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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)

Country of Origin: USA
Year of Production: 1939
Running Times: 81 mins37 sec (UK - video) 85 mins
Format: black and white 35mm
Ratio: 1.37:1
Sound: mono

CREDITS

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Twentieth Century Fox
Associate Producer: Gene Markey

SCRIPT
Script: Edwin Blum, William A. Drake
Story: Arthur Conan Doyle
Play: Sherlock Holmes by William Gillette

DIRECTION
Director: Alfred L. Werker
Assistant Director: William Eckhardt (uncredited)
2nd Assistant Director: Virgil Hart (uncredited)

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Leon Shamroy

EDITING AND POST PRODUCTION
Editor: Robert Bischoff

MUSIC
Music: Robert Russell Bennett, David Buttolph, Cyril J. Mockridge, David Raksin, Walter Scharf
Musical Director: Cyril J. Mockridge

SOUND
Sound: W.D. Flick, Roger Heman Sr
Sound Mix: Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording

COSTUMES AND MAKE-UP
Costume Designer: Gwen Wakeling

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Art Director: Richard Day, Hans Peters
Set Decorator: Thomas Little

CAST
Basil Rathbone (Sherlock Holmes)
Nigel Bruce (Doctor Watson)
Ida Lupino (Ann Brandon)
Alan Marshal (Jerrold Hunter)
Terry Kilburn (Billy)
George Zucco (Professor Moriarty/Sgt Bullfinch)
Henry Stephenson (Sir Ronald Ramsgate)
E.E. Clive (Inspector Bristol)
Arthur Hohl (Bassick)
May Beatty (Mrs Jameson)
Peter Willes (Lloyd Brandon)
Mary Gordon (Mrs Hudson)
Holmes Herbert (Justice)
George Regas (Mateo)
Mary Forbes (Lady Conyngham)
Frank Dawson (Dawes)
William Austin (stranger)
Anthony Kemble-Cooper (Tony Conygham)
Frank Baker (Tompkins (uncredited))
Frank Benson (cockney (uncredited))
Harry Cording (Cragin (uncredited))
Robert Cory (sentry (uncredited))
David Dunbar, Herbert Evans (Scotland Yard men (uncredited))
Neil Fitzgerald (clerk of the court (uncredited))
Denis Green (Sergeant of the Guard (uncredited))
Gordon Hart (guard (uncredited))
Ivo Henderson (bobby (uncredited))
Keith Hitchcock (constable (uncredited))
Leyland Hodgson (bobby (uncredited))
Brandon Hurst (footman (uncredited))
Boyd Irwin (bobby (uncredited))
Charles Irwin (marine sergeant (uncredited))
Leonard Mudie (Barrows (uncredited))
Robert Nobel (foreman of the jury (uncredited))
C. Montague Shaw (Captain Mannering (uncredited))
Ivan F. Simpson (Gates (uncredited))
Bob Stevenson (cabby (uncredited))
Eric Wilton (butler (uncredited))
Hillary Brooke (uncredited)

PLOT SUMMARY

The nefarious Professor Moriarty is back in London and has an audacious plan to steal the crown jewels from the Tower of London - and to do so under the very nose of his arch-enemy Sherlock Holmes. He hatches a complex scheme involving a gaucho flautist and the attempted murder of a young woman to lure Holmes into his trap...

CAPSULE REVIEW

A top-notch follow-up to The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) in which George Zucco's Moriarty steals, not the crown jewels, but the acting honours even from the great Basil Rathbone. Werker's direction is even more atmospheric than Sidney Lanfield's in the first film, making full use of a clichéd but undeniably evocative fog-bound Victorian London. This was Fox's last film in the series before handing over the reigns to Universal.

AVAILABILITY

UK
Theatrical Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Video Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (7776)

USA
Theatrical Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Video Distributor: Fox Home Entertainment

CENSORSHIP HISTORY

Finland
Rating: K-16

UK
Rating: PG (1990)

TIMELINE

1939
June
5: USA - production begins

July
31: USA - retakes begin shooting

September
1: USA - copyright granted (no. LP9334)

1940
September
1: USA - theatrical release

March
10: Finland - theatrical release

1977
December
2: UK - television broadcast (on BBC1)

1985
September
9: UK - television broadcast (on BBC2)

1990
July
18: UK - rated PG by the BBFC (for video release)

November
29: UK - video release (Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (7776))

1993
March
10: USA - video release (Fox Home Entertainment)

2001
May
21: UK - video deleted (Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (7776))

November
9: UK - television broadcast (on Carlton Cinema)
11: UK - television broadcast (on Carlton Cinema)

POSTER TAGS

The Struggle of Super-Minds in the Crime of the Century!

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Die Abenteuer des Sherlock Holmes - German title
Le avventure di Sherlock Holmes - Italian title
Sherlock Holmes - UK title

LINKS

SEQUEL TO
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)

SEQUELS
Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror(1942)
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1942)
Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943)
Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943)
Spider Woman (1944)
The Scarlet Claw (1944)
The Pearl of Death (1944)
The House of Fear (1945)
Pursuit to Algiers (1945)
The Woman in Green (1945)
Terror by Night (1946)
Dressed to Kill (1946)

SEE ALSO
Sherlock Holmes (1916)
Sherlock Holmes (1922)
Sherlock Holmes (1932)
Sherlock Holmes (1981)

REFERENCES

MAGAZINES

Classic Images no.287 (May 1999) pp.27-28 (USA)
illustrated article (The Twentieth Century-Fox Sherlock Holmes Films by William M. Apple)

Kinematograph Weekly no.1705 (21 December 1939) (UK)
review

Monthly Film Bulletin vol.7 no.73 (31 January 1940) p.7
credits, review (by D.E.B.)

Today's Cinema vol.53 no.4354 (20 December 1939) (UK)
review

Variety 6 September 1939 p.14 (USA)
review

NEWSPAPERS

New York Times 2 September 1939 p.20 (USA)
review

BOOKS

Horror and Science Fiction Films III pp.3-4
credits

Reference Guide to Fantastic Films p.4
credits

Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film and Television Credits II p.734
credits

Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film and Television Credits Supplement I p.310
credits

Time Out Guide to Thrillers p.9
credits, review (by Geoff Andrews)

KEYWORDS

detectives, disguises, london, scotland yard, sequels, sherlock holmes, tower of london