THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (1939)

Criminal mastermind Prof. Moriarty has just been found not guilty on a murder charge when Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) comes racing into the courtroom with new evidence, but he is too late. Holmes and Moriarty have a tense conversation before parting, leading Moriarty to declare to one of his associates that he plans to pull off the biggest crime of all time right under Holmes' nose and that Holmes' own restless mind will be his undoing. Moriarty sets up two situations for Holmes to deal with, with one case distracting from the other. First, he sends an anonymous note to the police claiming that the priceless jewel the Star of Delhi, being sent to be put with the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London, will be stolen. Next, he sends a crude drawing of a dead man with an albatross hanging around his neck to Lloyd Brandon, and his sister Ann goes to Holmes because the same drawing was sent to her father years ago just before his death. Holmes takes on Ann's case, setting aside his duty to help protect the Star of Delhi. Ann's fiancé Gerald, a lawyer, thinks the note is a prank, but Holmes' associate Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) sees Moriarty leave Gerald's office so Holmes is sure the danger is real. In fact, Lloyd is murdered and Gerald is found with the body and arrested. Then Ann herself gets an albatross note, putting her life in danger. While this case is consuming Holmes' attention, Moriarty makes devious plans to steal not just Star of Delhi but the Crown Jewels themselves.

The first Holmes movie with Rathbone, THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, was successful enough that Fox rushed this sequel out just six months later. Credited as based on a popular 1899 Broadway adaptation by William Gillette, there is apparently little connection plotwise except for the three main characters. Though an A-film like its predecessor, with a good cast and sets, it bogs down in the middle and the action-filled climax feels a bit rushed. Rathbone and Bruce are comfortable in their roles, as is George Zucco as Moriarty, one of the best villains in the film series. Despite his fall to his death at the end of the film, Moriarty returns in a couple of later films, though never again played by Zucco (though he does appear as a different character later in the series). Ida Lupino (Ann) broke out of a string of B-movies to make the big time here and is fine. Alan Marshall plays Gerald, a somewhat ill-conceived character and doesn't really have much to do. Terry Kilburn, Tiny Tim in the 1938 CHRISTMAS CAROL, is the young lad who does the cleaning at Holmes' boarding house, and also runs the occasional errand for Holmes. This was the last Holmes film for Fox; in 1942, Universal picked up the series, setting them in the present day, giving them B-film budgets, and cutting them down in running length to be shown as second features. Nevertheless, most of them are worth watching, some actually more enjoyable than ADVENTURES, and I'll be reviewing them each soon. Pictured are Rathbone and Lupino. [DVD]