Arthur Wontner and Ian Fleming reprise their Holmes and Watson roles, once again foiling a plot by the villainous Professor Moriarty (Lyn Harding) and his top henchman Moran (Arthur Goullet). This time around, the story involves a murder and the theft of a race horse in an effort to insure that a big time gambler doesn't lose his shirt if the opposition horse wins.
Holmes achieves particular delight in putting down Scotland Yard Inspector Lestrade (John Turnbull), but in this film, Lestrade seems to realize what Holmes is doing. His look of exasperation is evident when Holmes utters the line quoted in the summary above. On the flip side, what's missing this time around is the philosophical debate between the detective and his nemesis Moriarty. They meet only at the end of the film when Moriarty is discovered and captured at his secret hideout. Quite honestly, I was expecting Moriarty to fall to an expected demise in the empty elevator shaft, as he did not once or twice, but three times going up against the sleuth (The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes and The Secret Weapon, and The Woman in Green).
There are similar elements in this film that were also used in the prior year's "Charlie Chan at the Race Track" (champion horse with an altered appearance, use of a weapon at the end of the race, big time money resting on the outcome), but the stories diverge from there. They merge once again though as the case is solved by each film's ranking detective.
I'd be a little critical of Sherlock Holmes' method in this one however. He relies on an old horseshoe belonging to Silver Blaze to make an exact match with a grassy outline in a moor a distance from the Baskerville Castle. Sure it fits, but so would just about any other horse shoe - sounds a lot like a ringer to me.
Holmes achieves particular delight in putting down Scotland Yard Inspector Lestrade (John Turnbull), but in this film, Lestrade seems to realize what Holmes is doing. His look of exasperation is evident when Holmes utters the line quoted in the summary above. On the flip side, what's missing this time around is the philosophical debate between the detective and his nemesis Moriarty. They meet only at the end of the film when Moriarty is discovered and captured at his secret hideout. Quite honestly, I was expecting Moriarty to fall to an expected demise in the empty elevator shaft, as he did not once or twice, but three times going up against the sleuth (The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes and The Secret Weapon, and The Woman in Green).
There are similar elements in this film that were also used in the prior year's "Charlie Chan at the Race Track" (champion horse with an altered appearance, use of a weapon at the end of the race, big time money resting on the outcome), but the stories diverge from there. They merge once again though as the case is solved by each film's ranking detective.
I'd be a little critical of Sherlock Holmes' method in this one however. He relies on an old horseshoe belonging to Silver Blaze to make an exact match with a grassy outline in a moor a distance from the Baskerville Castle. Sure it fits, but so would just about any other horse shoe - sounds a lot like a ringer to me.