Sherlock Holmes - The Scarlet Claw | Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce

Sherlock Holmes - The Scarlet Claw | Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce | A Ghostly Killer? Or a Rational Explanation?

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Sherlock Holmes - ...

	Sherlock Holmes - The Scarlet Claw Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce Mpi Home Video, 2003 average customer review:based on 15 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The master detective Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and his faithful cohort Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) are back, preserved and digitally restored in 35mm to original condition by the UCLA Film and Television Archive. This newly restored version of the classic film includes the period war bond tag and studio logo and credits from its original theatrical release. Filled with ominous shadows and interesting camera angles, the visual beauty of the film in 35mm is stunning. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson journey to Canada to attend a meeting of the Royal Canadian Occult Society in Quebec. Before long, they find themselves investigating a series of gruesome murders that the locals attribute to the legendary phantom marsh monster of La Morte Rouge. But Holmes suspects a master of disguise is the real killer, who might be anyone in the village. He contrives a clever trap and courageously sets himself up to be the killer's next victim.

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Not my personal favorite but still superb

First, I want to point out that THIS is the copy of this film that you want. It's been re-worked by the UCLA film lab and was digitized from a very pristine black and white 35 mm print. All other copies are inferior to this one. The aspect is full-screen.

As to the story, it takes place in a small Canadian Hamlet where an aristocrat's wife has been murdered. She had tried to contact Sherlock Holmes by letter of her impending demise, but alas, too late!!! However, Holmes and Dr. Watson (Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce) commit to avenging Lady Penrose's death by unveiling her murderer, a dastardly serial killer who uses a toothed gardening trowel as his weapon of choice.

The mysterious aristocrat, (played by the amazing Paul Cavanaugh), wants Holmes off the case but, of course, Holmes ignores the man's veiled threats and persists in his inquiries. Soon, another murder sets Holmes and Watson to redouble their efforts before futher disasters follow, (which they do).

In this film, we get a little reincarnation of "The Hound" as Holmes and Watson track their shrewd nemesis into the nearby swamps where this killer lurks like a phosphorescent apparition. But, of course, Holmes has been this route before!

The movie is a film-noir, moreso than previous Rathbone/Bruce entries, due to one particular murder in the story, (can't say which one because it's a SPOILER!), which makes this particular killer all that much more of a rotten scoundrel. Viewers will also note that the cast is bulging with crusty old curmudgeons, perhaps the most profound, and the best ever cast, of any in this renowned film series.

I have my favorites in the Rathbone/Bruce Sherlock Holmes series of films, (I'm really hot on "Sherlock Holmes Faces Death"), but I have to say that this entry certainly upholds the excellence for which these great old black and white British mysteries are known.

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A Ghostly Killer? Or a Rational Explanation?

A ghost is seen in a swampy area, and numerous people confirm the sighting of this obviously-luminous ghost. Bodies of sheep and humans are found nearby. Each has the same, distinctive throat wound. Sherlock Holmes does not believe in ghosts. But how is he to find out what exactly this "ghostly" killer is? He fearlessly goes alone into the swampy area at night to encounter and examine this "ghost". Shivers!

Later, the clues begin to pile up: A fragment of rarely-made clothing gets torn off the "ghost", the throat wounds of all the victims fit the pattern of a mini-rake garden tool, a half-torn photograph matches its complementary part found at a suspect's home, and there are astonishing coincidences in the presence and absence of particular people in the town.

But Sherlock Holmes does not have it easy. The killer is very clever and elusive. What's more, the killer keeps changing his identity. At one point, he even masquerades as a woman. Finally, Sherlock Holmes is held up at gunpoint by the killer. Will Holmes become the latest victim of this murderer? If not, will Sherlock and Watson be able to finally apprehend the killer? I will not spoil the ending by revealing it.

The sensitive viewer may appreciate the fact that this old movie, unlike the new ones, is conspicuously free of gory scenes. For example, a woman whose throat was cut, but who manages to ring a church bell before dying, is not shown with a throat wound, even when the face of her body is viewed by Sherlock Holmes. Nor is any trail of blood shown.

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sherlock holmes - the scarlet claw

Very pleased with product. Haven't seen this episode in a while, very enjoyable.

Perhaps The Best Title In the Rathbone-Bruce Series

Universal's Sherlock Holmes series brought the characters into the 20th Century. Many of the were related to World War II, stories in which Holmes went in pursuit of spies and counterspies; others tried to mimic the original Arthur Conan Doyle stories with a presentation of mental puzzles. Although generally well executed, seldom did any of the titles rise above the level of "B Pictures"--but on the rare occasions that they did, they did so with a vengence, and THE SCARLET CLAW is such a case. Directed at a fast clip by Roy William Neill, memorably photographed by George Robinson, and sporting an expert cast in a particularly clever script, this is easily among the best of the series.

The story harkens back to such titles as THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES. Lord Penrose (Paul Cavanaugh) is convinced that his small, Canadian town is beset by an evil spirit--and is indeed giving a lecture on psychic phenomena when his wife is found murdered, presumably by a apparition that haunted the town many years before. Convinced that it is the work of an otherwordly being, he does not welcome the arrival of Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone), who is convinced that there is nothing ghostly about the matter in the least.

The Universal films counted a great deal on the chemistry between Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Holmes and sidekick Dr. Watson, and indeed that chemistry is on full display in this particular title. But the overall cast is remarkably fine, not only the aforementioned Cavanaugh but most particularly Gerald Hammer, who frequently appeared in these films and here offers a uniquely memorable turn as the fearful postmaster. And, unlike most other films in the series, the solution to the crime is indeed a shocker.

The restoration is very handsome and the DVD comes with two nice bonuses, a short documentary on the challenges faced by those who restored the series (THE SCARLET CLAW receives particular mention) and an erudite audio commentary by film historian David Stuart Davies. If you've seen one or two films in the series and been unimpressed--give this one a try to see what Rathbone and company could do when when they had all the right makings. Recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

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"The name of the third person is..." but Sherlock Holmes is interrupted, and soon there will be another corpse

"Consider, Watson, the irony, the tragic irony of it. We've accepted a commission from the victim to find her murderer. For the first time...we've been retained by a corpse."

We are about to witness one of the cruelest and most dastardly of schemes, this time in the village of Le Mort Rouge, located not far from Quebec City and surrounded by marsh, bog and swamp. We also will witness the increasingly unnatural relationship between Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and John Watson (Nigel Bruce). No, no, not that kind of relationship, but the unnatural relationship between a rigorously logical detective and a friend who has become a bumbling, ridiculous oaf. One must assume that sometime between 1939 and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and 1942 and The Voice of Terror, John Watson suffered a series of small strokes that turned the man into a well-meaning, complacent fool. It must have been intensely irritating for Sherlock Holmes to share quarters at 221B Baker Street with the "old boy," but at least Holmes was loyal.

What draws Holmes and Watson to La Mort Rouge is the terrible death of Lady Lillian Penrose, the woman who wrote to Holmes pleading for help. She was found in an empty church, clutching the bell rope, her throat torn open by some horrendous creature of the night...a creature that had also ripped open the throats of several sheep. Some, such as Lord Penrose, now alone in his great stone manor with fog sweeping in during the long nights, believe in supernatural curses. Holmes believes murder comes at the hands of murderers, not ghosts. He will find himself up against one of the most ruthless, deranged and resourceful villains in his long career. There can be no doubt of the outcome...but more deaths will occur before this madman is unmasked in the marsh and dies himself, his throat torn open with terrible and ironic justice.

Popcorn, anyone?

The Scarlet Claw is great fun once one accepts Dr. John Watson as a nincompoop. The pleasure, of course, comes from Basil Rathbone's portrayal of The Great Detective and all that swirling fog. Surprisingly, this entry in the Universal series holds up reasonably well, with a clever plot, a villain who keeps us guessing, tight direction and a script that doesn't do too much damage to the reputation of The Canon. The first two Rathbone/Holmes efforts, produced in 1939 at 20th Century Fox, were solidly mounted A movies. In 1942 with Universal, the series became firmly grounded in the tradition of B-movie programmers. Rathbone, one of the great name character actors in the Thirties, ground out 12 Holmes movies in four years before he called it quits. By then, of course, he'd become so closely identified with Holmes that he didn't have much of a career left. Most of Universal's Holmes films are just what they appear to be, quickie programmers that, for many, still retain some charm. The Scarlet Claw is probably better than the rest of them.

It should be remembered that almost everything we know of Dr. John Watson comes from himself as author of the many cases of his friend he wrote using the alias of his literary agent, Conan Doyle. He seems to me to be a modest, straightforward man of some courage who values his friends. His weakness, perhaps, is no more than a certain lack of imagination. While many may differ on how Holmes has been portrayed in popular entertainment, my favorites for Dr. John Watson are James Mason in Murder by Decree, Ian Hart in Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking and Ben Kingsley in Without a Clue.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

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