Who doesn't like a taut Sherlock Holmes who-done-it movie?
Of course, we were spoiled by the brilliance of Jeremy Bretts' Holmes on BBC Granada Television in the 80's and 90's, but we must not forget how compelling Basil Rathbone's portrayal of Holmes was in the 1940's, where, except for the first two movies, "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" and "The Hound of the Baskervilles," Holmes' exploits were set in present World War II time time, rather than the Victorian times of the late 1800's, when Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the memorable series. It safe to say, despite the dozen of actors who played the famous sleuth in the past 70 years, both Rathbone and Brett were the definitive Holmes of their period.
Before his acting career began, Rathbone was a officer in the Liverpool Scottish, 2nd Battalion, rising to the rank of Captain. During the first World War, he was an expert at disguising himself, so that he could scout enemy positions during the daylight, rather than at night, which was the custom in those days. This was one trait he shared with the fictitious Holmes, who was a master of disguises. In 1918, Rathbone was award the prestigious Military Cross.
Upon his release from the service, Rathbone embarked on a illustrious stage career, which included playing Shakespeare's Romeo. Switching to the movies, Rathbone distinguished himself by playing swashbuckling villains. He was an especially adept swordsman, and he used his athletic ability to his advantage in several sword fight scenes, in movies like Captain Blood, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Tower of London and Mark of Zorro. He also received two Academy Award nominations for his parts in "Romeo and Juliet" and "If I Were King."
From 1939-46, Rathbone appeared in fourteen Sherlock Holmes movies, with Nigel Bruce playing his bumbling sidekick Dr. Watson. Conan Doyle wrote Watson as a staid and serious character; "stout fellow" as Holmes often called him. Yet Bruce's portrayal of Watson was sometimes comic and always eccentric, which people said was Bruce's real personality anyway. So in effect, when Bruce was playing Watson, he was really playing himself.
Sherlock Holes Faces Death (1943), which is drawn from an old Holmes short story called the Musgrave Ritual, opens in a pub, where a creepy black crow mutters the single, sinister word of "Blood." When he hears the bird's exclamation, a young sailor, played by future Rat Packer Peter Lawford, acting in his first movie, looks looks like he's ready to jump out of his skin.
We cut to a creepy old house named Musgrove Manor, which is being used as a nursing home for several officers who are suffering from shell shock, which we now call posttraumatic stress disorder. Dr. Watson is the temporary live-in physician, and his assistant Dr. Sexton is attacked outside the house and nearly killed. Watson calls in Holmes. When they arrive at Musgrove Manor, they find the owner of the house Geoffrey Musgave dead outside the house under a bed of leaves.
Scotland Yard Inspector Lestrade (Dennis Hoey) is called in, and immediately draws one bad conclusion after another. It makes you wonder how this simpleton ever became a police officer in the first place, let alone an Inspector. For some absurd reason, Lestrade arrests American air force Captain Vickery (Milburn Stone), who is in love with the gorgeous, blond Sally Musgrave (Hillary Brooke). Brooke was later the straight woman, who played foil to Abbott and Costello during their 1950's television shows.
Red herrings are inserted throughout the movie, including a clock that strikes thirteen times instead of twelve, which turns out to mean absolutely nothing. Dead bodies keep turning up and before Sally can receive her inheritance, she must recite a centuries' old ritual, with makes no sense to anyone, except Holmes of course. Holmes realizes that the words in the ritual are clues to locating a treasure hidden centuries before in the basement. Since the upstairs main floor of Musgarve Manor is covered with black and white tiles, Holmes deduces it was meant to be used as a chess board, to indicate the exact spot in the basement below where treasure is hidden. Holmes uses the remaining soldiers and household help as chess pieces, with the Musgrave Ritual's words read by Sally directing their moves.
The rest of the movie is a mad dash for the treasure, while Lestrade, thank God, gets lost in a maze of tunnels set throughout the cavernous estate, as Holmes saves the day and the treasure.
After a slow start, the last half hour of the one hour and ten minute movie rockets by with one suspenseful moment after another. I give Sherlock Holmes Faces Death a solid four stars out of a possible five.
At the movies' end, Holmes tells Watson, "The days of grab and greed are over."
That is, until the next Sherlock Holmes movie.
A Vietnam veteran in the United States Navy, Joseph J. Bruno started out in the newspaper business in the 1970's as a sports columnist for the New York Tribune. During the 70's and 80's, Bruno was an associate editor for Boxing Illustrated and monthly contributor to Ring Magazine. In 1986-1987, Bruno wrote a sports column for the Times Herald Record in Middletown, New York. His articles have also appeared in Penthouse Magazine, Razor Magazine, Boxing Today, Boxing World, International Boxing Digest, Referee Magazine and Inside Boxing. Bruno was elected Vice President of the Boxing Writers of America from 1982-86, and Vice President of the International Boxing Writers from 1980-89. In 2000, Bruno's first novel Angel of Death was published by iUniverse.com. Bruno's second novel, Find Big Fat Fanny Fast, has just been released in ebook form at Scribd.com, Smashwords and Amazon Kindle.
