Sherlock Holmes Faces Death

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Frances H One of the better Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce Sherlock Homes wartime movies made from the plot of one my favorite Conan Doyle stories, The Musgrave Ritual. Too bad that so many of the characters are reduced to simpletons. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 04/12/22 Full Review robert p Another great adventure by Sherlock Holes (Basil Rathbone) and Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) and of course Dr. Moriarty. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review matthew d A curious murder mystery in a haunted mansion. Roy William Neill's mystery drama Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943) is very fun as Sherlock Holmes must uncover a murderer among mental patients in the Musgraves' old money family manor. Neill's direction relies on his mastery of dark film noir style with foggy nights, moody lighting, and grim Gothic mansions. Neill's dreary direction is perfect for these darker Sherlock Holmes tales. Sherlock Holmes Faces Death is based on another classic Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story, with many Red Herrings, family intrigue, and fascinating plotting. Bertram Millhauser's screenplay has a lot of fun use of secret passages, nighttime attacks, and subversive use of medical equipment. Fred R. Feitshans Jr. cuts Sherlock Holmes Faces Death into a pulse pounding thriller at a quick 68 minutes due to his sharp editing. Charles Van Enger's cinematography is pure film noir with shadows, silhouettes, and curious angles all over Sherlock Holmes Faces Death. Vera West's costumes are beautiful, especially for Hillary Brooke's fancy suits. The gripping music is as fun as Nigel Bruce's silly Dr. John Watson. Bruce fumbles around clueless for most of Sherlock Holmes Faces Death much to my delight. He's the perfect partner for Basil Rathbone's fastidious and meticulous natured Sherlock Holmes. Rathbone plays up Holmes' impatience and keen observational powers. Dennis Hoey gets some huge laughs as the incompetent Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard. I adore Hillary Brooke as Sally Musgrave. She plays the innocent heiress, dreaming of her loving marriage, with hysterical worries for her betrothed. Mary Gordon is always a riot as Holmes' grumpy maid Mrs. Hudson. Hailliwell Hobbes is quite funny as the eavesdropping butler and occasional drunkard Mr. Alfred Brunton. Arthur Margetson is excellent as the intriguing Dr. Bob Sexton. There is this very cute black cat roaming the Musgrave mansion and a funny raven named Charlie in the local pub too. In short, Sherlock Holmes Faces Death is an entertaining installment in Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce's 14 Holmes movie run. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Rathbone born play Holmes. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review andy f Fiercly entertaining entry in the series slotted in among the weaker contemporary war stories. This is pure Holmes hokum with all of the best clichés on show and the best atmosphere the series had conjured up since Baskervilles. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Last weekend, when I was first struck down by this nasty cold, I watched another of the Rathbone & Bruce Sherlock Holmes films to whisk me away from my stupor. I probably watched all 14 in the series with my Dad on Saturday nights on Channel 38 back in the early '80s, but the plots are largely forgotten now. And even though I read the complete Conan Doyle stories/novellas a few years ago, that hardly affects my ability to recognize much in these liberal adaptations. Faces Death comes closest to the old Charlie Chan formula that sees the detective confronting a houseful of suspect character actors - only unlike in Chan films, there are only 1 or 2 plausible suspects here and one of them gives himself away so badly that the solution to the murders is rather obvious (even if his reasons remain unclear until the end). However, somehow, the creepy weirdness of the setting (an old mansion that has become a convalescence home for veterans, complete with secret passages and dank dungeon) manages to elevate the film beyond its otherwise not so dramatic plot. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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