Stuff

We’re not going to pick one film today, rather a whole series, the whole Sherlock Holmes series starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.

These started in 1939 with “The Hound Of The Baskervilles” and finished in 1946 with “Dressed To Kill”, a total of 14 films in a very short time. The first were for 20th Century-Fox, then they moved to Universal. The first ones are generally better.

As you would probably expect, both actors got deeply associated with these roles and probably hated it by the end, but both continued into radio series, though Rathbone dropped out first.

They seem to jump around a bit in time period, some set during World War II and others in a more appropriate time for the stories. And as the series progressed, Watson moved from being an intelligent assistant to a buffoon, definitely not in line with the stories.

The regular supporting cast was very strong too, including Dennis Hoey as Lestrade, Lionel Atwill and Mary Gordon as Mrs Hudson.

“The Hound Of The Baskervilles” is a good starter, “Terror By Night” is good and “The Pearl Of Death”. Titles do seem to vary in different countries.

The films used to be shown regularly but now seem to be restricted to cable tv, in the UK at least, but the whole set, nicely restored, is available for a small sum (£17, as I write this) on dvd.

Finishing off a brief look at the 1940s, there are some rather obvious films that you should see.

“Casablanca” has some strange scenes and many mis-quoted quotes, but it is still a great story and Ingrid Bergman looks lovely.

I know people point to other Disney animated films, but for us, “Pinocchio” is the best.

The animation in this relatively short film is quite breathtaking in places. Actually, even better, read the original book.

Last on our list is “Brief Encounter”. Yes, another obvious film, showing possible adultery from a woman’s point of view.

From 1948, this film directed by John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston and Tim Holt has long been a favourite.

The story concerns a trio of struggling men who go into the hills of Mexico to prospect for gold. On the way they encounter locals, bandits and greed.

Bogart in particular stands out as Dobbs. As the three begin to accumulate the gold, he becomes increasingly distrustful of the others and thinks he is being deprived of his fair share. Huston too is excellent.

The big stand out of the film is the music. Warners had some great composers on their books, icluding Max Steiner, who also wrote for “Now Voyager”, “King Kong” and “Casablanca”.