The Sherlock Holmes Collection, Vol. 2 (The House of Fear/The Spider Woman/Pearl of Death/The Scarlet Claw)

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Here are four strong entries (each beautifully restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive) from the peak of Basil Rathbone's prolific, seven-year run as a definitive Sherlock Holmes for the big screen. Three of these films were released in 1944 alone, beginning with the gripping Pearl of Death, a then-contemporary update (set in the World War II years, as with most of the Rathbone-Holmes features) of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Six Napoleons."

A reluctant Holmes agrees to help a London museum recover a stolen, rare pearl. But the investigation takes a strange turn when the great detective and his sidekick, Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce), find their mystery linked to a series of odd murders involving the destruction of porcelain china. Typically, "Pearl of Death" has its share of inside jokes for true Sherlockians, including Holmes's declaration, "If I'm wrong, I'll move to Sussex and raise bees." Of course, that's exactly what Doyle's most famous character did upon retirement.

The Scarlet Claw is an original screenplay with elements loosely inspired by Doyle's "The Adventure of the Dancing Men." A skeptical Holmes and Watson attend a meeting of the Royal Canadian Occult Society in Canada, but are soon looking into a killing spree attributed to a fanciful marsh monster. Fantastic events are soon supplanted by an even stranger horror concerning a master actor bent on revenge.

The Spider Woman employs details of Holmes's apparent death and resurrection between "The Final Problem" and its follow-up, "The Adventure of the Empty House." But the movie takes a different direction when a bizarre series of late-night "pajama suicides" finds Holmes probing the involvement of a femme fatale. Of the quartet of features in this set (all produced and directed by the energetic Roy William Neill) Spider Woman has the most vivacity and familiar textures from Doyle's canon.

Finally, "The House of Fear," adapted from "The Five Orange Pips," is a chamber mystery concerning successive murders of the members of an elite club, the Good Comrades. On film, the tale seems a bit ludicrous, but its conclusion is among the most startling in the Rathbone films. There's also a fair amount of comedy between Watson and Inspector Lestrade's bumbling ways. --Tom Keogh

Description

Customer Reviews:

Unbelievable.......2007-03-08

Excellent quality. It's unbelievable that such a tremendous improvement could be made to the film. After seeing these and comparing to what I've seen broadcast in the past, the films floored me.

Sherlock Holmes DVD Set.......2007-01-03

These are great! They came within a couple days and were well packaged. I've been greatly enjoying watching these old movies and have ordered more.

Sherlock Holmes Collection, Vol. 2.......2006-03-15

Perfect Holmes. I just ordered more of this genre. Movies that you watch over again.

Major Ripoff.......2005-12-27

For the price they are asking, and the lack of extras, these collections are a major disappointment. Don't believe the packaging. These disks are far from being 'loaded with extras'. There are no extras on 3 of the disks, and the 4th has only a commentary track, and an 8 minute featurette about the restoration. Don't get me wrong, I love the films themselves, I just hate the way they have been packaged and sold. I mean they could easily have put 2 or even 3 of the films on one disk without any degradation, and issued the entire series in one collection for the price of a single one of these 'volumes'. I guess they are trying to recoup the cost of restoration. My advice, wait a couple of years for them to release the entire collection at a much lower price, because that is what they will have to eventually do.

Sherlock Holmes Collection, Vol. 2.......2004-10-21

For all fans of classic mystery films, you should seriously consider investing in this particular set from the 14 original Sherlock Holmes movies starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce during the 1930's and 1940's. Lovingly restored by UCLA and liberally adapted from the original Arthur Conan Doyle stories, there isn't a weak link among the four selected films here.

In "The Spider Woman," Holmes is forced to fake his own demise in order to counter the title character's fiendish plot. Perhaps the best sequence of the film is the circus shooting gallery finale.

In "The Pearl of Death," Holmes and Watson face off with a ruthless serial killer who is intent on recovering a lost jewel by burglarizing the homes of seemingly random victims. Before it is too late, Holmes must realize that he is facing more than one opponent.

Another serial killer is on the loose in "The Scarlet Claw," as Holmes make a rare visit to Canada to attend a convention. In a remote village, a sinister master-of-disguise is at work bumping off a list of unsuspecting victims that he has long sought vengeance on. The mark of death is a gardening tool used as a gruesome claw. I'll note that this particular film is surprisingly violent for the Rathbone series, but it only adds a greater sense of realism to the plot.

Finally, the "House of Fear" may be well the best of the series from the World War II era, as nicely woven humor is added by the befuddled presence of Inspector Lestrade. An insurance company hires Holmes and Watson to look into the bizarre deaths of an exclusive club of recluses known as the "Good Comrades." One by one, the comrades are brutally dispatched by one of their own after they are each left a warning of their impending demise by the receipt of a mysterious packet of orange pips. Holmes, however, is left with too many baffling clues and a narrowing field of suspects. The finale is well worth waiting for.

Of the three available collector's sets, I would recommend starting with this one before making a decision on the other two since all four titles are of a similiarly excellent caliber. I have no doubt that Rathbone and Bruce will likely insure your entertainment for hours to come.

Average customer rating:

Good but not the best
Sherlock Holmes - The House of Fear
A favorite.
Frighteningly Good Mystery
Sherlock Holmes, as written by Agatha Christie

Sherlock Holmes - The House of Fear
Starring: Basil Rathbone , Nigel Bruce , Aubrey Mather , Dennis Hoey , and Paul Cavanagh
Director: Roy William Neill
Manufacturer: Mpi Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000APVC3
Release Date: 2003-11-25

Amazon.com

Here is another strong entry (beautifully restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive) from the peak of Basil Rathbone's prolific, seven-year run as a definitive Sherlock Holmes for the big screen. The House of Fear (1945), adapted from "The Five Orange Pips," is a chamber mystery concerning successive murders of the members of an elite club, the Good Comrades. On film, the tale seems a bit ludicrous, but its conclusion is among the most startling in the Rathbone films. There's also a fair amount of comedy between Watson (Nigel Bruce) and Inspector Lestrade's (Dennis Hoey) bumbling ways. --Tom Keogh

Description

The master detective Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and his faithful cohort Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) are back, preserved and digitally restored in 35mm to original condition by the UCLA Film and Television Archive. This newly restored version of the classic film includes the period war bond tag and studio logo and credits from its original theatrical release. Filled with ominous shadows and interesting camera angles, the visual beauty of the film in 35mm is stunning. The Good Comrades are a collection of varied gentleman who crave one thing - solitude. They reside at Drearcliff House, ancestral home of their eldest member. All seems serene and convivial until one by one the members begin to perish in the most grisly of manners. Foul play is suspected by the Good Comrades' insurance agent, who turns to Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson for guidance. When Holmes is told that the deaths are preceded by a message in the form of orange pips sealed in an envelope, delivered to the next victim at dinner, and that the Good Comrades' insurance policies are all to be paid to the surviving member, the famed detective is convinced that there is murder afoot. Holmes and Watson are off to Scotland to try and solve the mystery.

Customer Reviews:

Good but not the best.......2007-06-15

This is one of the better Rathbone and Bruce Sherlock Holmes films. A group of gentleman start receiving envelopes with orange pips in them. After each receives the envelope they then die mysteriously. It keeps you guessing right to the very end, as a number of characters appear to be likely suspects. Watson is his usual funny self and Lestrade appears to take the credit at the end and of course Rathbone as Holmes is superb.

So from a purely entertainment point of view this is first class. However, all the Rathbone/Bruce films are now available in a wonderful remastered boxed set and this is probably a better buy.

Sherlock Holmes - The House of Fear.......2006-02-22

Basil is at his finest! A wonderful movie to curl up on the sofa with hot tea and popcorn and just escape the real world!

A favorite........2005-12-05

This is one of my favorite Sherlock Holmes films. It features a gloomy old Scottish castle, a puzzling series of murders, a long list of suspects, and lots of thunder and lightning. It also has Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. What more could you ask for-a perfect movie to watch on a dark and stormy night!

Frighteningly Good Mystery.......2005-03-24

Movie: ***** _____ DVD Quality: ****1/2 _____ DVD Extras: N/A

A moody, atmospheric entry in the classic Rathbone-Bruce Sherlock Holmes series, featuring a corking good mystery with an intriguing "whodunit?" angle. In an old and lavish Scottish mansion, the seven bachelor members of a private club are being brutally maimed and murdered one by one; interestingly, each victim receives an envelope containing orange seeds just before his turn to die. What can it mean? It's up to Holmes and Dr. Watson, with the fumbling assistance of Scotland Yard's Inspector Lestrade, to unravel the complicated plot. Rathbone and Bruce are in typically fine form as the master sleuth and his faithful foil, and the supporting cast includes wonderfully deft work by Aubrey Mather and Paul Cavanagh as two of the endangered gents. On the distaff side, Sally Shepherd turns in an intriguing performance as a dour housekeeper; and veteran leading actress turned character player Doris Lloyd, always a welcome presence in any film, has a meaty unbilled supporting role as the proprietess of a local tavern. In addition to a fine plot and stellar performances, "The House of Fear" also benefits from outstanding art direction and set decorations, all of which are beautifully captured by Virgil Miller's noirish cinematography.

The MPI video release features a generally excellent video and audio transfer from a 35mm print digitally restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive. A couple of early scenes appear overly grainy, but the rest of the transfer is sharp and clear with pleasing contrast (and especially nice graytones in a couple of key outdoor sequences). The soundtrack is remarkably crisp and clean throughout. Overall, highly recommended, and an absolute must-see for Holmes completists.

Sherlock Holmes, as written by Agatha Christie.......2005-02-23

...At least, that's certainly how it feels! This, the tenth Holmes/Watson film to feature Rathbone and Bruce, and the eighth by Universal, takes more than a page from the grand dame of mystery. Although ostensibly credited as being based on the Conan Doyle Holmes tale "The Five Orange Pips," the film owes a far greater debt to Christie's "Ten Little Indians" (aka "And Then There Were None"). In fact, it's basically little more than the Christie story retold with a Conan Doyle plot device at its core - and, strangely enough, the ultimate solution seems to have been lifted from a different, equally famous Christie novel! It's a bit odd to watch, a little like experiencing an alternate universe Sherlock Holmes, because this so clearly the territory of a detective more like Christie's own Hercule Poirot - but that doesn't stop it being entertaining.

Yes, the Universal series has started to dip a little bit in quality again (after a string of three excellent entries), but only just. Rathbone and Bruce still keep it fun, as always, and it's one of the very rare films in the series to qualify as a whodunnit murder mystery. Yet you can make a pretty good stab at the solution well before the end, and the curious element to the murders (which, of course, only Holmes notices) is blindingly obvious. At least it all makes a sort of skewed sense.

Unfortunately, we're trapped in yet another pseudo-Gothic situation, in an ancestral home sans any modern luxuries but a sour-faced housekeeper. Delightful, or at least it would be if it hadn't been done several times already. Even more unfortunate is the fact that Nigel Bruce's Watson is called upon to be still more of a dunderhead than usual, and Dennis Hoey's Inspector Lestrade is there to make even Watson look bright.

I am, perhaps, being a little over-critical; don't get me wrong, I certainly enjoyed the movie, and I think it's a good entry in the series. If you just want to see one or two films from the series, however, this is not the title for you. It works best seen in the overall context of the fourteen Rathbone and Bruce films; in other words, it's a film for the fans.

On the point of the odd plot alone, I wouldn't recommend this one to the casual viewer. Sadly, however, this is also the worst-looking of the films yet (having seen the previous nine, including the two Fox entries). I'm sure the UCLA Archive did what it could, but it's clear they didn't have all of the original 35mm elements at their disposal. Several shots are a little soft and grainy, most especially obvious in dissolve transitions, and that sometimes extends as far as whole scenes. The film simply lacks the sharp, crisp look of most of the others ("The Scarlet Claw" has a few problems too), hence my rating of only three stars - with better picture quality, it would certainly have garnered four.

If you're a Sherlock Holmes fan, or you want to see all of the famous series, you'll definitely want to at least give "The House of Fear" a rent. If you're purchasing, I seriously recommend MPI's "Sherlock Holmes Collection: Volume Two," where you'll also get the three previous, better entries. If you're new to Sherlockiana, though, or even just the Rathbone incarnation, try some of the others first: "The Hound of the Baskervilles," "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," "The Spider Woman," and "The Pearl of Death" are my top choices.

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