THE SCARLET CLAW (1944)

It's a foggy night in the rural Canadian village of La Morte Rouge. At an inn, the villagers discuss how sheep have recently been found dead, their throats ripped out, and a weird glow has been seen on the marshes. That night, the church bell begins tolling and doesn't stop. When the priest investigates, he finds the dead body of Lady Penrose, her throat cut and her hand clutching the bell rope. In Quebec, her husband is addressing a meeting of the Canadian Occult Society at which Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) are present. Penrose argues for the reality of occult explanations, whereas Holmes says they agree on the importance of facts but differ on interpretations and deductions. When Penrose receives news of his wife's death, he heads back to the village. Holmes then receives a letter from Lady Penrose sent the day before asking him to come to the village to investigate a threat to her life. Telling Watson that this is the first time they have been retained by a corpse, Holmes heads to the village where he finds Lord Penrose mourning his wife but refusing to cooperate with Holmes. But Holmes soon discovers that Lady Penrose used to be an actress named Lilian Gentry, and had been involved in a murder case in which an actor named Ramson killed another actor over attentions to Lillian. Holmes believes that Ramson escaped from prison and has insinuated himself in the village under another name and is the cause of the recent mayhem, using a multi-toothed garden weeder that leaves a claw-like mark on the throats of the victims. Now Holmes surmises that two other people who were involved in the judicial side of the case and now live in the village are marked for death.

After 1943's SHERLOCK HOLMES FACES DEATH brought Gothic atmosphere back to the Rathbone series, the next film, THE SPIDER WOMAN, reverted to a more traditional London setting. Here, in the sixth Universal film, we're closer to Gothic territory again, if not in "old dark houses," then in an insular gloomy community, with most of the action taking place at night. In fact, there is a Baskervilles feel to this film, what with a glow-in-the-dark presence on the marshes which look very much like moors, and talk of the supernatural. The plot of this one is a bit more complicated and moves a bit more slowly than most of the earlier films, though I was never bored. The Canadian setting means there is no Mrs. Hudson or Inspector Lestrade, but they're not missed. There are a number of local color characters, most of whom wind up not being important to the story and, surprisingly, Lord Penrose (Paul Cavanagh, pictured at left), who is set up in the beginning as a nemesis and possible villain, fades into the background. Supporting actors include Miles Mander (as a crippled retired judge), Gerald Hamer (as the village postman), Arthur Hohl and Ian Wolfe. Bruce continues to get his comic relief bits, and there is, as in most of the previous Universal films, a sentimental, patriotic final speech by Holmes, this time quoting Churchill about the glory of Canada. [DVD]