What a waste of my time!!!

This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Based on "The Adventure of the Six Napoleons" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle this film brings Rathbone and Bruce back as Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson. Crooks are after a valuable Pearl, it's up to Holmes and Watson to stop the pearl finding it's way into the clutches of the wrong doers. But as Holmes makes an uncharacteristic mistake the upper hand is lost and Holmes and Watson are soon forced to take up the chase. Can they get the pearl before murderous consequences occur? As with the other Rathbone and Bruce films performances here are solid. Dennis Hoey supports well as the bumbling Lestrade, as do Evelyn Ankers and Miles Mander as Naomi Drake and Giles Conover. Shot by Universal and directed by Roy William Neill this is 9th of 14 films with Rathbone and Bruce taking the lead. This is a straight forward Sherlock Holmes story and therefor it's one of the better ones that Universal pumped out, no Nazi's or dinosaurs in sight - although there is the Creeper, but the less said about that the better. It feels more upbeat in pace than others in the series, it feels like reading a comic at times where the hero is trying to keep up and then get ahead of the bad guys. I enjoyed this and like the other films in the series its guaranteed to add to a wonderful lazy Sunday afternoon. A lovely mystery and suspense film with a chase style pace to it. Enjoy.

THE PEARL OF DEATH (Universal, 1944), produced and directed by Roy William Neil, the seventh installment to the studio's own "Sherlock Holmes" mystery series, minus "Sherlock Holmes" in the title, resumes its winning combination of Basil Rathbone (Sherlock Holmes) and Nigel Bruce (Doctor Watson) in another exciting entry. Based on the story, "The Adventures of Six Napoleons" by its creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, it resumes the frequent use of series regulars of Miles Mander and Ian Wolfe assuming different character roles. While Universal's own Evelyn Ankers, last seen in and killed off in SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE VOICE OF TERROR (1942), offers some fine assistance assuming different characters in numerous disguises, it's Rondo Hatton, billed as "The Creeper," who, minus disguises or hideous make-up, who's the one getting most of the attention even with his very limited on-screen appearance to leave some lasting impression.The story opens on a ship bound for Dover where one of its passengers, Naomi Drake (Evelyn Ankers) arranges for a steward to have James Goodram (Holmes Herbert), secretly carrying an Borgia pearl, leave his stateroom long enough for her to enter and steal the priceless gem worth $50,000 to be displayed at the Royal Regent Museum. The scheme works as Goodram goes to the wireless room and Naomi finding the hidden pearl to conceal it inside her camera. With the boat to dock in Dover within 15 minutes, Naomi, having already befriended an elderly clergyman, entrusts him with the camera so not to have her film exposed by the customs inspector. As Goodram discovers his pearl gone, Naomi, having retrieved her camera, leaves the boat, enters the car of her leader, the master criminal Giles Conover (Miles Mander), only to find the pearl gone and note enclosed signed by S.H. To Conover, this means they've been duped by the one and only Sherlock Holmes. With Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and assistant, Doctor Watson (Nigel Bruce) returning the pearl to the museum, it is stolen soon after Holmes disconnects wires to the security system proving its flaw when electricity is turned off. Blamed for his blunder, Holmes, along with Inspector Lestrade (Dennis Hoey), in an attempt to locate the pearl's whereabouts, are soon baffled by a series of violent killings from buyers of plaster busts of Napoleons that are taking place. With victims found with broken backs surrounded by smashed dishes of china, Holmes, believing the pearl concealed in one of the six sold Napoleon busts, does his best to be one step ahead of the ringleader and his murderous accomplice, The Creeper (Rondo Hatton), before any more murders involving the cursed pearl is to take place.As with the previous installment of THE SCARLET CLAW (1944), THE PEARL OF DEATH wonderfully blends mystery with horror. Thanks to a tightly-knitted script credited to Bertram Millhauser, this is no doubt a top-notch 70 minute programmer. Aside from Rathbone's master of disguise or two, he's finds stiff competition with Conover (Mander) and Naomi (Ankers) as they attempt to conceal themselves through masterful disguises of their own. Ankers comes off best in several occasions, one talking Cockney, demonstrating her fine talent as an actress while assuming different characters for her one role. Miles Mander comes a close second in a Professor Moriarty-type villain best described by Holmes as one capable of: "Crime without motive, robber without a clue, murder without a trace." And last but not least, Rondo Hatton, whose character is well concealed through much of the story until that very moment, the creepy creeper, described as one with the strength and arms of a gorilla. Others featured in the cast are Charles Francis (Francis Digby); Ian Wolfe (Amos Hodder); Richard Nugent (Bates); Harry Cording (George Gelder); Billy Bevan (The Constable); and, of course, Mary Gordon in her recurring role of Mrs. Hudson for two very brief scenes.THE PEARL OF DEATH should rank among the favorites of Holmes series devotees and certainly one worth recommending to anyone new to these films featuring those reliables of Rathbone and Bruce, who, by this time, have become so type-cast in their roles. Though each would get to appear in other movies during their "Sherlock Holmes" period (1942-1946), Rathbone and Bruce did get to work in the same motion picture, the Technicolor swashbuckler, FRENCHMAN'S CREEK (Paramount, 1944) starring Joan Fontaine and Arturo DeCordova. While FRENCHMAN'S CREEK is close to being forgotten today, the Universal "Sherlock Holmes" series remains better known, thanks to frequent television revivals dating back to the 1950s, availability on home video and DVD, and broadcasts on numerous cable channels, notably Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: December 26, 2009). Next installment: THE HOUSE OF FEAR (1945) (***)

Most of the Sherlock Holmes films are based totally on atmosphere, with the clues nonexistent for the viewer, based on objects the audience can not smell, hear, touch, taste, or see, or based on events that are not in the story until after the crime is solved.This is a Sherlock Holmes mystery in which we are finally given some clues. We actually go step by step with Holmes in solving the case, instead of learning about a fact "expo facto".Instead of Moriarty, we have a similar bad guy, just as formidable, with the same sort of henchmen we are used to seeing from such bad guys. He steals a pearl from under the nose of Holmes.And that is another fresh addition to this film. Holmes becomes mortal. He makes a very embarrassing mistake, and he does it while showing off. His superiority complex betrays him. In a moment of arrogant conceit, he gives the criminal the very opportunity to steal the pearl.Unfortunately, Watson is the buffoon again, and you probably know he wasn't that way in the original stories. However, here he at least is shown to be capable with firearms, and a capable doctor.The clues and evidence are shown to us. We actually get to help solve this case. And we get to see Holmes make a fool of himself for once.These two factors make this the most unique of the Sherlock films, and the one that is the "must see", if someone is to watch just one.

Rondo Hatton, a poor guy suffering from acromegaly, which you get when your pituitary loses its governor, is the creepiest of creepers in "The Pearl of Death." We don't even see him for most of the movie, derived roughly from Conan-Doyle's story about busts of Napoleon. And when the camera does glide over to him in the shadows, we see only his hands, glowing slightly because of the tight, white surgical gloves. Man, did this make my hair stand on end when I was a kid.The mastermind here is Giles Conover. He controls The Creeper and uses Evelyn Ankers as a pretty accomplice. Conover has stolen the Borgia Pearl ("the blood of twenty men on it over the centuries") and has had to hastily hide it in some half-dried busts of Napoleon. But he doesn't know which of six busts the pearl is in, so he sends The Creeper out to kill each of the owners (he breaks their backs) and smash the crockery. Lestrade is a buffoon, wrong about everything, and Watson is dumber than usual, which is saying a lot. The BBC story with Jeremy Brett hews more closely to the original but lacks The Creeper's eerie menace.But -- you know, I think it's time that Mary Gordon as Mrs. Hudson, the housekeeper and landlady at 221b Baker Street, came in for a little applause. She's clearly a member of that household. She never plays a major role and doesn't even appear in some of the entries, but she's sweet and nurturing, like no landlady you ever had. If she complains about Holmes shooting bullet holes in her wall, well, who can blame her? A kind, matronly figure with gray hair, shuffling around, bringing her tenants tea and scones. (Sob.) If the Conovers and Moriartys of the world would disappear, Holmes could sit back and play his fiddle, and Watson could read the newspapers and rub his wound. We wouldn't need them. But the world NEEDS Mrs. Hudsons -- now more than ever.Three of the Universal episodes stand out from the rest, in my uninformed but unimpeachable impression: "The House of Fear," "The Scarlet Claw," and this one.