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Equipping Christians to think, speak, and act

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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Drama / Mystery
1939 / 79 minutes
RATING: 8/10

If there is any one film that deserves the primary credit as the inspiration for the many cinematic Holmesian interpretations that followed, this would be it. It seems like everybody who has played the principal part since is building on Basil Rathbone’s performance here.

In the opening scene we see Holmes’s arch-nemesis, the brilliant, villainous Professor Moriarty, quite literally getting away with murder. He is in court, standing trial, and the jury has returned to declare they find him “not guilty,”not because they think him at all innocent, but only because they don’t have the evidence they need.

So what is Moriarty going to do now that he has been set free again? He pledges to Holmes that “I am going to break you Holmes. I am going to bring out, right under your nose, the most incredible crime of the century and you will never suspect until it is too late. And that will be the end of you Mr. Sherlock Holmes.”

And with that, the game is afoot!

Cautions

While two people are murdered, it happens off screen. The scariest part is probably the mood music.

The only other concern is the question of whether Sherlock Holmes needed to bring this to the resolution he did. I don’t want to give spoilers, so I’ll just say, a discussion might be had about about what happens at precisely the 77 minute mark.

Conclusion

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes was the second, and probably the best, in a series of 14 Sherlock Holmes movies made between 1939 and 1946, all starring Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. John Watson. The plot wasn’t based on the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story collection of the same name, but it does a great job of living up to its spirit. If you like the books, you should give this one a try.

I couldn’t find a proper movie trailer, but here’s a clip of the opening scene that’ll give you a good taste of what is to come.

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Drama, Movie Reviews

Saboteur

Drama / Mystery 1942 / 109 minutes RATING: 7/10 This is World War II as seen from the other side of the ocean. Barry Kane is one of the hundreds of employees at an airplane factory in Glendale, California, and when the plant suspiciously burns down, he becomes one of the chief suspects. Barry knows he's innocent, and thinks the real saboteur might be a man named Fry, who he bumped into just before the fire started, But Fry doesn't seem to exist – the factory never employed anyone by that name – which makes Barry look even more suspicious. With the authorities looking in the wrong direction, Barry decides he has to track Fry down himself and takes off. He has only one key clue, and to make it even more difficult, police departments across the country are now on the lookout for him! Love-interest Patricia Martin is a girl he meets along the way, and whose blind uncle somehow knows that Barry is trustworthy, no matter what the police might think. Patricia isn't quite so sure, and seems as likely to turn Barry in as to help him. Together they follow the clues and cross the country, uncovering a network of fifth columnists – Nazi sympathizers and agents amongst the highest echelons of American society. But now that they know who's responsible, will anyone believe them? This cast does a solid job, and while there's no one you'll recognize, the director is a name you'll know: Alfred Hitchcock. He always brings the stark, dramatic shots, of course, but also a bit of oddness. His quirkiness shows up in this picture when Barry and Patricia hitchhike a ride on a circus caravan and hide out among the circus sideshow performers – a midget, bearded lady, set of Siamese Twins, and more – who end up arguing it out about whether they'll help the pair. And this being an Alfred Hitchcock film, we can expect the director to make a brief appearance on screen – look for his cameo just after the one-hour mark. Cautions The caution here is also a feature: this is a film for discussion, not just consumption, and the conversation will be of a Romans 13 sort (or more specifically, Rom. 13:1-7) – when should we, and when shouldn't we listen to the appointed authorities? Barry is fleeing the police because if he doesn't, the true saboteur will get away, and because the police, however unwittingly, are aiding the fifth columnists. But while his motivation is clear, some of the people who choose to help him are defying those same authorities for tenuous reasons. Patricia's uncle, for example, trusts Barry based on little more than gut instinct. Conclusion This was already well into development before Japan's 1941, Dec. 7 bombing of Pearl Harbor pushed the United States into World War II. That might be why the focus was on the homefront – American soldiers weren't fighting in the trenches yet when the script was being written.Regardless, Hitchcock wanted his audience to know the fight was already going on, behind the scenes, right on American soil. This is an enjoyable film, but not the sort you'd pitch folks who aren't already up for black-and-white films. Start them on other World War II fare like Casablanca, The SeaHawk, and  Desperate Journey instead, and if they love those, then they'll be more inclined to enjoy Saboteur for the great war film it is. ...