What's new

Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) Update: First "Two" films Releases (1 Viewer)

John Hodson

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2003
Messages
4,627
Location
Bolton, Lancashire
Real Name
John
It's still saying 'Loaded with special features'? The restorations on set 1 are a wonder, but that flash really makes me grind my teeth.

I don't suppose this one really is loaded, or is that asking too much...

---
So many films, so little time...
 

Paul Drake

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jan 5, 2003
Messages
240
Thanks for the cover art. This set contains my single favorite Holmes film: "Terror By Night".

MPI is indeed guilty of overpromising on the special features. I can overlook this though because of the wonderful job done on the restoration and presentation of these films.
 

David Von Pein

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2002
Messages
5,752
This set contains my single favorite Holmes film: "Terror By Night".
That's kinda funny, because most "Holmsian" "scholars" :) regard "Terror" as one of the weakest of the 14 Basil outings.

But, Paul, I totally agree with you. "Terror By Night" is one of my most-watched as well. No scholar is gonna tell me it's not a quality SH romp. :D

Reminder: NEVER, ever travel on a train with a man named Duncan Bleek. It could prove a fatal decision. :)

 

David Von Pein

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2002
Messages
5,752
By-the-by, Paul (et al) ..... Amazon has Collection #3 for a nice price at this time (with Free S&H). Might behoove all SH fans to pre-order now. :) :D
 

Malcolm Cleugh

Second Unit
Joined
Jan 11, 2002
Messages
362
Is Volume 1 now OOP and unorderable from distributors ?

I unfortunately had to sent my original copy back to my e-tailer as it got smashed to pieces in the post (because of its stupid plastic case).

Now my supplier says that Volume 1 is very hard to obtain. They have tried 6 different ones and still no luck after 2 weeks of trying. Before anyone asks they source their stock from the US rather than Canada (as I know that can be problematic).

It seems very strange these are being deleted so quickly (under a month) ?
or is it they have sold out and are just having problems getting more duplicated in the Christmas rush ?

I want to get volume 2 next week but am holding off incase I can't get a volume 1.

Any news would be appreciated

Thanks

Malcolm
 

John Hodson

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2003
Messages
4,627
Location
Bolton, Lancashire
Real Name
John
Malcolm, Amazon says 'usually ships in 24 hours' which is usually and indication that it's in stock, and playusa.com say 'in stock' - but I do see what you mean; several others have it 'on order'.

Set 2 is currently on it's way to me - excellent!

---
So many films, so little time...
 

Paul Drake

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jan 5, 2003
Messages
240
Volume 2 arrived today and I've already watched the first film ("Pearl of Death"). So far, the excellent restorations continue.

The commentary in this collection is for "Scarlet Claw". Some of my favorite films in this series are in this box so I am quite eager to see all the films.

One of the extras on this set is a featurette with Bob Gitt at UCLA discussing the process and challenges of preserving and restoring this series. Fascinating stuff.

Malcolm, I've yet to see this set in a B&M in my area. Most leading e-tailers should have it though. The only thing I can think of is that MPI didn't produce very many sets and the ones they did sold better than expected.
 

Rodney

Premium
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2001
Messages
2,404
Just received Volume 2 today, and cannot wait to watch it.
Maybe I am being sophomoric, but since when was it called "Sherlock Holmes IN the Spider Woman"? Sounds pretty racy, to me! :b
 

Anthony Hom

Supporting Actor
Joined
Mar 24, 1999
Messages
890
There is a comment here that Basil Rathbone did not portray Sherlock Holmes as well as contemporaries like Jeremy Brett. I think most SH fans agree that Basil Rathbone did not give the best portrayal based upon the books, the reason so many people like the Rathbone-Bruce series is those two actors.
The chemistry of those two working together as actors is amazing. Think of this series as the two as an acting duo using Sherlock Holmes based stories as the vehicle.
If you just watch this series as a group of enjoyable set of 40s film-making, then they are great. If you are looking for the best interpretation of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, then you may want to look elsewhere.
I enjoy everyone of these films and never get tired of watching them.
 

David Von Pein

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2002
Messages
5,752
One of the extras on this set is a featurette with Bob Gitt at UCLA discussing the process and challenges of preserving and restoring this series. Fascinating stuff.
Paul....
How long is that "featurette"? (The packaging claims it's only an "introduction" by Gitt.)

Could you give a rundown of ALL the "Extra Features" on the Collection #2 set? I'd be interested. Is the "Photo Gallery" a mere "throwaway", as a member noted above (re. the first-set Gallery), or is it more substantive than #1?

Thanks in advance for any additional info & data.
 

Joe Karlosi

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2003
Messages
6,008
Well, I've just watched THE SCARLET CLAW for the first time and have to agree with the majority that it may be the best film of the Universal series! Great camerawork, story, atmosphere.

I made a terrible mistake though, and it's a shame. Before I watched the film I was toying with the extras, and this included a little of the audio commentary. As luck would have it, the first thing I overheard was the commentator giving away the identity of the killer! (sigh)... Well, I loved the movie anyway, but I can only wonder if I would have been able to figure out who the culprit was on my own...
 

Paul Drake

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jan 5, 2003
Messages
240
David, the featurette is about 4 to 5 minutes. Not very long, but very informative and well done.

The picture still/poster gallery is below the level of volume 1 (if that's possible). It is a throwaway.

The liner notes were quite enjoyable and had information I hadn't read before. First class all the way. Be sure to read the chapter titles for some "in-jokes".

The commentary was enjoyable but it does (as Joe said) reveal the "bad guy" very early on. The commentator makes a major gaffe when he identifies a bit player as being "Skelton Knaggs" whom Holmes fans will recognize as a major character from the "Terror by Night" film. The bit player is clearly not Knaggs.

The films themselves look excellent. "Scarlet Claw" is the worst of the bunch (due to the lack of decent original materials), but if you can get past the occasional speckling and running lines you'll still be quite pleased with this title. The other films are largely free of speckles and other print damage.
 
Joined
Jan 28, 2001
Messages
31
I really love this series of Sherlock Holmes films. I do have a question, though. The title of Sherlock Holmes in The Spider Woman in misspelled on the spine of my copy as "Spiper" Woman. This was the individual release of this title, not the box set. Are they all that way? This is the first time I've seen a legitimate release have an error like that. I've seen errors in the information on the back many times, but misspelling the actual title of the movie is a first. Oh, well. I enjoyed the movie anyway.
 

Joe Karlosi

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2003
Messages
6,008
Another question: Are these films presented out of sequence? While enjoying the commentary I thought it was established that SCARLET came pefore PEARL....?
 

Paul Drake

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jan 5, 2003
Messages
240
Yes, these are shown out of sequence :frowning:
MPI flipped the order of "Spider" ("Spiper" if you wish) and "Pearl".
 

David Von Pein

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2002
Messages
5,752
I know this is a "nit-pick", but does anyone else (besides me) find the music over the menus to be rather...well...odd on the new MPI Sherlock DVDs (IMO). I'd have preferred to have had the famous "Sherlock Holmes Intro Music" being played over the menus. (To clarify -- I mean the musical theme we hear as the credits roll on all 12 of the Universal Holmes' films. The FOX intros are good too, but different from the Universals.)

Or, simply "silent" menus are good too.

I opted for the 12 "individual" SH MPI releases, after seeing that the "Boxed Sets" did not come with individual keepcases for each film therein.

Look at the very nice cover art you're missing if you opt for the 3 Boxed Sets (granted, they are a bit more in price to go this individual route -- but I got 'em for less than the boxes via DDD's recent "20% Off Coupons" :) :)).

These covers probably constitute a better "Photo Gallery" in & of themselves (IMO) than the actual "Gallery" they've put on the Boxed Collections............




 

Anthony Hom

Supporting Actor
Joined
Mar 24, 1999
Messages
890
I agree here, Basil Rathbone will always be the definitive Holmes to me.

I would also like to point out in these sets that the liner notes are excellent. Very good research done on the scope of the film series and the bios on all the "players".
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest Articles

Forum statistics

Threads
356,815
Messages
5,123,824
Members
144,184
Latest member
H-508
Recent bookmarks
0
Top