1943 Directed by Roy William Neill
During WWII several murders occur at a convalescent home where Dr. Watson has volunteered his services. He summons Holmes for help and the master detective proceeds to solve the crime from a long list of suspects including the owners of the home, the staff and the patients recovering there.
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The best thing about Sherlock Holmes Faces Death is that it eschews the usual Nazis-are-nasty approach of the WWII Universal series and sticks reasonably closely to a Conan Doyle source, “The Musgrave Ritual.” Someone is knocking off members of the Musgrave family for unknown reasons. Following the investigation of Holmes (Basil Rathbone) is entertaining, though the identity of the villain is fairly obvious. We have lots of suspicious characters in an English manor with a secret passageway, a secret family tomb, secret documents, creepy servants, and a black cat. The local pub has an unusual tame raven, who provides Holmes with an assist. Halliwell Hobbes plays a butler once again, but this time he receives considerable attention as a poetry-spouting…
This fourth Sherlock Holmes film for Universal keeps the contemporary setting from the previous three - but delivers a Gothic mystery much more fitting of the great detective. We focus on convalescent home where Doctor Watson is working - he calls Holmes for help when his colleague is attacked and then several murders follow. The film is slow to start as the setting and characters are presented but becomes a very engaging mystery in the second half. The atmosphere is very well done - the creepy old house, smog, secret passages, old rituals etc are all here. There's a rather brilliant lightning sequence too. Rathbone has thankfully got rid of the silly haircut from the previous three films, and he's…
Cinematic Time Capsule
1943 Marathon - Film #8
”Ghosts don’t stab people in the neck, do they?”
Great Scott! There’s been a murder most foul at the positively ghoulish Musgrave Manor, and now it’s up to our favorite sleuthing deducer to suss out the suspects and the collar the killer before he strikes again.
Thankfully, this sixth Holmes outing ditches the war spy propaganda and returns our heros to a more classically styled whodunnit mystery.
And even though it takes a bit to get going, once it does there’s plenty of suspects, secrets and mystery to keep things interesting. Plus, you’ve got the added bonus of Universal’s classic Dracula set being put to good reuse… as well as a final killer confrontation that simply can’t miss.
”Now if you’ll stand perfectly still, I think I can manage it with one shot…” - [immediately proceeds to take two shots]
"Sherlock Holmes Faces Death" is yet another solid entry into the Rathbone/Bruce run of films. After three consecutive films set during WWII this story sees the series move slightly away from that setting, and it becomes all the more stronger for doing so. The broader tone and feeling of war still lingers in the background of this picture but for the most part this an excellent return to the roots of the series.
The series is still set in contemporary Britain but the Gothic elements are slowly finding their way back into the story. It also helps that this film is based on one of the original Arthur Conan Doyle stories, "The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual."
The foggy atmosphere,…
Universal's fourth Holmes is a welcome shift away from chasing down Nazi spies into a more suitable old dark house mystery. Roy William Neill acts as producer for the first time, allowing Roy William Neill the director to dive into full gothic mode. It's superbly directed, getting great value out of standing Universal sets, including the original Dracula crypt. Neill is aided by Charles Van Enger's moody photography and Bertram Millhauser's literate script, which not only brilliantly pastiches some signature Holmesian detection, and cleverly adapts elements of 'The Musgrave Ritual', but also throws in some effective business with a raven á la Edgar Allan Poe. There's the usual gang of Universal supporting players, including Gerald Hamer as one of the…
Sherlock Holmes hilft seinem Freund Watson, die mysteriösen Morde in einem Sanatorium aufzuklären.
Es macht immer wieder Spaß, Basil Rathbone und Nigel Bruce in ihren ikonischen Rollen zu sehen.
Die Geschichte finde ich zwar zu Teilen etwas unübersichtlich, da viele Charaktere seltsame Aktionen den Film hindurch machen. Weil sich aber alle Figuren konstant so verdächtig verhalten, bleibt zumindest das Miträtseln interessant.
Das eigentliche Highlight des Streifens sind aber, wie in dem Genre üblich, die letzten 15 Minuten der Aufklärung, in denen Holmes seine Raffinesse beweist.
Auf Musgrave Manor soll es nicht nur spuken, auch ein Verbrecher treibt sein Unwesen.
"Mooooorrrd" krächzte der Rabe.
Endlich wieder ein Sherlock-Film mit Mysterium und leicht gespenstischer Note. Das sind mir die liebsten Krimis. Ungewöhnliche 13 Glockenschläge kündigten das Unheil schon an, Verdächtige stehen umgehend parat, beherbergt das urige Anwesen doch Familie, Hauspersonal und Patienten einer Offiziers-Psychiatrie.
Die unheimlichen Schattenaspekte stehen dem Whodunit mehr als gut, das Schlosssetting, deren geheimen Winkel und Kellergeheimnisse liefern den letzten Pfiff und für etwas Humor findet sich immer Zeit. Danke Watson. Einen Lacher spendierte mir allerdings die Synchro...
"Er hat wohl Angst da wäre eine Bombe in dem Päckchen."
"Ja, das ist so sein Tick..."
In my last three reviews of the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes films, I wrote that each one was my new favorite in the series. Now, Sherlock Holmes Faces Death, is my new favorite entry in the Rathbone/Bruce saga. It features a strong mystery, wonderful cinematography and outstanding performances all around.
One advantage that this movie has is that it was adapted from a story in the Holmes canon by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual. The film starts at Musgrave Manor with Dr. John Watson (Nigel Bruce), who was working at a home for war veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Watson's assistant, Dr. Bob Sexton (Arthur Margeston) is attacked one night…
Es gibt wieder einen neuen Fall, den Sherlock Holmes und sein treuer Begleiter Dr. Watson zu lösen haben.
Deshalb verschlägt es sie auf das altehrwürdige und ebenso mysteriöse Anwesen der Musgrave-Familie.
Mit einer schönen Atmosphäre und einer ordentlichen Portion Sherlock-Charme treibt sich die Geschichte voran und liefert wieder die gewohnten und geschätzten Elemente der klassischen Holmes & Watson-Geschichten, darunter auch die großartige Chemie von Basil Rathbone und Nigel Bruce.
Von den (zugegeben noch wenigen) Rathbone-Sherlock-Filmen, die ich bisher gesehen habe, definitiv einer der besseren für mich!
Standard entry in the Rathbone/Bruce cycle. Good production design and pretty good atmosphere but the supporting cast are lacklustre and the the plot refuses to linger in the mind.
Within the last week or so I have watched (in order): The Pearl of Death, The Spider Woman, The Woman in Green, The Scarlet Claw and I rated them 2 stars, 2.5 stars, 3 stars and 3.5 stars, respectively.
And now I have just watched Sherlock Holmes Faces Death and it's back to 2.5 stars ---- but I enjoyed watching all of these productions!
My takeaways: Dennis Hoey (as Inspector Lestrade) is OK and many folks like Hoey's portrayal, but he dumbs down the overall quality of the productions he is a part of; or rather (to be fair to the actor) by writing Hoey's Lestrade's into a story the producers seemed to have decided to favor lightheartedness over even…
Sherlock Holmes Faces Death is another film in the series featuring Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Watson. I think I could watch anything with these two. (And I love the length of these movies. A little over an hour.)
Watson is lending his medical services at a place called Musgrave Manor. The wealth family who lives there has opened their mansion to be used as a recuperation facility for GIs recovering from their war injuries (both physical and mental). Unfortunately, one of the Musgrave heirs dies strangely, and Watson tells Holmes about it. When another heir is found dead in a pile of leaves, Holmes has no doubt that something is afoot!
This is a classic example…
