A reasonably good entry in the series. An ugly rich man wants to control the world. He is unhappy with his daughter's choice of a marriage partner and seeks to keep the event from happening. He offers the young man a fortune but he refuses. When they are arguing, the old man has a heart attack and is aided by the young man and his housekeeper. They get him his medicine. Shortly after this, the old guy dies. Because the young man was seen with a bottle in his pocket, it is assumed by Scotland Yard that he is the killer. The housekeeper goes to see Holmes and Watson and things develop from there. There is huge circumstantial evidence which makes the great detective suspicious. The case is almost too easy. There is a satisfying conclusion which makes this particular episode a worthy choice.
2 Reviews
WAS it murder?
profh-128 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Holmes is experimenting with a "rare Egyptian poison", so coincidentally, he's called in to investigate a man who's been killed with strychnine. As usual, Lestrade is violently insistent he's already got his man, and has to be coerced to allow Holmes to speak with the murder suspect. In one scene, he decides to search the apartment of the suspect, and Watson asks, "Do you have the key?" Holding up his burglar's tools, Holmes replies, "I certainly hope so." By this point in the series, Watson had grown used to house-breaking, having come a long way from the pilot episode.
I've noted that many "classic" authors often did variations on some of their own stories, or those of other authors. I saw this episode 5 times before it suddenly hit me, the resolution was a variation on Doyle's "The Problem Of Thor Bridge", in that you had someone actually commit suicide in such a way as to make it appear they'd been murdered, in order to have someone they hated executed for the crime! The method of murder in that story (which in fact had been reused in stories featuring Philo Vance, Albert Campion, and Charlie Chan) was not used here, but the motivation and plan of action was the same.
Basil Dignam makes his 2nd appearance on the series as the "murdered" man. I've seen him in a ton of things over the years, but remember his mostly as the "Cabinet Minister" who wound up killed in a car crash in the opening scene of the pilot episode of "UFO".
I've noted that many "classic" authors often did variations on some of their own stories, or those of other authors. I saw this episode 5 times before it suddenly hit me, the resolution was a variation on Doyle's "The Problem Of Thor Bridge", in that you had someone actually commit suicide in such a way as to make it appear they'd been murdered, in order to have someone they hated executed for the crime! The method of murder in that story (which in fact had been reused in stories featuring Philo Vance, Albert Campion, and Charlie Chan) was not used here, but the motivation and plan of action was the same.
Basil Dignam makes his 2nd appearance on the series as the "murdered" man. I've seen him in a ton of things over the years, but remember his mostly as the "Cabinet Minister" who wound up killed in a car crash in the opening scene of the pilot episode of "UFO".
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