Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

tedg The invention of the logical detective in Sherlock Holmes was profoundly important, directly leading to the great invention of noir, the descendants of which dominate our viewing vocabulary. The notion that people were deeply logical and that a human mind was capable of mastering this logic was the great promise that swept over the world post Darwin and Freud. You could read the original stories regardless of how you felt about this and indeed the author himself was an anti-science spiritualist. The stories placed themselves at the center of human confidence and angst.Moriarty did not feature in many of the stories, but in film has been elevated to evil incarnate, himself the template of hoards of supervillain geniuses.Some film presentations of Holmes either take his deductive abilities seriously or they cleverly play with logic versus something else, often passion. Oddly, none of these Basil Rathbone films treat Holmes as a brilliant man. Almost never does he reason things out as he does in the stories; instead he simply chases clues with the assumption that the obvious answer is wrong. We see no brilliance, only opportunity.So even though the *idea* of Sherlock (and Mycroft and Moriarty) is essential to a history of film, these particular movies are dispensable, silly wastes.

AaronCapenBanner Alfred L. Werker directed this second Basil Rathbone & Nigel Bruce Sherlock Homes & Dr. Watson film, released the same year(1939) features the first use of arch-enemy Professor Moriarty(played by George Zucco) who here has a plan to steal the crown jewels of England, which Holmes is determined to prevent, though the cunning Moriarty ends up embarrassing him at one point! Ida Lupino costars as a client of Holmes, being threatened by Moriarty. Basil Rathbone is once again the highlight, as the story(an amalgam of different elements taken from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories) is muddled, and like its predecessor, doesn't bear scrutiny, but still remains acceptable viewing.

TheLittleSongbird As a fan of Sherlock Holmes and of Basil Rathbone, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The plot is very silly, but is compelling enough and enjoyable throughout the whole duration. The film is well paced and well directed too mostly, while the production values are very nice. The photography, scenery and costumes are beautiful, but what I loved most about Sherlock Holmes was its evocative and haunting foggy London atmosphere. The script is of top-notch quality as well, often intelligent, funny and sophisticated.The acting I had no qualms with either. George Zucco is an interesting Moriaty and does really well of not being too sinister or too hammy, his performance was a nice balance I felt. Nigel Bruce is decent as Watson, though I can see why people are annoyed by his interpretation of the character. I liked the enthusiasm and blimpish bluster Bruce gave, but there are times here when he does come across as a little too clownish. However, he does have some believable chemistry with Basil Rathbone, who is just superb as a more charismatic and sophisticated not to mention very eloquent Holmes.Overall, a lot of fun and a case of where any minor flaws are completely overrided by the many strengths. Recommended! 9/10 Bethany Cox

lewis-51 This movie has some good acting by Basil Rathbone, Ida Lupino, and George Zucco. The photography is good and the sets are well made. There are some suspenseful scenes. Rathbone is a great Sherlock Holmes, second only to the incomparable Jeremy Brett. For all this, I give the movie a 7.There are two big problems. One is Nigel Bruce. His Dr. Watson is clownish, and I just can't abide it. It turns the movie into a Disney movie. It ruins the sense that this could be a real story about a real detective.Worse, the plot is silly. As someone has described well on one of the comment threads, it is full of holes. I don't want to give anything away here, but there are so many gaps and illogical points as to once again reduce the movie to little more than a cartoon.What a waste of great talent! henry