit of a rights game going on here. The Doyle estate often charged twice for a story, once to use the plot and a second to use the name. Here they bought the plot, but only to use a few characters. This plays out as a kind of sequel to the original story, which is referenced in a letter Baskerville sends to Holmes inviting the pair back to the estate for a holiday. It’s the oddest of the four films, but has its moments.
Holmes and Watson accept an invitation from their old friend Sir Henry Baskerville (Grosssmith). By coincidence Lestrade (Turnbull) is also transferred to that part of England. He ends up needing Holmes’ help when a racehorse is stolen and a stableboy and trainer are killed. The prime suspect is Baskerville’s son-in-law Jack Trevor (Macrae), who is in deep debt and bet on a competing horse to win enough to clear his troubles. Holmes discovers that Moriarty is once again behind the crimes, because a bookie came to him asking he keep Silver Blaze from winning the upcoming race or he’s out of business. The film incorporates Doyle’s infamous death of Moriarty and Holmes at the conclusion, but only halfway.
Extras on the disc:
Sure Luck Holmes – 1928: (7:38) A Felix The Cat cartoon that doesn’t really have anything to do with Holmes. Felix is being frightened by shadow animals that appear to threaten him.
The Adventures Of Sam Sherman Part III: (7:14) The conclusion of the features.
Cousins Of Sherlocko – 1913: (4:47) Again really nothing to do with Holmes. A silent short where a character discovers he looks exactly like a criminal on the loose and attempts various antics to avoid the two detectives on his trail.
The collection is a nice bit of Holmes and cinematic history. It’s the kind of thing Film Detective really excels at time and time again. If you have someone on your list who likes Holmes or classic and rare cinema, then your decision is quite … well … “Elementary.”
