Silver Blaze [Murder at the Baskervilles] *** (1937, Arthur Wontner, Ian Fleming, Lyn Harding, John Turnbull, Minnie Rayner) – Classic Movie Review 4480

The 1937 British black-and-white double-murder mystery thriller film Silver Blaze stars the near-ideal Arthur Wontner in his fifth and final portrayal of Sherlock Holmes.

Director Thomas Bentley’s 1937 British black-and-white double-murder mystery thriller film Silver Blaze stars the near-ideal Arthur Wontner in his fifth and final portrayal of Sherlock Holmes. This time, unusually, Holmes finds himself defending a racehorse (Silver Blaze) accused of murdering the groom-trainer (by death-inducing kicking) and galloping off from the scene of the crime.

Wontner, Ian Fleming as Dr Watson, Lyn Harding as Professor Moriarty and John Turnbull as Inspector Lestrade are all on fine form in this fair but not outstanding British Holmes series entry, based by screen-writers Arthur Macrae and H Fowler Mear on a neat and nifty Sir Arthur Conan Doyle short story, The Adventure of Silver Blaze. Unfortunately the film is again set in its Thirties period of making, with a car chase and Holmes, Watson and the Chief Constable attacked by a Tommy-gun-armed Colonel Sebastian Moran (Arthur Goullet).

Also in the cast are Judy Gunn, Lawrence Grossmith, Arthur Macrae, Eve Gray, Martin Walker, Robert Horton and Minnie Rayner as the housekeeper Mrs Hudson.

It is produced by Julius Hagen for his Twickenham Film Studios Productions.

Basil Rathbone was to be the next and arguably the definitive Sherlock, but Wontner does not need to be forgotten.

It was released in the United States by Astor Pictures in 1941 as Murder at the Baskervilles, retitled to cash in on the success of Rathbone’s Holmes film, The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939). The original running time of Silver Blaze is 71 minutes but the US version runs 65 minutes, which is the TCM print.

Neither Moriarty nor Baskerville appears in Conan Doyle’s 1892 short story.

English playwright and comic actor Arthur Macrae (real name William Arthur Schröpfer, 17 March 1908 – 25 February 1962) gives himself a role as Jack Trevor.

The cast are Arthur Wontner as Sherlock Holmes, Ian Fleming as Dr Watson, Lyn Harding as Professor Moriarty, John Turnbull as Inspector Lestrade, Robert Horton as Colonel Ross, Lawrence Grossmith as Sir Henry Baskerville, Judy Gunn as Diana Baskerville, Arthur Macrae as Jack Trevor, Arthur Goullet as Colonel Sebastian Moran, Martin Walker as James Straker, Eve Gray as Mrs Mary Straker, Gilbert Davis as Miles Stanford, Minnie Rayner as Mrs Hudson, D J Williams as Silas Brown, Ralph Truman as Bert Prince, and Ronald Shiner as Simpson the Stable Boy / Jockey.

Silver Blaze is directed by Thomas Bentley, runs 71 minutes, is made by Twickenham Film Studios Productions, is distributed by Associated British Picture Corporation, is written by H Fowler Mear (adaptation) and Arthur Macrae, based on the Arthur Conan Doyle story The Adventure of Silver Blaze, is shot in black-and-white by Sydney Blythe and William Luff, is produced by Julius Hagen, and is scored by H Baynton Power.

Release date: July 1937.

German-born British film producer Julius Hagen [Julius Jacob Kleimenhagen] (1884–1940) From 1928 to 1937 he controlled Twickenham Studios and became one of the most successful producers of quota quickies. He directed one of the earliest quota quickies: The Passing of Mr Quin, an Agatha Christie adaptation.

The 2012 Guinness World Records lists Holmes as the most portrayed literary human character in film and TV, with more than 75 actors playing the part in more than 250 productions.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4,480

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