Watching the Detectives: Basil Rathbone is Sherlock Holmes in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The second and final 20thCentury Fox film in the Rathbone/Bruce series (they migrated to another studio and another era with the next film) eschews Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories in favour of adapting William Gillette’s play, at least as far as onscreen credits go (the film really has little in common with the play).
Bruce is in full buffoon mode here, not just the dim but (fairly) reliable companion of The Hound of the Beskervilles, and, while his performance may bare little relation to the one Doyle put down on paper, it would become the popular image of Watson for some time to come. The real stars though are Rathbone, on screen far more this time round, and George Zucco giving a master class in scenery chewing malevolence as the super sleuth’s arch nemesis, Moriarty. In fact some of my favourite scenes in the film feature Zucco berating Moriarty’s manservant.
It’s a little disconcerting that Holmes is given such obvious clues to Moriarty’s plot, to such an extent that the villain pretty much catches himself. Still such shortcomings are more than made up for with the stunning denouement that allows director Alfred L. Werker to turn on the style and crank up the suspense as the old enemies stalk each other in the Tower of London.
Is it better than The Hound of the Baskervilles? As a story definitely not but as a film it just about edges it.
