Film Review
One of the most highly regarded and popular of Universal's
Sherlock Holmes adventures,
The Pearl of Death is also the one
that is closest to the original Arthur Conan Doyle story on which
it is based, here
The Adventure of the
Six Napoleons. As a consequence, this is one of the few
films in the series that feels like it might have been penned by Conan
Doyle, having many of the ingredients of the original Sherlock Holmes
stories - an ingenious, well-constructed mystery, Holmes pitted against a
cunning adversary and, most crucially, the London setting,
complete with 221B Baker Street and the indispensible Mrs Hudson.
The film is best remembered for introducing Rondo Hatton as the
Creeper, by far the most frightening character to appear in the
series. Hatton's distinctive appearance was the result of
acromegaly, a progressive deformation of the bones, which was caused by
his exposure to poison gas whilst serving in France during the First World War.
Although he earned his living mainly as a journalist, Hatton found work
as an actor on account of his disfigurement. His success in
The Pearl of Death led Universal
to cast him in the same role in two subsequent films,
House of Horrors (1946) and
The Brute Man (1946). Hatton
died in 1946 from a heart attack caused by his worsening condition.
Although there is fair amount of knockabout comedy in the film (Dr
Watson and Inspector Lestrade are now clearly competing for the Idiot
of the Century award),
The Pearl of
Death is a surprisingly dark work and contains some of the most
chilling scenes in the series. There are plenty of nods to
German expressionism, with liberal use of shadows and high contrast
black and white photography to create a palpable sense of menace.
This is most apparent in the masterfully realised set piece
confrontation between Holmes and his enemy, Conover, at the end of the
film. What makes this scene so frightening is the way in which
Conover's hired help, the Creeper, is revealed to us. We glimpse his disfigured, apelike
face fleetingly, in one or two brief shots (just enough to give you
nightmares for a month or two). For the most part, all we see is
a grotesque silhouette or shadow, a haunting presence that has a sense
of death about it and which, for a few delicious moments, makes Holmes
appear utterly helpless. How the great detective managed to
survive this adventure when pitted against such a terrifying and
seemingly invincible opponent is a mystery worthy of Conan Doyle
himself. Utterly creepy.
© James Travers 2009
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Roy William Neill film:
The Scarlet Claw (1944)
Film Synopsis
Sherlock Holmes makes the blunder of his career when he unwittingly
allows master criminal Giles Conover to steal a priceless pearl which
is on display at a London museum. Conover is caught a short while
later but in the brief time when he was being pursued by the police he
managed to dispose of the pearl. A few days later, Holmes'
attention is drawn to a seemingly motiveless murder. A retired
colonel has been found dead at his home - his back was broken and the
area of floor around his body was strewn with broken china.
Holmes deduces that this is the work of a dangerous criminal known as
the Creeper, who happens to be one of Giles Conover's henchmen.
Not long after this, there is another killing. This time the
victim is a young woman, but the pattern is the same - broken back and
smashed china. Holmes discovers that, before he was captured,
Conover managed to conceal the valuable pearl in one of six plaster
busts of Napoleon Bonaparte. The crook is now attempting to
recover the pearl by breaking into the homes of the people who bought
the busts, assisted by his henchman, the Creeper. Unless Holmes
acts fast, there will be further killings...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.