Sherlock Holmes (1932)

Moriarty is sentenced to death, and Sherlock Holmes prepares to retire to the country and marry his girl (sic). But Moriarty has sworn that Holmes, Lt-Col Gore-King of Scotland Yard, and ... See full summary »

Director:

William K. Howard

Writers:

William Gillette (play), Bertram Millhauser,

Stars:

Clive Brook, Miriam Jordan, Ernest Torrence

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Clive Brook	...	Sherlock Holmes
Miriam Jordan	...	Alice Faulkner
Ernest Torrence	...	Professor James Moriarty
Herbert Mundin	...	George
Reginald Owen	...	Dr. Watson
Howard Leeds	...	Little Billy
Alan Mowbray	...	Colonel Gore-King
C. Montague Shaw	...	Judge
Frank Atkinson	...	Man in Pub
Ivan F. Simpson	...	Faulkner
Stanley Fields	...	Tony Ardetti

Storyline

Moriarty is sentenced to death, and Sherlock Holmes prepares to retire to the country and marry his girl (sic). But Moriarty has sworn that Holmes, Lt-Col Gore-King of Scotland Yard, and his trial judge shall all be hanged too. When Moriarty escapes and proceeds to put his threat into operation, Holmes has to postpone his retirement.

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Plot Keywords:

sherlock holmes | old bailey | detective | based on play | character name in title

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 November 1932 (USA)

Also Known As:

Una aventura de Sherlock Holmes

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

68 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The audio disks from this movie are not known to survive, but since the film was recorded on Movietone, sound on film, this is not a problem.

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Connections

Edited into Dillinger (1945)

User Reviews

A Case of Mistaken Identity

The earliest talkie Sherlock Holmes at present available, "Conan Doyle's Master Detective Sherlock Holmes" (to give the movie its full title) will probably outrage Conan Doyle purists. (Although actually credited to William Gillette's stage adaptation, the script bears but two or three faint resemblances to that either). The film is really an original creation, using Doyle characters. It stars an unusually adventurous Clive Brook (in his third impersonation of the sleuth), supported by Ernest Torrence as an engrossingly charismatic, menacing Moriarty. So far, so good. But now we are introduced to the lovely Miriam Jordan (in her second of only seven films) who plays Holmes' fiancée! She has quite a sizable role too, especially compared to Dr Watson (Reginald Owen) who figures in only two scenes, his line-feeding duties being undertaken here by Howard Leeds (his first of only three movies) as Little Billy. There is no Lestrade, alas, but Alan Mowbray creditably fills in the Scotland Yard gap as Gore-King. Although the movie also accommodates no less than three extraneous comic scenes with Cockney publican, Herbert Mundin (whose role has obviously been built up by playwright Bayard Veiller, credited with additional dialogue), and thus occasionally seems too talky (even at 68 minutes), it does have some splendid Moriarty atmosphere (the trial) and action (the escape), most ably contrived by director William K. Howard.