A Study in Scarlet (1933)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Edwin L. Marin

Writers:

Arthur Conan Doyle (suggested by book "A Study in Scarlet")
Robert Florey (screenplay)

Release Date:

14 May 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

In London, a secret society led by lawyer Thaddeus Merrydew collects the assets of any of its deceased...

Plot Keywords:

Widow | Sherlock Holmes | Chinese | Secret Society | Secret Passage

Cast

Reginald Owen	...	Sherlock Holmes
Anna May Wong	...	Mrs. Pyke
June Clyde	...	Eileen Forrester
Alan Dinehart	...	Merrydew (as Allan Dinehart)
John Warburton	...	John Stanford
Alan Mowbray	...	Lestrade
Warburton Gamble	...	Dr. Watson
J.M. Kerrigan	...	Jabez Wilson
Doris Lloyd	...	Mrs. Murphy
Billy Bevan	...	Will Swallow
Leila Bennett	...	Daffy Dolly
Wyndham Standing	...	Capt. Pyke
Halliwell Hobbes	...	Dearing

Runtime:

72 min (TCM print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (re-rating) (2004) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Filming Locations:

California Tiffany Studios - 4516 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

K.B.S. Productions Inc.

Trivia:

Reginald Owen, having previously played Dr. Watson, hoped with this film to initiate a series of Sherlock Holmes films with himself as Holmes. This was the only film made with Owen as Holmes.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Holmes and Watson's address is given as 221-A Baker Street, rather than the more familiar 221-B.

Quotes:

Sherlock Holmes: Come, Watson; the game is afoot.

Movie Connections:

Version of Sherlock Holmes and a Study in Scarlet (1983)

Good but not Great.

I was intrigued by the thought of Reginald Owen playing Sherlock Holmes because I disliked him as Ebeneezer Scrooge in MGM's " A Christmas Carol" (1938). In that role he was very subdued and did not bring the character to life, although I have been spoiled in this regard by Alastair Sim; would the same happen here?

Happily, he was much better as Holmes, but once again I have been spoiled by Basil Rathbone and Arthur Wontner. Nevertheless, he was more than adequate but was done in by the leaden pace of the proceedings in A Study In Scarlet - it could have been so much better with a little tension and suspense and a few less dead spots, as the the storyline was excellent. I especially enjoy mysteries in which the murderer is unknown until the last scene.

A good entry in the Holmes series - unless you've seen the aforementioned Rathbone or Wontner in the title role.