The greatest movie ever!

Sadly Over-hyped

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Am a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes and get a lot of enjoyment out of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories. Also love Basil Rathbone's and especially Jeremy Brett's interpretations to death. So would naturally see any Sherlock Holmes adaptation that comes my way, regardless of its reception.Furthermore, interest in seeing early films based on Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories and wanting to see as many adaptations of any Sherlock Holmes stories as possible sparked my interest in seeing 'Silver Blaze', part (the last in fact) of the series of film with Arthur Wontner. Would also see anything that has Holmes encountering his arch-nemesis Professor Moriaty. 'Silver Blaze', not just a straight adaptation of just this particular story, but with elements of other Holmes stories (with the interesting inclusion of Moriaty and the Baskervilles) too, is very much worthwhile. Not one of the best Sherlock Holmes adaptations certainly, the best of the Jeremy Brett adaptations and films of Basil Rathone fit under this category. It's also not among the worst, being much better than any of the Matt Frewer films (particularly 'The Sign of Four') and the abominable Peter Cook 'The Hound of the Baskervilles'.It's not perfect. The sound quality is less than great, while some of the pace could have been tighter, especially at the start as it does take too long to get going. Some of the dialogue unnecessarily rambles a bit in a particularly talky outing in the Wontner Holmes films, and the low budget limitations do show in the production values (other than some nice shots the film looks pretty cheap, the cheapest looking of the Wontner Holmes films). However, there are some nice interesting shots that stop the film from looking completely cheap. The writing generally is thought-provoking, Holmes' deductions and crime solving are a huge part of the fun as well as very true in detail and spirit to Conan Doyle's writing, the mystery elements are intact, there are moments of suspense and the story is intriguing and not hard to follow.Arthur Wontner may technically have been too old for Holmes but he did not look too old and his portrayal is on the money, handling the personality and mannerisms of the character spot on without over-doing or under-playing. Ian Fleming is a charming, loyal, intelligent and amusing Watson, with nice chemistry between him and Wontner, really liked his inferior attempts at deduction. The support is competent without being outstanding or as memorable, Lyn Harding's Moriaty comes off best. Overall, worth watching and decently solid if not great. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Enjoyed this 1937 film version of Sherlock Holmes, (Arthur Wontner) and Ian Fleming, (Dr. Watson) who are both on vacation and are invited to Sir. Baskedervilles who has a very great horse called Silver Blaze and Sherlock finds out the horse is entered in an important horse race and has disappeared and the trainer has been murdered. Holmes and Dr. Watson find out that Professor Moriarty is behind this horse theft in order to stop Silver Blaze from ever winning the race and Moriarty has also managed to view the horse race and had one of his henchman fire shots at the jockey running the race. I must say, that I really enjoyed Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce who in later years appeared in their 1940's film version of Sherlock Holmes same story.

Arthur Wortner appeared as Conan Doyle's great detective in six films, four of which survive today. Silver Blaze was the last one, by which time Wortner was over sixty, although still looking the picture of Holmes as he appeared in the Paget illustrations of Strand Magazine.This version of Silver Blaze takes some liberties with the story; it involves Sir Henry Baskerville, plus Professor Moriarty (an engaging and entertaining performance from Lyn Harding), and Colonel Moran from The Empty House. However it retains the same twists and turns which were present in the original story and, as a film, it works very well.Filmed on the cheap with obviously faked sets (notably when Holmes and Watson transfer their investigations to 'the moors') it is good to see Wortner's excellent Holmes, sardonic and sharp. Dr Watson is played by Ian Fleming, who is fairly good as well.John Turnbull as Lestrade is a good foil for Holmes, and one can sense the level of tolerance and grudging admiration that exists between the two crime-solvers.For Sherlockians, this version of Silver Blaze compares well with the one created during the 1980s as part of Granada's TV adaptations, and stands up well in its own right as a B-picture mystery.

To bring back Baskerville Hall as nothing more than a location, not use it as a significant part of the plot is a disappointment. The movie is really about a horse racing Sherlock Holmes episode called "Silver Blaze." Professor Moriarity has great interest in a horse, which will bring him an incredible amount of money. He hires some henchmen to do his bidding, but once again Sherlock interrupts his dealings. The movie wanders about, part the story of the horse, the other the mania of Moriarity. Holmes sort of poses for the camera and makes pronouncements. It's never quite clear how he solves the crime, but he does, of course. It's worth watching, just to see Arthur Wontner looking so much like those illustrations from the Strand. Watson is also a bit formidable. The rest of the cast is sort of thrown in there. The final scene isn't so final.