Always entertaining and enjoyable, the Sherlock Holmes series in the '40s is an interesting watch. The films "The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes" and "The Hound of the Baskervilles" were set in Victorian times, but the series of films is set in modern London, with the series used mostly as a World War II propaganda tool. Some of the stories are derived from the Conan Doyle stories and others aren't.
Rathbone is perhaps the definitive Holmes, competing with the wonderful Jeremy Brett and, in a different way, Benedict Cumberbatch. All three capture the basic coldness and analytical mind of the character and his abruptness. Rathbone probably resembles the Holmes we had in our minds while reading the stories.
The problem with the Rathbone series is Nigel Bruce as Watson and the way the relationship is written in the scripts. Watson in the '40s series is a bumbling fool whom Holmes occasionally mocks, though usually at the end of the film, Holmes' attitude toward him is softer.
In the stories, Holmes views Watson as the voice of the common man and values him as a friend and someone who can observe a situation on a different level. He's not a moron. In the "Mystery" series starring Jeremy Brett, and in the Cumberbatch series, Watson is young, good- looking, savvy and there is be much more of a friendship.
What Bruce brought to the role is the audience's awareness of Watson, which wasn't as prevalent before he played the role. He makes it an important one.
In "Sherlock Holmes and the Woman in Green," Holmes is battling his nemesis, Professor Moriarity (Henry Daniell) as he does in much of the series.
In this film, men are being hypnotized into believing they killed a woman and cut off a finger. This is then used to blackmail them. The daughter of one of the men asks Holmes for help, and this leads him to an attractive woman - apparently in green, but it's hard to tell because the film is black and white - who lures the men to her apartment and hypnotizes them.
The earlier films such as "Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror" were pure propaganda, but I didn't find them any less entertaining, and as Holmes is a real classic character, he fits well into the WW II era, as Cumberbatch does today, texting with his cell phone and using computers.
This series from the '40s is good, with a great Sherlock Holmes.
Rathbone is perhaps the definitive Holmes, competing with the wonderful Jeremy Brett and, in a different way, Benedict Cumberbatch. All three capture the basic coldness and analytical mind of the character and his abruptness. Rathbone probably resembles the Holmes we had in our minds while reading the stories.
The problem with the Rathbone series is Nigel Bruce as Watson and the way the relationship is written in the scripts. Watson in the '40s series is a bumbling fool whom Holmes occasionally mocks, though usually at the end of the film, Holmes' attitude toward him is softer.
In the stories, Holmes views Watson as the voice of the common man and values him as a friend and someone who can observe a situation on a different level. He's not a moron. In the "Mystery" series starring Jeremy Brett, and in the Cumberbatch series, Watson is young, good- looking, savvy and there is be much more of a friendship.
What Bruce brought to the role is the audience's awareness of Watson, which wasn't as prevalent before he played the role. He makes it an important one.
In "Sherlock Holmes and the Woman in Green," Holmes is battling his nemesis, Professor Moriarity (Henry Daniell) as he does in much of the series.
In this film, men are being hypnotized into believing they killed a woman and cut off a finger. This is then used to blackmail them. The daughter of one of the men asks Holmes for help, and this leads him to an attractive woman - apparently in green, but it's hard to tell because the film is black and white - who lures the men to her apartment and hypnotizes them.
The earlier films such as "Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror" were pure propaganda, but I didn't find them any less entertaining, and as Holmes is a real classic character, he fits well into the WW II era, as Cumberbatch does today, texting with his cell phone and using computers.
This series from the '40s is good, with a great Sherlock Holmes.