Pursuit to Algiers *** (1945, Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Martin Kosleck, Marjorie Riordan, Rosalind Ivan, John Abbott) – Classic Movie Review 983

Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Dr Watson (Nigel Bruce) are recruited to ensure a future king gets safely back from America to his homeland after his father’s assassination. But killers are also aboard their ocean liner.

Supposedly based on a story in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s collection The Return of Sherlock Holmes, the 1945 mystery thriller film Pursuit to Algiers is a different kettle of fish altogether, with the screenwriter Leonard Lee using little more than the characters and situations.

This time Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Dr Watson (Nigel Bruce) are recruited to ensure a future king gets safely back from America to his homeland after his father’s assassination. They are on a transatlantic ocean liner riding along on the crest of the Atlantic Ocean waves, trying to escort Prince Nikolas (Leslie Vincent), the young heir to the throne of Rovenia, to the safety of his imaginary European monarchy, when they discover that killers are also aboard.

It’s an enjoyable series entry: the pursuit of the bad guys could be hotter, and the pace more often full-steam-ahead. But the star pair are invaluable treasures and Bruce takes his opportunity to sing ‘Loch Lomond’.

This is the stars’ 12th Holmes movie, and the 10th in the Universal Pictures modern-day series, with two more still to go: Terror by Night (1946) and Dressed to Kill [Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Code] (1946).

Also in the cast are Martin Kosleck, Marjorie Riordan, Rosalind Ivan, John Abbott, Frederick Worlock, Morton Lowry, Gerald Hamer, Rex Evans, Wilson Benge, Willie Davis, Sven Hugo Borg, Tom Dillon, Gregory Gaye, Olaf Hytten and Dorothy Kellogg.

Watson begins to recite the tale of The Giant Rat of Sumatra, mentioned in Conan Doyle’s The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire.

The action takes place aboard the S.S. Friesland from Conan Doyle’s The Adventure of the Norwood Builder.

The actor who plays His Majesty the first time on the screen is different from the one revealed at the end of the movie!

Alas Basil Rathbone was getting fed up with Sherlock Holmes: ‘His interminable success: could he not fail just once and prove himself a human being!’

The cast are Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes, Nigel Bruce as Dr John Watson, Marjorie Riordan as Sheila Woodbury, Rosalind Ivan as Agatha Dunham, Morton Lowry as Steward, Leslie Vincent as Prince Nikolas, Martin Kosleck as Mirko, Rex Evans as Gregor, John Abbott as Jodri, Gerald Hamer as Kingston, William ‘Wee Willie’ Davis as Gubec, Tom Dillon as Restaurant Owner, Frederick Worlock as Prime Minister, Sven Hugo Borg as Johansson, Marjorie Riordan, Rosalind Ivan, Morton Lowry, Rex Evans, Wilson Benge, Willie Davis, Gregory Gaye, Olaf Hytten and Dorothy Kellogg.

Pursuit to Algiers is directed by Roy William Neill, is made by Universal Pictures, is released by Universal Pictures, is written by Leonard Lee, based on characters by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is shot by Paul Ivano, is produced by Howard Benedict, and is scored by Edgar Fairchild.

Release date: October 26, 1945.

Running time: 65 minutes.

The films of Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Doctor Watson: The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939), The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939), Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942), Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1942), Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943), Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943), The Spider Woman (1943), The Scarlet Claw (1944), The Pearl of Death (1944), The House of Fear (1945), The Woman in Green (1945), Pursuit to Algiers (1945), Terror by Night (1946), and Dressed to Kill (1946).

© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Film Review 983 derekwinnert.com