Review of The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes (1935) by Mary H — 04 Dec 2009

Here's another British Holmes mystery moved up in time to the 1930's with Wontner. Wontner's portrayal of Holmes still has a wry wit, but he is supposedly of retirement age and so does not engage in the sort of action from the earlier film.

Fleming, no not THAT Fleming, appears as Dr. Watson this time. He does seem closer to the description and character of Watson from Doyle's original stories. This story is satisfactorily based on Holmes gathering clues and deducing conclusions.

That is in the last third of the picture. Moriarty unbelievably meets Holmes face to face on the verge of Holmes' retirement, and seems to magically appear and disappear when meeting with a sinister client.

As the plot synopsis here states, Holmes is drawn out to solve one last murder mystery. The widow of the victim tells a surprisingly long flashback story of her husbands involvement with yet another sinister secret society.

These relatively unknown cheaper productions from the 30's available on Hulu and probably DVD discount racks could really use some polishing of their audio and video quality.