Dressed to Kill (1946) – Roy William Neill

This is it, the final Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson adventure to feature Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce in the iconic roles. While it is another original story, it does lift elements from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories A Scandal in Bohemia, and The Adventure of the Six Napoleons. The mystery centers around a trio…

Terror by Night (1946) – Roy William Neill

Terror by Night is the penultimate adventure of Basil Rathbone’s and Nigel Bruce’s Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. It lifts elements from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s works, The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle, The Adventure of the Empty House, The Disappearance of Lady Carfax, and The Sign of Four, but is predominantly an original story….

White Lightning (1973) – Joseph Sargent

Burt Reynolds stars as Gator McClusky, who feels like he may be a more rough and tumble relative of the Bandit. And speaking of Smokey & the Bandit, Hal Needham, who went on to direct that classic film, served as the second unit director on this film. Gator is in prison, and he’s a model…

The Woman in Green (1945) – Roy William Neill

Man, I really liked how this Sherlock Holmes adventure started out, but the second half kinda lost me. Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Watson (Nigel Bruce) are back, and despite some goofy narration to set up the tale at the beginning, instead of letting the film tell the story, I was really engaged with the idea….

The Pearl of Death (1944) – Roy William Neill

Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Watson (Nigel Bruce) are deep in it again this week as the take on The Pearl of Death. Using Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Six Napoleons as its basis, this tale ends up being a lot of fun. After Holmes foils Naomi Drake’s (Evelyn Ankers) attempt to steal the famous Borgia…

James (2024) – Percival Everett

Percival Everett offers a fresh perspective on Mark Twain’s adventure of Huck and Jim. Filled with humor, heartbreak, horror, and irony, Everett’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel is captivating, powerful and entertaining. Jim, as one will remember, is a runaway slave, and is later thought to have murdered Huck. The pair travel down the Mississippi tumbling…

The Scarlet Claw (1944) – Roy William Neill

Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Watson (Nigel Bruce) find themselves in Quebec, Canada (read as the Universal backlot) for their next adventure, The Scarlet Claw. An original story, this adventure sees the dogged duo working to solve a murder that may or may not have paranormal trappings. While Watson is played up for humor again,…

The Spider Woman (1944) – Roy William Neill

Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) is back! By his side, the redoubtable Watson (Nigel Bruce)! Despite the (once again) short runtime, I really liked this one. It got the series back on track to solving mysteries and while the War was still going on I liked the fact that it decided to be more escapism than…