Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Load of rubbish!!

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

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.

Another excellent outing for Rathbone and Bruce as Holmes and Watson. This time Holmes faces his most well known nemesis Moriarty. The film begins with Moriarty being found innocent of murder, with Holmes bursting into the courtroom just a few seconds too late. After the courtroom scene we see Holmes and Moriarty talking together like real competitors, without the hate you'd find between most enemies. They certainly have admiration for each other, and this admiration makes the film so enjoyable. Despite the fact that people's lives and reputations are at risk, you can easily tell they enjoy competing with each other. Moriarty then sends Holmes on a number of wild goose chases to conceal his real crime. I did like seeing Moriarty by himself and his love for plants. His clearly showed him as having a limited connection with humans. A simple act of not watering his plants also showed his talents are similar to Holmes'. Unfortunately, telling the audience that the mysteries are wild goose chases means we are waiting for Holmes to catch up with us. Like the previous effort the setting becomes a character in itself. The occupied streets of London are just as cold, dark, and sinister as the moors. This kind of makes the murders even more devilish. Watson is used more for comedic relief, which is annoying at times, as he ends up getting blamed for things that go wrong. Rathbone is at the centre stage here and he holds it well. He is always calm, but adds a sense of urgency when needed to heighten our excitement. His disguise was once again brilliant, and I didn't guess it this time. A great stylish offering.

Reliable Holmes story with Basil Rathbone and Dr. Watson as usual his social, albeit bumbling self.Ida Lupino is the femme fatal, her brother is murdered and she must seek help from Holmes to find out why.George Zucco as Moriarty is menacing and fun, as when his faithful servant gives him a shave with a straight-edge, and Moriarty sneers that he should want to cut his throat. Moriarty states he has nothing but contempt for most humankind.The sets are appropriately foggy and dense, London Victorian streets, oil lamps, a murder occurs in Bayswater Park; an odd Chilean flute chant, some sort of death song. There are also references to the albatross.When you see films like this today you appreciate the quality of a true suspense story, it doesn't always have wild action, but it has real suspense and theme, which is rare these days. 9/10.

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