The Woman in Green (1945)

Sherlock Holmes investigates when young women around London turn up murdered, each with a finger severed off. Scotland Yard suspects a madman, but Holmes believes the killings to be part of a diabolical plot.

Director:

Roy William Neill

Writers:

Bertram Millhauser (original screenplay), Arthur Conan Doyle (based on the characters created by) (as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Stars:

Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Hillary Brooke

Cast

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

Storyline

Holmes and Watson investigate a series of bizarre and apparently unconnected murders, and the death of a possible suspect. The trail leads to a society of hypnotists and a mysterious, glamorous woman. The fiendish Dr James Moriarty, though reported hanged in Montevideo, is suspected of being involved.

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Plot Keywords:

sherlock holmes | professor moriarty | doctor watson | irish whiskey | body mutilation | 

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Taglines:

Temptress of Pleasure - or Mistress of Murder?

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 July 1945 (USA)

Also Known As:

Invitation to Death

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

68 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Around 0:58:10, Holmes is pressured to take a tablet of "Cannabis japonica" (a fictional species of marijuana invented by the screenwriters), ostensibly to relax his mind and make it easier for him to be hypnotized.

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Goofs

The bust of "Julius Caesar" which Holmes sets up as a target decoy for his would-be assassin is actually a bust of Julius Caesar's nephew and ultimate successor Augustus.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Inspector Gregson: [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 at the CID had slept even less, for 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 talk to us plenty, we knew that. But it didn't help any to know what was ahead of us.

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Crazy Credits

In the cast list at the end, Professor Moriarty's name is misspelled as professor Moriarity.

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Connections

Followed by Terror by Night (1946)

User Reviews

Clue - in this one the murderer plays with a little doll

Hilary Brooks' finest film, playing a beautiful sinister baddie - who's supposed to be in green in a b&w movie and no-one actually tells you she's in green either. Henry Daniell plays Moriarty colder than a refrigerator; George Zucco was mad and Lionel Atwill was pervy but imho I think Daniell was maybe better fitted to play the part of Evil Personified, being cold as ice. But I've always had a soft spot for Zucco however - what a team they made a few years before in SH in Washington! Brooks' housekeeper (subbing Mrs Danvers) and the actual murderer (only briefly seen) complete the Gang of Four.

Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Holmes and Watson are as usual marvellously embroiled in solving a series of particularly gruesome crimes - apparently the censors had their say - of murder and mutilation of young women in London. Inspector Lestrade's comedic touches were considered out of place in this one, so we had the extra stolid and rather wimpish Inspector Gregson instead. My daughter pointed out that when Brooks is hypnotising her prey both the characters look into a lily pond with a decidedly wrong reflection looking back! Unless we were both hypnotised into believing it!

But even if it's slightly sub-par it's still another enjoyable entry, at this distance and after 10 viewings I'd have loved a 3 hour directors cut of this to be suddenly found, but alas it will never be! A great (Definitive edition) print works wonders though.