Product: Terror by Night (1946)
Rating: 4.0
Elementary...
It had been years since I saw Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes. It is always a good idea to trace something that has become a cliché back to its source. For better or worse, the character of Holmes will forever be inextricably linked to Rathbone.The action in this film is similar to The Lady Vanishes or Murder on the Orient Express. Sherlock is hired to guard a valuable diamond. Of course someone is murdered on the train and he must solve the crime.Watching this film feels, in a sense, like coming home. Sherlock is THE iconic detective and when he's around, you never worry too much because you are sure no one is going to get the better of him. He is a direct precursor to James Bond, except with more emphasis on intelligence. In many ways it is more entertaining to watch these old films than more modern entertainments. Here you know the acting is going to be good and the dialogue snappy. The film moves along at a brisk pace - in fact, it is so short it wouldn't even be considered a feature by today's standards. Nigel Bruce's Watson may not be as Arthur Conan Doyle imagined him, but it makes sense in the film series: one needs a comic counterpoint to Holmes' dry wit.However old these films get, I find them very enjoyable.The DVD itself is bare necessity, but the picture is good enough and the cost is very inexpensive.