The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is the second Basil Rathbone Holmes film, and I ended up being more into this one than The Hound of the Baskervilles. Rathbone brings Arthur Conan Doyle’s character to wonderful life, making it his own, with Nigel Bruce’s Watson a perfect foil for him.

This one feels like a bit of a faster-paced tale, though it also features a musical number – they can’t all be winners.

The film opens with Holmes being moments to late to present evidence against Moriarty (George Zucco) in court, and thus, the criminal mastermind goes free. He also prepares his revenge against the armchair detective.

Ann Brandon (Ida Lupino) arrives at 221B Baker Street asking for help. She’s received a sinister note, much like the one her father received ten years earlier, just before his murder. When her brother ends up dead, Holmes and Watson rally to the cause.

But this is all one prong of a two-pronged attack. Moriarty is using the killer to distract Holmes from his real plan, stealing the Crown Jewels.

It’s a fun romp

I quite enjoy Rathbone’s portrayal of Holmes, he’s effective, poised, and charming. Watson is still a little comedic, but he’s also more task-focused this time around, helping out at the tower when it comes to the Star of India and the Crown Jewels.

The film is nicely paced, and despite the injection of a musical number, which has a fun comedic payoff, moves along at a brisk and entertaining pace. Two films in, and the series seems to have found its footing. We’ll see how the series plays out after this one.

Zucco’s Moriarty is cruel. He’s smart, maybe as smart as Holmes, the script makes him out that way, to be sure, but he doesn’t have the charm I think the character should have. He’s a manipulator, and charm would be a part of that. And Zucco’s version of the character doesn’t seem very charming at all.

It’s still fun as all get out though, and I really enjoyed settling in for this once.

Once again, it’s all shot on sets in Hollywood, and is in fact, based on a stage play, Sherlock Holmes by William Gillette, but it definitely feels like it brings the character to vibrant life.

It also has a crisp runtime, rolling right along at just under an hour and a half. So, let’s see what happens next time, when I dig into Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror!