User Reviews

"The woman in green" is the lovely Hillary Brooke. But what she to do with the Jack the Ripper fiend, now terrorizing London?

Of the 12 Universal entries in the Sherlock Holmes cycle, all starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, The Woman in Green, alas, proves to be one of the weakest. This can only be described as a shame because there's nothing amiss with the players, the camera credits or the production values. In fact, all rate among the top entries in the Universal twelve.

As for the players, not only do Rathbone and Bruce acquit themselves in typically fine form, but the support cast headed by Hillary Brooke must be counted as one of the most pleasing in the series. In fact, critics have often singled out Henry Daniell as the most effectively sinister Moriarty of all time. Mind you, Daniell doesn't have the villainous equation all to himself, but receives superb support from super-seductive Hillary Brooke as the hypnotically radiant title character, as well as Sally Shepherd's evil housemaid and Percival Vivian's chillingly sadistic doctor. Harold de Becker's whining assassin-shoelace man must also be listed in this quartet of horror.

On the other side of the fence, Eve Amber (in her second of only two credited movie roles) shines as the briefly glimpsed but attractive heroine, while Mary Gordon proves as captivating as usual as the definitive Mrs Hudson. Special mention should be made of Frederick Worlock's deft fluency as a necromantic hypnotist (viewers are warned not to gaze too intently at his spinning wheel, or you're liable to go dizzy yourselves).

In this adventure, Rathbone forms a welcome alliance with Matthew Boulton (who also narrates), here playing an intelligent CID man for a nice change. Of course, although he admittedly makes a late entrance, Bruce receives a commendable innings too and actually has a suitably scary sequence all to himself when he enters and explores a supposedly empty house.

Roy Neill's fluid direction, ably enhanced by Virgil Miller's moodily atmospheric, strewn-with-shadows cinematography, raises no questions either. In fact, it's quite impossible to fault. The problem lies with the script. My advice is to just let it wash over you. The plot is so full of gaping holes, it makes no sense at all if you pry into Cavanagh's dilemma. Is he a surgeon? No! Any previous black-outs? No! Any

Hilary Brooks' finest film, playing a beautiful sinister baddie - who's supposed to be in green in a b&w movie and no-one actually tells you she's in green either. Henry Daniell plays Moriarty colder than a refrigerator; George Zucco was mad and Lionel Atwill was pervy but imho I think Daniell was maybe better fitted to play the part of Evil Personified, being cold as ice. But I've always had a soft spot for Zucco however - what a team they made a few years before in SH in Washington! Brooks' housekeeper (subbing Mrs Danvers) and the actual murderer (only briefly seen) complete the Gang of Four.

Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Holmes and Watson are as usual marvellously embroiled in solving a series of particularly gruesome crimes - apparently the censors had their say - of murder and mutilation of young women in London. Inspector Lestrade's comedic touches were considered out of place in this one, so we had the extra stolid and rather wimpish Inspector Gregson instead. My daughter pointed out that when Brooks is hypnotising her prey both the characters look into a lily pond with a decidedly wrong reflection looking back! Unless we were both hypnotised into believing it!

But even if it's slightly sub-par it's still another enjoyable entry, at this distance and after 10 viewings I'd have loved a 3 hour directors cut of this to be suddenly found, but alas it will never be! A great (Definitive edition) print works wonders though.

Sherlock Holmes is called in following a series of gruesome murders in which each victim has a finger cut off, and uncovers Professor Moriarty behind a sinister plot involving hypnotism and blackmail.

A very enjoyable little Sherlock Holmes mystery, with a great script by Bertram Millhauser. Rathbone is as searing as ever in his masterful portrayal of Holmes, Brooke is a charming femme fatale and Daniell a terrific Moriarty, both having appeared in smaller parts in previous entries in this series. There's also a wonderful photographic effects sequence by John Fulton when Brooke hypnotises Holmes. Neill turns in a brisk, polished thriller, with wit and style to spare.

Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and his assistant Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) are called in by Scotland Yard to help solve the most atrocious series of murders since Jack the Ripper. The victims are all women who are fiendishly mutilated, their forefingers severed and apparently taken by the perpetrator. Holmes comes to believe that the murders are incidental to a more sinister scheme, and what he discovers is a plot involving hypnotism and blackmail; behind it all is his chief nemesis, the diabolical Professor Moriarty (Henry Daniell).

For his part, Moriarty engages the beautiful Hillary Brooke as his "Woman in Green", though that's a moot point since the black and white film never references her choice of attire. Brooke is eerily malevolent as Lydia Marlowe, seducing unsuspecting victims to her apartment, then hypnotizing them into committing murder and blackmailing them for her silence. As effective as her performance was, it was difficult separating Brooke from her lighter role as Lou Costello's neighbor and would be girl friend on the "Abbott and Costello" show. Here she can make ice cubes with just one look.

Viewing Holmes and his arch enemy Moriarty spar verbally is always a treat, as they discuss their plans for each other. You don't doubt it when Holmes proclaims "We shall walk through the gates of eternity hand in hand".

Nigel Bruce's Watson offers up two great comedic scenes. The first is a quick visual, as Watson answers a phone call for help he's shown blowing the dust off his medical bag. Later, as he casually dismisses the effectiveness of hypnotism, he's caught with his pants down, well make that just one leg, as he's made the butt of a parlor gag in front of an audience.

In what could have been a cliffhanger ending, Holmes puts himself in harm's way, as the seductive Miss Marlowe hypnotizes him and Moriarty then takes over, eliciting a suicide note from the detective for failure to solve the murders. As he precariously balances on the ledge of a rooftop, Holmes' trust in his aide de camp is put to the test. With Watson's arrival, along with Inspector Gregson of The Yard (Matthew Boulton), the jig is up for Moriarty, whose escape attempt ends in his fall from a ledge and his own demise. Or does it? It looked like curtains for Lionel Atwill's Moriarty in "Sherlock Holmes and The Secret Weapon" under similar circumstances.

Sherlock Holmes fans should find this entry entertaining enough. This is only the sixth film I've seen in the series, and it appears to be one of the better ones. I'm finally getting better at keeping up with the dialog, as some of the films have a tinny sound quality that make understanding hard to follow. For novices interested in getting on board with the Holmes films, there's a neat ten movie package on five DVD's from Brentwood Home Video. As a plus, there's five bonus TV episodes from the series that starred Ronald Howard in the Holmes role.

I watched the Basil Rathbone/Sherlock Holmes movies in order.I saw Henry Daniell in "The Voice of Terror" and "Sherlock Holmes in Washington" and it got me thinking about Henry Daniell.I thought,"I bet he would be a great Moriarty".When I watched him in this little movie I finally saw Mr.Daniell as The Napoleon of Crime and my heart sang.He was the absolutely greatest James Moriarty ever!!!!!He had the exact apperiance of Moriarty as descriebed in "The Final Problem"!!!He even had the sunken eyes.Extremely creepy.....Basil Rathbone good as ever,in other words brilliant. I do not see how you can compare Rathbone with Jeremy Brett.He totally blows Brett out of the water. Basil Rathbone is the greatest Sherlock Holmes ever. Though H.Marion Crawford was the best Watson.

Diverting detective mystery in which the principal investigator's name happens to be Sherlock Holmes. If nothing else, it's good for late night viewing when drowsiness seems elusive. Also, Hillary Brooke carries around a lapidary glow that makes one long for the days when women's bathrobes had padded shoulders.

This is the one about hypnosis. A number of young women have been killed around London and one of their fingers amputated and carried off. Men of prominence have been hypnotized by Hillary Brooke and Professor Moriarty and wake up near the murder site with the detached digit in their pockets. They are subsequently blackmailed. That's the plot in a nut shell.

In the course of the investigation, Holmes plays a bit of violin music, the bumbling and muttering Nigel Bruce gets to be hypnotized during a visit to the Mesmer Club and make a fool of himself, and Holmes pretends to be hypnotized and coaxed into walking off a penthouse balcony.

An incident is stolen from Conan-Doyle's "The Empty House," but nothing else will look very familiar to aficionados. The story and its execution are perfunctory. Holes are not worth going into. But, well, okay -- just one. The "hypnotized" Holmes must write a suicide note and he does so without looking down at what he's writing. It's just a small point but it's a signal that no one was paying much attention any longer to a series that was being ground out to keep the customers coming in and being entertained in a way that challenged nobody's sensibilities or intelligence.

The device used to hypnotize Watson at the Mesmer Club is called an Archimides spiral and is useful for hypnotic inductions. I used one while collecting psychological data on visual after effects and one or two subjects began promptly nodding out. If anyone want to see what a visual after effect is like, he should locate a spiral -- they're around -- activate it and stare at it for about thirty seconds, then shut it off. You might not believe what happens next.

*** Very Mild Spoiler Contained Herein ***

The Woman In Green is an enjoyable detective story. Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce are good as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.

The standout for me in the film is Hillary Brook. She nails her part. It's thrilling to see the cat and mouse game played between her character and Sherlock Holmes. I do think Henry Danielle as Professor Moriarity could have done better. I would like to have seen him portrayed as more sinister and his part fleshed out to a greater degree.

I tend to agree with those who think the film was a bit too short and the conclusion a bit too quickly arrived at. Unfortunately, I did notice at least one plot hole in the movie. See if you can find it.

All in all this a good entry in the Sherlock Holmes Basil Rathbone films, but not the best. I rate it a 76/100.