Amusingly imperturbable, Clive Brook had already played Sherlock Holmes at Paramount (THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES/’29; PARAMOUNT ON PARADE/’30) when he was called onto a new case over at FOX Films. Credited to William Gillette’s oft-filmed play*, it’s more a sequel to it and never feels particularly ‘Holmesian.’ Here, the main fun comes from watching director William K. Howard, working with high-polish cinematographer George Barnes, toggle between handsomely lit drawing room exposition and visually imaginative set pieces (a death sentence in court; protection racketeers with hand-grenades; machine gun bullet-spewing cars; a prison escape; tunneling into a bank) made with quick-cut close-ups and associative montage editing. Showoff stuff for sure, but decidedly advanced for the period. So too, the sophisticated use of a background musical score by George Lipschulz. With most supporting players, like Reginald Owen, a fine idea for Dr. Watson, getting short shrift, their functions largey taken up by Howard Leeds as ‘Little Billy,’ a role Charlie Chaplin played as a child for his London stage debut with author William Gillette as Holmes. (Gillette still playing his signature part on B’way in his mid-70s.) For Holmes fans, merely a curiosity; but for fans of the transition from Early Talkies to high-style Golden Age Hollywood, essential. Lots of crap prints out there, but gorgeous restorations around if you look.
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: *Gillette filmed his play in 1916 (once thought lost, rediscovered in 2014) and gets credit for this version; for John Barrymore’s in ‘22; and for Basil Rathbone’s second Holmes film (ADVENTURES OF . . . /’39), though it also ignores Gillette’s plot. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2011/05/sherlock-holmes-1922.html
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