☆ ☆ ☆
Sherlock
Holmes Faces Death (1943)—R. W. Neill
Another solid outing for Basil Rathbone as
Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson.
This time, there is a murder at Musgrave Manor in Northumberland where
the Musgrave family has turned their mansion into a home for convalescing
servicemen (the film is set in modern day WWII England). The mansion is spooky and filled with secret
passages (in which bumbling Inspector Lestrade gets lost) and has an
underground burial crypt which holds the secret to the mystery. But it takes some time before this secret is
found – the Musgrave family members are murdered one-by-one and a ritual poem
read at their funerals provides clues (with allusions to the game of chess)
that enable Holmes to discover just what is going on. There are a few too many minor characters and
the major red herring is rather too obviously innocent but it’s all good
fun. I have fond memories of watching
these films on Boston’s Channel 38 on Saturday nights!
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