The Woman in Green (1945)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

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 | Murder | Sherlock Holmes | Scotland Yard

Cast

Basil Rathbone	...	Holmes
Nigel Bruce	...	Watson
Hillary Brooke	...	Lydia
Henry Daniell	...	Moriarity
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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eve Ashley	...	Background woman (uncredited)
John Burton	...	Waring - Mesmerist (uncredited)
Harold De Becker	...	Shoelace seller (uncredited)
Leslie Denison	...	Vincent - Barman at Pembroke House (uncredited)
Tony Ellis	...	Carter - Hypnotized Subject (uncredited)
Kay Harding	...	4th Victim (uncredited)
Alec Harford	...	Commissioner of the CID (uncredited)
Ivo Henderson	...	Constable (uncredited)
Tommy Hughes	...	Newsman (uncredited)
Colin Hunter	...	Constable (uncredited)
Olaf Hytten	...	Norris, Fenwick's butler (uncredited)
Boyd Irwin	...	Short-tempered officer closing window (uncredited)
Kermit Maynard	...	Man at Scotland Yard Conference (uncredited)
Eric Mayne	...	Member of Mesmer Club (uncredited)
William H. O'Brien	...	Pembrook House Waiter (uncredited)
Violet Seaton	...	Nurse Mowbray at Mesmer House (uncredited)
Arthur Stenning	...	Mesmer Club Porter (uncredited)
Percival Vivian	...	Dr. Simnell (uncredited)

Directed by
Roy William Neill

Writing credits
Bertram Millhauser		(screenplay)
Arthur Conan Doyle		(characters) (as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Produced by
Roy William Neill	....	producer
Howard Benedict	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Paul Dessau		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Virgil Miller		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Edward Curtiss

Art Direction by
John B. Goodman
Martin Obzina

Set Decoration by
Russell A. Gausman
Ted von Hemert		(as Ted Von Hemert)

Costume Design by
Vera West		(gowns)

Production Management
Charles Stallings	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Melville Shyer	....	assistant director

Art Department
William Nunley	....	prop master (uncredited)

Sound Department
Glenn E. Anderson	....	sound technician
Bernard B. Brown	....	sound director
Ronald Pierce	....	sound mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
John P. Fulton	....	special photography
Chris Guthrie	....	special effects (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Wallace Chewning	....	second camera operator (uncredited)
Ross Hoffman	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Music Department
Mark Levant	....	musical director
Paul Dessau	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
William Lava	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Paul Neal	....	music mixer (uncredited)
Hans J. Salter	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Paul Sawtell	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Frank Skinner	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
Raymond Kessler	....	dialogue director
George Hill	....	stand-in: Nigel Bruce (uncredited)
Maurice Marks	....	stand-in: Basil Rathbone (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1945) (USA) (theatrical)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (1989) (USA) (VHS)
• Fox Video (1993) (USA) (VHS)
• Madacy Entertainment (1995) (USA) (VHS)
• Take 2 Video (1995) (USA) (VHS)
• Hollywood Classics (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Madacy Entertainment (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• FOCUSfilm Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Marengo Films (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• BFS Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• BFS Video (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• FOCUSfilm Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• MPI Home Video (2003) (USA) (VHS)
• BFS Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• BFS Video (2004) (USA) (VHS)
• MPI Home Video (2004) (USA) (VHS)
• National Film Museum (2004) (USA) (TV) (as National Film Museum Incorporated)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2005) (worldwide) (all media)
• Finnkino (2009) (Finland) (DVD)
• Legend Films (2005) (worldwide) (DVD)
• MPI Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Pan Vision Oy (2007) (Finland) (DVD)
• RCV Home Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• St. Clair Entertainment Group (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1974) (1995) (2000) (2003) (Finland) (TV) (TV2)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1974) (Finland) (TV)

Other Companies

• Hypercube  digital restoration
• Screen Time Images  audio restoration
• Screen Time Images  film restoration

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:

Although he is not seen, the only reference to Mycroft Holmes in the Basil Rathbone / Nigel Bruce series is made in this film.

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)

Strange Crimes & Worthy Adversaries For Holmes

"The Woman in Green" is one of the numerous Sherlock Holmes movies with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce appearing as Holmes and Watson. While routine in some respects, this one features a series of bizarre crimes and some worthy adversaries for the great detective.

Holmes must solve a series of murders that each involve the same set of weird details, but that seem unrelated in other respects. The plot this time is somewhat different from most Holmes stories, in that the audience knows the identity of the villains early in the film, but it takes a while before we know why or exactly how they committed the murders. After Holmes figures it all out, he must still try to catch the criminals, and there is an interesting final sequence in which Holmes himself is in great danger.

Rathbone and Bruce always make a good team even with the most routine stories, and this one is bizarre enough to hold attention in its own right. It also features a good pair of adversaries for Holmes. Professor Moriarty is in this one, portrayed by Henry Daniell. The notorious Moriarty is very difficult to do justice to on film, but Daniell works very well, with his icy personality and suave demeanor. Hillary Brooke is also pretty good as his attractive and dangerous accomplice.

Though not one of the greatest Holmes films, "The Woman in Green" has most of the features that Holmes fans look for, and it should not disappoint them.