Blu-ray Review HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: Sherlock Holmes Complete Collection (Rathbone) (1 Viewer)

[Josh Steinberg]

Totally agree with Matt - I started buying the sets as they were originally released on DVD back in - what was it, 2003? - but had to switch to renting them at a certain point, I think I had run out of cash or something. Bottom line, I never actually bought all of them, and this Blu-ray set seems to be the way to go. It's not always easy to justify spending money to do a BD upgrade of a title I already have on DVD, so I love when one of these sets comes out where I never completed the DVD collection in the first place! These movies are probably my favorite b-movie types from that era; Rathbone and Bruce together are perfection.

 

[ahollis]

I a complete fan of the Rathborn/Bruce Holmes films and have enjoyed this set. I did double-dip/up-grade for this one. I actually like one of the weaker entries, Sherlock Holmes in Washington. The party scene where the clue is passed around the room un-noticed is excellent.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I am bumping this thread because a recent iTunes sale on these titles started a brief discussion on the films in the Digital Deals thread and I didn’t want to sidetrack the deals thread. But after @Tino was asking about them and @Matt Hough mentioned his favorites, I decided to watch one of the movies from my BD set - I don’t think I’ve revised since about 2013. What started as a one-off viewing is turning into a series - I’ve now revisited half a dozen of these.

I really love these films, with the Universal B productions really being where my mindset is these days. Their running time makes them perfect for my limited amount of viewing time these days, and Rathbone and Bruce are always perfection even if the films themselves sometimes fall short of that mark.

I was eager to revisit House of Fear after Matt talked it up and he was absolutely right - it’s a fabulous entry in the series, made even more enjoyable because I had very little memory of it. That is probably the one to beat out of the ones I’ve revisited.

I like Dennis Hoey’s Lestrade - always fun when he pops up.

Terror by Night was also very enjoyable. I really have an affinity for films set in large, enclosed, movable spaces like trains, boats and airplanes. I don’t know exactly why that is but it always seems to be the case.

I’m not watching these in any kind of order this time, so next up is Scarlet Claw!

 

[AnthonyClarke]

I must check out House of Fear. Ages since I saw it too, and I don't remember anything about it! I have the excellent budget Spanish set which some people suggest might be a pirate edition, even though it came from Amazon.sa. How unlike Amazon, to sell pirate editions!

 

[Matt Hough]

Can't wait, Josh, to read your thoughts on The Scarlet Claw which almost every Holmes fan cites as the pinnacle of the Universal series.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

It’s another one I didn’t remember well, which made it extra fun. It reminded me a bit of Hound. House of Fear is probably still the one to beat for me but Scarlet Claw is definitely top five material.

 

[lark144]

Funny, I've been watching these again too, also after Matt's post.

I started with the Fox produced "Hound" & "The Adventures" from 1939, then jumped to "Spider Woman" & "The Scarlet Claw", which has always been my favorite. I guess "House of Fear" is up for tonight, though I also haven't seen it in so long, I no longer remember it.

 

[midvalleyguy]

These are certainly some of my favourite films.

Is an upgrade to Blu Ray really worthwhile? The DVDBeaver review of the MPI box set only seems to suggest slightly better picture quality and sound. Is there a dramatic difference? For me it’s not an inexpensive upgrade to Blu Ray. Or should I just get a DVD box set?

I already have the excellent 2007 Legend 4 DVD disc set (black & white/colourized) so don’t really want to double dip too much.

I’m aware of what appears to be a Spanish bootleg Blu Ray set sold on Amazon. The Italian Blu Ray box set gets very good reviews. Both seem to have been sourced from MPI.

The only film of the 14 that I have not seen is “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes”.

On YouTube I get the message “This video contains content from Paramount Pictures, who has blocked it on copyright grounds”. Digging deeper, I have found a good copy with Portuguese subtitles, so that will have to do for the present.

 

[mark-edk]

The Scarlet Claw is one of the best, but it also has the most goofs/loose ends of any of the films. The buzzer on the stairs that works one minute and, because the plot requires it, doesn't the next, or the guilty party making a statement in the film that nails hims/her as the killer, only nobody realizes it (including the author of the screenplay apparently) are just a few. But it's still one of my favorites.

 

[skylark68]

Terror by Night was also very enjoyable. I really have an affinity for films set in large, enclosed, movable spaces like trains, boats and airplanes. I don’t know exactly why that is but it always seems to be the case.

I agree with you on this, especially with the films made back in the 1930s thru 1940's. Something about the characters being somewhat isolated from the outside world is appealing. Terror By Night was a great one. I have the set on bluray, some of the films were a little rough condition wise, but overall I think it's nice.

 

[Dick]

My understanding is that the two Fox titles were not restored as well (most of) the Universal's, due to lack of top-grade elements. They look just fine to me, though.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Watched Spider Woman last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s really fast paced and once it starts, it doesn’t let up. The b-movie trappings seem a little more apparent in this one (I noticed some waving of a backdrop meant to be a skyline) but it really doesn’t matter since the production design is enough to convey the idea. It’s not the best of the bunch but it goes down easy.

 

[Will Krupp]

Watched Spider Woman last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s really fast paced and once it starts, it doesn’t let up. The b-movie trappings seem a little more apparent in this one (I noticed some waving of a backdrop meant to be a skyline) but it really doesn’t matter since the production design is enough to convey the idea. It’s not the best of the bunch but it goes down easy.

If you can ignore, as one writer (Otto Penzler, maybe?) pointed out, that the climax is predicated on the rather astonishing notion that they would use live ammunition at a fun fair (in WARTIME, no less!) lol.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

If you can ignore

After 1am, it’s pretty easy to ignore most leaps of logic

 

[DavidJ]

Y'all are making me want to dig out my set. I don't know that I've seen House of Fear.

 

[AnthonyClarke]

Was it finally decided that the excellent Spanish set was in fact a bootleg?
Regardless, I have that, and also the complete later series, which is just as good, with Jeremy Brett.
They're the two indispensable Sherlock Holmes. Neither must be neglected.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Last night was Dressed To Kill, another one that I didn’t recall and enjoyed immensely. The lower budget showed on this one, with a great deal of the film dedicated to Rathbone and Bruce chatting alone in Holmes’ residence, but I enjoyed that sparseness. With it being the last entry, it was great to see them front and center for the whole thing.

Since I’ve been going out of order, I’m now left with just three: In Washington, plus the two Fox productions. I’m strangely not as enthusiastic about seeing any of those right now compared to the ones I’ve just seen, but I’m a completist so I’ll probably watch them again anyway.

 

[AnthonyClarke]

When finished, move onto the Jeremy Brett set. How do you find them by contrast with the classic cast?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a Brett entry but it just wasn’t my cup of tea. They’re very well made and there’s nothing objectively wrong with them but they just don’t give me that same escapist delight I get from Rathbone/Bruce.

 

[Will Krupp]

I’m now left with just three: In Washington, plus the two Fox productions. I’m strangely not as enthusiastic about seeing any of those right now compared to the ones I’ve just seen

For my money, the Fox entries can't be beat. It's funny because setting HOUND and ADVENTURES in "period" was such an all ecompassing success that it was actually controversial to "update" Holmes to the 1940s at Universal. Everyone seemed to collectively forget that, prior to Rathbone, all Holmes films were in contemporary dress and there had never been an attempt to put him "in period" before Rathbone's debut in HOUND.

IN WASHINGTON doesn't have a great reputation but it was much better than I remembered it to be and the transfer is one of the strongest in the entire set.