Whodunnit Wednesday - The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes (1935)

There have been so many different adaptations, interpretations and reiterations of the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's great detective that it is often quite nearly impossible to keep up with them. Wikipedia lists the first filmed Holmes story as 1900's Sherlock Holmes Baffled, and since that time there must have been hundreds of different actors portraying the famed investigator right up to last year's entry starring Robert Downey Jr. Some of these interpretations, of course, have been more faithful (and some more successful) than others. A while back, I wrote about one of my personal favorite portrayals, that of Basil Rathbone in the series of films produced by Universal Studios. Today I'd like to take a look at another, slightly earlier series of films which unfortunately have been overshadowed by those Universal films.

Arthur Wotner was born in 1875 and portrayed Holmes in a series of five films from 1931 to 1937. Of these five films, the first, The Sleeping Cardinal was, until recently, thought to be a lost film. Unfortunately, though prints have been found of this one, his second, The Missing Rembrant is still considered lost. nonetheless, the films that we do have show Wotner as a Holmes that is more cerebral than many interpretations, and who also definitely looks the part. Wotner is not as athletic as some of the later Holmes, relying much more on his deductive prowess, and that serves him in good stead in today's feature, his fourth outing as the titular detective, The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes.

Of course, a large part of the credit for this must go to the screenwriters who have hewn fairly closely to the original source material, in this case, Doyle's fourth Holmes novel, The Valley of Fear. One of the trickier aspects of any Holmes story is that since he is truly smarter than anyone else in the room (unless, of course, his brother Mycroft also happens to be present), he has often already figured out the main puzzle of the story before the explanation of the situation is finished. That is why he works better in a short story format than in a longer work such as a novel or film, and why, so often, those longer works feel padded with action scenes or obstacles that do not really belong. In this particular instance, Doyle figured out a unique way to lengthen the story. Almost one third of the book is taken up by an extended flashback to Holme's client's past as a miner in the U.S. The movie makers have kept this flashback, and though it does cause the film to drag a bit in the middle, it also gives the film a feeling of having more substance than other efforts at padding. On the flip side, the producers also felt the need to include Holmes' arch-nemesis Professor Moriarty in the film, when he does not appear in the original story, but that change does not distract too much from the overall quality of the film.

Note should also be made of Ian Fleming's (no, not the James Bond author) interpretation of the role of Dr. Watson. Instead of the bumbling oaf that Watson often seems, in Fleming's hands we see a Watson that lets us understand why Holmes would have kept him around. After all, when compared to the brilliance of Holmes, anyone is going to seem second rate, and it is important to remember that Watson was not only considered a first-rate doctor, but also a highly trained military man.

There's no embedable trailer online that I've been able to find, but here's a clip from the first part of the movie which introduces not only Holmes and Watson to the audience, but also the detective's arch enemy:


And now, the Skinny:
Title: The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes
Release Date: 1935
Running Time: 75min
Black and White
Starring: Arthur Wotner, Ian Fleming
Directed by: Leslie S. Hiscott
Produced by: Julius Hagen

The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes is available to watch or download for free here.
It's also available for purchase on DVD from Amazon:The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes.

Netflix also has the DVD available for rental: The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes.

One final note before I take my leave today: I'd like to give a quick shout-out to Anthony DP Mann, co-host of the Horror Etc. podcast who is currently producing and starring in what looks to be a fun interpretation of Holmes called Sherlock Holmes and the Shadow Watchers. It's even been authorised by the Holmes estate. Find out more by clicking the link, and if you're at all interested in intelligent and spirited conversation about the horror and sci-fi genres, I highly recommend you check out Tony and Ted's podcast.
Until next time, Happy Treasure Hunting,
-Professor Damian

Whodunnit Wednesday - Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1943) - starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce

Sherlock Holmes Nazi Fighter? Umm... hang on, wasn't his last case set in 1914 when he was an older man who had retired to beekeeping? Well, according to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, yes, but hey... it was World War II - the war after "the war to end all wars", and the allies needed all the help they could get, especially with all those Nazi spies on our (well British, at least) shores. So they had to recruit whomever they could to protect not only their soldiers but their scientists and statesmen who were doing their best to end the threat and the war.

Actually, this, the fourth pairing of the two, was the second of the Rathbone/Bruce Holmes movies to be set in contemporary times, following the previous year's Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror, which explained the time shift with a simple title card that described the master detective and his stalwart companion as "timeless". Fair enough, actually, as this particular portrayal has definitely proven to be exactly that. Excluding the recent Robert Downey Jr./Jude Law outing, if asked, most people (assuming they could name one in the first place) would name Rathbone and Bruce as the classic Holmes and Watson. And considering that they teamed for a total of fourteen films plus numerous radio shows and other appearances, obviously they were an incredibly well -known and popular team.

(Personally, I think the most masterful and definitive portrayal of Holmes is that of Jeremy Brett, whether teamed with David Burke or Edward Hardwicke, but Rathbone and Bruce definitely hold a special place in my heart.)

So what exactly is this "Secret Weapon" that draws Holmes' attention? (Along, of course, with that of Scotland Yard inspector Lestrade, government minister Sir Reginald Bailey, and Holmes' ultimate nemesis Professor Moriarty (portrayed by the intriguing Lionel Atwill)? Well, actually it's not so much a weapon in itself as something that will definitely (at least according to pretty much every one in the film) change the course of the war: a new type of bomb sight. Invented by Swiss scientist Franz Tobel, the new sight uses "sonic waves" to apparently allow it to see through the clouds so that planes approaching from great heights can more accurately drop their payload. At least that's the way I understand it - let's be honest, that's actually more explanation for the nature of this "weapon" than we're actually given in the film.

But, of course, the sight itself is merely the MacGuffin - the plot feature that sets everything into motion. And despite its at-the-time-modern setting, that motion is pure Holmes. Incorporating elements of Conan Doyle's "The Dancing Men", the story gives us an incredibly observant and deductive Holmes (who also manages to disguise himself not one, not two, but three times), a good-hearted but slightly bumbling Watson, a dispicable but quite intelligent Moriarty, death traps (well, ok, again, honestly the "stuff holmes in the bottom of a crate, carry him to our ship and toss him overboard" plan could have used a little more thinking through, though it does give Watson a chance to exert his own powers of deduction), 221B Baker Street (and a pop-in from Mrs Hudson), and just enough humor and good-natured sparring between the two leads to make the whole adventure quite entertaining.

So, how about a trailer?


And, look out! Here comes the skinny:

Title: Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon
Release Date: 1943
Running Time: 80 min.
Black and White
Stars: Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce
Director: Roy William Neil
Producer: Howard Benedict
Distributed by: Universal Studios

Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon is available to watch or download here.
It's also available on DVD from Amazon: Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon
or for rental from Netflix: Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon.

Until next time, Happy Treasure Hunting,
-Professor Damian