Not being, frankly speaking, a 'real' Sherlock Holmes fanatic (Hercule Poirot's more in my line, though he's pretty queer as well; but he DOES have that 'continental' charm), during the fifth and last movie in which Arthur Wontner portrays the famous sleuth (and he's REALLY brought the role to perfection by now), there are moments when he begins to get on my nerves with his constant line 'Elementary, my dear Watson, elementary!", his impossible observations and deductions, and his obsession with his arch-enemy Moriarty... But let's not do this film any wrong!
It's a very well written, directed and acted crime mystery (in fact, with a plot feature that's REALLY stunning, although in fact it's so obvious - IF you deduce correctly...), with some beautiful shots of Dartmoor, where Holmes returns to the 'scene of the crime': he visits Sir Henry Baskerville, whom he had saved 20 years ago from the horrible hound; and becomes involved in the local horse racing scene, getting a chance to have a close look at the almost sure derby winner, 'Silver Blaze'. But Moriarty back in London at the same time agrees to a deal with a bookmaker who under NO circumstances wants 'Silver Blaze' to win - and so, soon Holmes and Watson find themselves in the middle of a strange mystery of murder and horse kidnapping...
As I pointed out before, Arthur Wontner probably was the most characteristic 'Sherlock Holmes' ever, even more so than Basil Rathbone (he's only better remembered because he did a whole series of 15 Holmes movies for Hollywood's 20th Century-Fox Studios); and it's certainly worth taking a look at those older, genuinely British Doyle adaptations!
It's a very well written, directed and acted crime mystery (in fact, with a plot feature that's REALLY stunning, although in fact it's so obvious - IF you deduce correctly...), with some beautiful shots of Dartmoor, where Holmes returns to the 'scene of the crime': he visits Sir Henry Baskerville, whom he had saved 20 years ago from the horrible hound; and becomes involved in the local horse racing scene, getting a chance to have a close look at the almost sure derby winner, 'Silver Blaze'. But Moriarty back in London at the same time agrees to a deal with a bookmaker who under NO circumstances wants 'Silver Blaze' to win - and so, soon Holmes and Watson find themselves in the middle of a strange mystery of murder and horse kidnapping...
As I pointed out before, Arthur Wontner probably was the most characteristic 'Sherlock Holmes' ever, even more so than Basil Rathbone (he's only better remembered because he did a whole series of 15 Holmes movies for Hollywood's 20th Century-Fox Studios); and it's certainly worth taking a look at those older, genuinely British Doyle adaptations!