The Woman in Green (1945)

Director:

Roy William Neill

Writers:

Bertram Millhauser (screenplay)
Arthur Conan Doyle (characters)

Release Date:

27 July 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Temptress of Pleasure - or Mistress of Murder?

Plot:

Holmes and Watson investigate a series of bizarre and apparently unconnected murders, and the death of a possible suspect...

Plot Keywords:

Hypnotist | Investigation | Serial Killer | Sherlock Holmes | Murder

Cast

Basil Rathbone	...	Holmes
Nigel Bruce	...	Watson
Hillary Brooke	...	Lydia
Henry Daniell	...	Moriarty
Paul Cavanagh	...	Fenwick
Matthew Boulton	...	Inspector Gregson
Eve Amber	...	Maude
Frederick Worlock	...	Onslow (as Frederic Worlock)
Coulter Irwin	...	Corporal Williams of the British Army (as Tom Bryson)
Sally Shepherd	...	Crandon
Mary Gordon	...	Mrs. Hudson

Also Known As:

Invitation to Murder (USA) (working title)
Sherlock Holmes and the Woman in Green (USA) (promotional title)

Runtime:

68 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-11 (2007) | Finland:K-18 (2009) (unrated) | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1990) | USA:Approved (PCA #10779)

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

One of several titles in the Sherlock Holmes series whose original copyrights were apparently not renewed and have thereby fallen into public domain; as a result, seriously inferior copies are presently being offered by a number of VHS and DVD dealers who do not have access to original studio masters.

Goofs:

Factual errors: "Edgware Road" is misspelled ("Edgeware").

Quotes:

[first lines]
Inspector Gregson of Scotland Yard: [voiceover] I won't forget that morning, not if I live to be a hundred. I counted the men as they marched out of the yard; they'd hardly slept for weeks. We of the CID had slept even less, but the nightmare that kept us awake was all the same nightmare. That's why we weren't surprised when the commissioner asked us up to the conference room for a bit of a talk. He'd talked to us plenty, we knew that, but it didn't help any to know what was ahead of us.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)

Watson, Not Holmes, Saves This Sub-Par Story

Thank heaven for "Dr. Watson." Sometimes I think if it wasn't for his humor, some of these Holmes movies would be too boring to give them a second look. However, I am a fan of the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce mysteries, even if a couple of them, such as this one, are a bit slow. Most are much better than this one.

Most of the Holmes movies have at least one interesting villainous character, here being the famous Dr. Moriarity (not played well by Henry Daniell) and "the woman in green" (played well by Hilary Brooke, but no hint of green or mention of that in this black-and-white film.)

This Sherlock Holmes' episode was just too monotonous with the only entertainment provided when Dr. Watson (Bruce) was mumbling and bumbling around, which included being hypnotized. Bruce really was an underrated star feature in these Holmes movies even though I enjoy Rathbone best as the great sleuth.