Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

JohnHowardReid Producer: Roy William Neill. Copyright 5 May 1944 by Universal Pictures Co., Inc. New York opening at the Rialto: 18 May 1944. U.S. release: 26 May 1944. Australian release: 8 June 1944. 6,785 feet. 75 minutes. Alternative title: SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SCARLET CLAW.SYNOPSIS: About forty miles from Quebec lies a small village in Canada, morbidly named La Mort Rouge {The Red Death}. Despite opposition from Lord Penrose, the local landowner, Holmes and Watson investigate a series of ghastly murders, supposedly committed by a legendary phantom.NOTES: Number 8 in the Rathbone-Bruce series, and number six of the twelve Universal entries.COMMENT: Although not based directly on anything Doyle himself wrote, this is one of the best of the Universal series. Its terrific atmosphere is achieved in large measure through George Robinson's attractively low-key lighting. Marvellous sets and inventive direction also help bolster the script's intriguing plot, deft dialogue and fascinating character studies. The players, led by a stand-out performance from Gerald Hamer (etching the most memorable portrait of his life right here), are uniformly excellent. Some contemporary critics presumed to downgrade Rathbone's portrayal, but he is as suavely skilful as ever. No, The Scarlet Claw has only one strike against it; - a ludicrously patriotic plug for Canada which is tacked on to the end. This could easily be eliminated (and in fact it was from many television prints). For some reason, whether to shorten the running time to allow for more commercials or simply to eliminate a rather frightening sequence or perhaps simply to make the plot easier to follow by removing one of the characters, the TV print also clumsily excised one of the most thrillingly staged and atmospheric of the action scenes. The fine professionals at UCLA have now restored the film to its original length in their current DVD offering.

Nigel P Opening with mist-shrouded streets and the sound of the church bell mournfully ringing through the night, we are introduced to the character of Potts (Gerald Hamer), who makes his way through a wonderfully atmospheric Inn, full of smoky wide-eyed locals and superstitious townsfolk. When Potts speaks, it is with that familiarly conflicting mixture of Received Pronunciation and cockney, Universal films' gleeful interpretation of how working class fellows enunciate.This is directed by Roy William Neil, who oversaw 'Frankenstein meets the Wolfman' two years earlier. He was, and would remain, the man behind the Universal Sherlock Holmes series starring the unsurpassable Basil Rathbone as the shrewd investigator, and Nigel Bruce as Watson, whose occasional drifting into the befuddled realms of buffoonery has caused his interpretation to meet with mixed reactions. My views on Bruce are far more favourable – he does what he does exceedingly well, and is a vital identification figure for an audience to whom Holmes is too distant to relate to. If Watson was more the equal of Holmes, then we wouldn't see the softer more humorous side to the great detective that proved so pivotal to these films' success. The affection between the two leads is a definite highpoint.There are a couple of minor oddities about this production. In one scene, Sherlock is putting on his coat, but only manages to get one arm into the sleeve, with the majority of the unfurling scene spent with the coat flapping behind him. Also, the ending features Holmes soliloquising; Watson interrupts to ask whom he is quoting. After replying 'Churchill,' Holmes clearly continues his speech, but his words are muted and he quickly fades away as the end credits roll in. Strange.Of all the films in this series, this is saturated with the Universal horror treatment more than any other. Gruesome murders, rich performances, frightened butlers, and at the heart of it, a good old fashioned whodunit. When we find out who in fact has 'done it', the results are mixed – the actor in question isn't really strong enough to adequately convey the necessary evil relish that befits the nature of his actions. And also, a few cheats have been employed to ensure we would never guess the killer's identity. However, the whole exercise is carried out with such atmospheric expertise, by a cast and crew now adept at such murky horror trappings (as well as moments of reused music from their Frankenstein/Mummy series), that the results are impossible not to thoroughly enjoy.

dglink Tolling church bells, fog shrouded moors, a torn photograph, "The Scarlet Claw" presents a genuine mystery for Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson that will keep viewers guessing who-dunnit to the end. Producer-director Roy William Neill returns to helm the sixth entry in Universal's Holmes series and, for the first time, to collaborate on an original screenplay based on the Conan Doyle characters; the results are stellar. Holmes and Watson are in Canada to attend a conference on the occult, when the conference chair, Lord Penrose, is called away, because his wife has been murdered. That same day, Holmes receives a letter from the deceased Lady Penrose, in which she enlists his help, because she feels her life is threatened; thus, Holmes is engaged by the already dead victim and leaves for La Mort Rouge, a village with an aptly macabre name.Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce are excellent as expected; at this point, their performances are beyond criticism. However, unlike others in the series, the film lacks a central diabolical villain; the murderer remains unknown until revealed in the final reel. While clues abound, few will unravel the mystery before Holmes. The large supporting cast, which includes Miles Mander, Paul Cavanagh, and Ian Wolfe, is solid, but none upstages the other, which keeps the killer hidden anonymously among them. Cinematographer George Robinson lensed the Spanish-language "Dracula," "Son of Frankenstein," and other second-tier Universal horror classics; for this film, he drew on those previous efforts and provided clouds of mist that rise from eerie marshes, sinister interiors with deep abstract shadows, and silhouetted figures that disguise identities. Robinson makes a decaying abandoned hotel and the foggy moors into suspicious characters of their own.Although references to World War II have been banished from the series, and even the War Bonds advertising is missing after the end titles, Holmes cannot resist quoting Winston Churchill to bring the film to a satisfying fade out. Among the best of the Holmes series, "The Scarlet Claw" has everything a Sherlock Holmes fan could want; a fiendish killer, a challenging mystery, an atmospheric setting, and Rathbone and Bruce at their best.

R J The Turner Movie Channel id playing a series of Sherlock Holmes movies today and I have been watching them, for want of anything else to do. I find that this particular movie is a cut above the others that have been shown today. Basil Rathbone was a marvelous actor throughout his career.Having been trained in the Shakespearean discipline,I can't help to think that he must have been painfully distraught at the caliber of some of the 'hacks' portraying other roles in this and others of this series. I know it pained me to hear someone reading lines without any inflection whatsoever. My mother did far better than that just reading nursery rhymes.