Basil Rathbone

  • Sidney Lanfield – The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)

    1931-1940CrimeMysterySidney LanfieldUSA

    Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson investigate the legend of a supernatural hound, a beast that may be stalking a young heir on the fog-shrouded moorland that makes up his estate.

    ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ (1939) is the most well-known cinematic adaptation of the book, and is often regarded as one of the better film versions of it. It differs somewhat, but not as much as the 1959 film version.Read More »

  • Roy William Neill – Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943)

    1941-1950CrimeMysteryRoy William NeillUSA

    Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson travel to Washington D.C. in order to prevent a secret document from falling into enemy hands.Read More »

  • Roy William Neill – The Spider Woman (1943)

    1941-1950CrimeMysteryRoy William NeillUSA

    Plot
    Consulting detective Sherlock Holmes fakes his own death in Scotland in order to investigate a number of bizarre apparent suicides that he is convinced are part of an elaborate plot by “a female Moriarty”. Returning to his assistant Watson in secret, Holmes notes that all the victims were wealthy gamblers, so disguised as “Rajni Singh”, a distinguished Indian officer, he stalks London’s gaming clubs.Read More »

  • Roy William Neill – The Woman in Green (1945)

    1941-1950CrimeMysteryRoy William NeillUSA

    A 1945 American Sherlock Holmes film starring Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson, with Hillary Brooke as the woman of the title and Henry Daniell as Professor Moriarty. The film is not credited as an adaptation of any of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Holmes tales, but several of its scenes are taken from “The Final Problem” and “The Adventure of the Empty House.” The Woman in Green is the eleventh film of the Rathbone/Bruce series.Read More »

  • John Rawlins – Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942)

    1941-1950CrimeJohn RawlinsMysteryUSA

    Quote:
    Combines elements of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story, ‘His Last Bow’ and loosely parallels the real-life activities of Lord Haw-haw. Horror film “scream queen” Evelyn Ankers appears as leading lady.

    England, at the start of World War Two. Mysterious wireless broadcasts, apparently from Nazi Germany are heard over the BBC. The warn of acts of terror in England, just before they take place. Baffled, the Defence Committee call in Holmes.Read More »

  • Roy William Neill – Dressed to Kill (1946)

    1941-1950MysteryRoy William NeillThrillerUSA

    Dressed to Kill, also known as Prelude to Murder (working title) and Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Code (in the UK), is the last of fourteen films starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Doctor Watson.

    Though not directly based on any of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Holmes stories, the film features several references to “A Scandal in Bohemia”, with Holmes and Watson discussing the recent publication of the story in The Strand Magazine, and the villain of the film using the same trick on Watson that Holmes uses on Irene Adler in the story. The plot also bears some resemblance to “The Adventure of the Six Napoleons”.Read More »

  • James Algar & Clyde Geronimi & Jack Kinney – The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)

    1941-1950AnimationClyde GeronimiJack KinneyJames AlgarUSA

    Quote:
    Two stories. The Wind in the Willows: Concise version of Kenneth Grahame’s story of the same name. J. Thaddeus Toad, owner of Toad Hall, is prone to fads, such as the newfangled motor car. This desire for the very latest lands him in much trouble with the wrong crowd, and it is up to his friends, Mole, Rat and Badger to save him from himself. – The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: Retelling of Washington Irving’s story set in a tiny New England town. Ichabod Crane, the new schoolmaster, falls for the town beauty, Katrina Van Tassel, and the town Bully Brom Bones decides that he is a little too successful and needs “convincing” that Katrina is not for him.Read More »

  • Rowland V. Lee – Tower of London (1939)

    1931-1940ClassicsHorrorRowland V. LeeUSA

    In the 15th century Richard Duke of Gloucester, aided by his club-footed executioner Mord, eliminates those ahead of him in succession to the throne, then occupied by his brother King Edward IV of England. As each murder is accomplished he takes particular delight in removing small figurines, each resembling one of the successors, from a throne-room dollhouse, until he alone remains. After the death of Edward he becomes Richard III, King of England, and need only defeat the exiled Henry Tudor to retain power.Read More »

  • Roy William Neill – The Scarlet Claw (1944)

    1941-1950CrimeMysteryRoy William NeillUSA

    Quote:
    When a gentlewoman is found dead with her throat torn out, the villagers blame a supernatural monster. But Sherlock Holmes, who gets drawn into the case from nearby Quebec, suspects a human murderer.Read More »

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