A Study in Terror
Watson reads in the newspaper that two similar murders have occurred within days of each other near Whitechapel, and Sherlock Holmes' keen deductive mind is instantly stirred, unleashing a merciless process of elimination drawn from every seemingly insignificant detail. He correctly deduces the victims are street prostitutes, and it doesn’t take long for him to trace a path through a pawn shop, a stately home belonging to an aristocratic family, a hospital, and, of course, the pool of suspects and even unaware witnesses who form the cast of an increasingly unraveled tale about the killer and his motive.
Director(s)
James Hill
Barry Langley
Cast & Crew
Details
Reviews
CinemaSerf
Now, in my humble opinion there will never be a better "Sherlock" than Basil Rathbone, nor can "Watson" be anyone other than Nigel Bruce. That's not to say that others ought not to try, though - and here John Neville and Donald Houston turn in OK performances as our sleuthing duo. This time, they are charged with solving the mother of all crime mysteries - the identity of "Jack the Ripper". A lot of attention to detail has been incorporated into the superior production, the film evokes well the sense of seedy Victorian Whitechapel with it's lively nightlife and ladies of "ill repute". It actually has just a shade of "Hammer" about it. I did think, though, that the extensive cast diluted the potency of the thing though. There are too many characters and aside from Anthony Quayle, they sort of served to clutter up the story. The writing isn't bad, it tries it's hand at a little humour now and again, but it is frequently wordy - a little too descriptive denying us much opportunity to do any investigation along with them, ourselves. It's a decent watch, an authentic postulation of what might have happened, but Neville just isn't "Holmes" material for me, sorry...
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