Every great hero should have an arch-nemesis, an opponent capable of testing them to the limit; for Sherlock Holmes, this worthy antagonist is Professor Moriarty, an evil genius who, every bit as intelligent, obsessive and arrogant as the famous detective, has dedicated his life to becoming the world's most infamous criminal mastermind.
In The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, the second film to star Basil Rathbone as Conan Doyle's iconic creation, Moriarty (George Zucco) narrowly escapes the gallows when Holmes arrives at court with damning evidence only minutes after the professor has been acquitted. Determined to break Holmes' seemingly indomitable spirit, Moriarty devises an audacious robbery that will not only go down in history as the crime of the century, but which will also ruin his rival's reputation in the process.
While subsequent Rathbone Holmes movies would settle for a 'contemporary' 1940s setting, the next few films being used as wartime propaganda, this tale takes place exactly where it should, Victorian London bound by fog, with high production values allowing for bags of cool period set design and plenty of Gothic atmosphere. The screenplay isn't flawless, one or two plot contrivances taking quite some swallowing (a potential victim's decision to walk home through the fog being particularly daft), but it is a lot of fun, providing Holmes with lots of crafty clues to cogitate over as well as an extraordinary chance to show his lighter side (in disguise as a music-hall performer) and a rare opportunity to use brawn over brain in an exciting final showdown against his Machiavellian foil.
Also serving to make this one of my favourite of all Holmes's adventures: a creepy, club-footed, flute-playing, bolas-flinging Chilean assassin (you just don't see enough of them in the movies), and the lovely Ida Lupino as fetching damsel in distress Miss Brandon.
In The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, the second film to star Basil Rathbone as Conan Doyle's iconic creation, Moriarty (George Zucco) narrowly escapes the gallows when Holmes arrives at court with damning evidence only minutes after the professor has been acquitted. Determined to break Holmes' seemingly indomitable spirit, Moriarty devises an audacious robbery that will not only go down in history as the crime of the century, but which will also ruin his rival's reputation in the process.
While subsequent Rathbone Holmes movies would settle for a 'contemporary' 1940s setting, the next few films being used as wartime propaganda, this tale takes place exactly where it should, Victorian London bound by fog, with high production values allowing for bags of cool period set design and plenty of Gothic atmosphere. The screenplay isn't flawless, one or two plot contrivances taking quite some swallowing (a potential victim's decision to walk home through the fog being particularly daft), but it is a lot of fun, providing Holmes with lots of crafty clues to cogitate over as well as an extraordinary chance to show his lighter side (in disguise as a music-hall performer) and a rare opportunity to use brawn over brain in an exciting final showdown against his Machiavellian foil.
Also serving to make this one of my favourite of all Holmes's adventures: a creepy, club-footed, flute-playing, bolas-flinging Chilean assassin (you just don't see enough of them in the movies), and the lovely Ida Lupino as fetching damsel in distress Miss Brandon.