Review of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939) by Josh R — 27 Mar 2011

Rathbone and Bruce hit top form in their second Holmes & Watson film, the last one they made that was set in the Victorian era. It looks amazing - fogbound London is vividly recreated in a 20th Century Fox studio.

The cinematography is beautiful, with tones of German expressionism which combine with cleverly-deployed sound (enchanted flute music) to give much of the film a delicious dreamlike quality. And the cast are uniformly excellent - as aforementioned, Rathers and Bruce Boy really hit their straps, but the rest of the ensemble are just as good in their different ways, from the amazingly talented Ida Lupino as the damsel in distress, through George Zucco as Holmes's fiendish arch-nemesis Moriarty, to young shaver Terry Kilburn as Billy, the cockerney knives and boots boy who idolises Holmes.

My favourite moments of the film are comical: where Watson helps Holmes out with a reconstruction of a crime by lying down in the road, much to the bemusement of a passer-by; and disarming: Holmes dons the disguise of a music hall artiste to keep an eye on his client whilst she's at a garden party and gives a rambunctious rendition of "I Do Like To Be Beside the Seaside".

I warmly reccommend this film to one and all. It's a pippin.