Did you people see the same film I saw?

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Blistering performances.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This is probably my favorite Rathbone/Holmes offering. As a child I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the Canadian town of Le Morte Rouge where people seem content to enjoy the supernatural. Something is killing sheep and people, ripping them to pieces with a claw. Of course, the possibility it is a kind of garden trowel is dismissed. It has to be some kind of animal/demon that is driving this. Part of it also that there is professor living there that is immersed in this and it is his wife who is the first to die. While Holmes tries to get to the bottom of this, his trusty, bumbling sidekick is given a series of tasks which he, of course, goofs up. One is a period of time he spends in a bar trying to observe and be inconspicuous. He spends his time speaking loudly and asking all kinds of questions, becoming somewhat of a celebrity in the process. Another is when Holmes want the locals to thing he has given up and will be leaving. Watson announces loudly to everyone that he and Holmes are on their way out of town. He prances around, making it obvious to anyone who will listen. No subtly whatsoever. The murders continue and Holmes takes it personally when a pretty young woman who works at the inn is ripped to death by the claw. The villain is interesting and there are enough plot twist to make this a pretty good package. I know that this is wartime and each episode ends with a plea for war bonds, but Holmes takes about two minutes speaking about the great country of Canada, the British monarchy, the great United States, etc. He becomes an insufferable boor in these things, but, then, I'm viewing them in a different time and place.

Roy William Neil continued to direct this series, and this is one of the best. Story is not adapted by a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle tale, but instead tells an original one. Holmes & Watson are in Quebec Canada to attend a conference when they are called upon to investigate a murder of Lady Penrose, who had in fact already contacted Holmes, but was too late to save her. Locals believe it to be a supernatural creature at work, but Sherlock knows better. Atmospheric and exciting entry seems inspired by earlier "The Hound Of The Baskervilles", but is better handled here. The series was at its peak now, and in the next two entries as well.

With its rural location complete with treacherous, foggy marsh terrorised by a seemingly supernatural monster, The Scarlet Claw certainly has more than a bit of The Hound of the Baskervilles about it; the fact that the 'monster' is in fact an escaped murderer wearing phosphorescent clothes in order to scare the locals means that it also resembles an episode of Scooby Doo at times.This combination of the creepy and the cartoonish makes for one admittedly silly but also very entertaining adventure for Holmes, giving the super sleuth an intriguing case more than worthy of his amazing deductive skills whilst reinstating the atmospheric Gothic trappings that had sorely been missing from the series' earlier war-time efforts.Great characters; gruesome deaths; a villain able to take on a variety of disguises with ease; an ominous tolling bell; a deserted, run-down hotel; red herrings aplenty: The Scarlet Claw has what it takes to be one of the best of the Universal Sherlock Holmes films.7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.

The Turner Movie Channel id playing a series of Sherlock Holmes movies today and I have been watching them, for want of anything else to do. I find that this particular movie is a cut above the others that have been shown today. Basil Rathbone was a marvelous actor throughout his career.Having been trained in the Shakespearean discipline,I can't help to think that he must have been painfully distraught at the caliber of some of the 'hacks' portraying other roles in this and others of this series. I know it pained me to hear someone reading lines without any inflection whatsoever. My mother did far better than that just reading nursery rhymes.