User reviews

This sixth entry in the Universal Sherlock Holmes series was the third which defied the initial conception of the franchise. Universal had envisioned Sherlock Holmes as a sort of archetypal hero who, transported into the modern era of WWII, could be put on the government payroll, as it were, to work as a contract agent to hunt down Nazi spies on behalf of the Allies. Perhaps somewhat unexpectedly, this idea met with a great deal of consternation, not only from serious Sherlockians, but also from film critics whose knowledge of Doyle's work was marginal at best.

Granted, most of the Holmes films made up to that point had been updated to their respective eras (in fact, only Fox's two Holmes features with Rathbone and Bruce had taken place in their appropriate time period), but in those cases, the modernization was all on the surface. Automobiles, telephones, and the fashions of the day were all on display...but that was, for all intents and purposes, scenery. The stories, though changed (sometimes drastically) from their original forms, had a timeless quality about them. The first three Universal films, however, were very timely, with plots focused explicitly on the events of the Second World War. This took Holmes out of his element...not only in the literal sense of removing him from Victorian/Edwardian London (as previous films had done), but in transforming the character of Holmes from a consulting detective into a spy-hunter. Indeed, at times, there is more James Bond than Sherlock Holmes in this character. This trend peaked (or bottomed out) with Sherlock Holmes in Washington...the final straw for critics and audiences alike. The film was a critical and box office flop and Universal saw fit to alter the series' direction from that point on.

Though still taking place in the 1940s, the subsequent films did their best to place Holmes back in his proper role, solving intricate mysteries with deductive reasoning...rather than the pure chance and intuition that often guided him in his forays into international espionage. This may (or may not) be accredited to the director Roy William Neill (who directed all but the first entry in the series), who, with the fourth film, Sherlock Holmes Faces Death, became the associate producer...a title he would retain throughout the series' run. From that point on, the films became more Gothic in tone, in many ways more closely resembling the Universal horror films of the era than the first three Universal Holmes pictures. This decision yielded immediate positive results. Sherlock Holmes Faces Death was easily the best of the first four entries, and subsequent films topped one another until peaking with The Scarlet Claw.

Oddly enough, the film is set in a French province of Canada...for no discernible reason. The setting is completely superfluous to the plot, which could easily have played out anywhere (ideally Great Britain). This is made all the more puzzling by the fact that the predominant accent present in the film is British, rather than French Canadian...even American actors threw on Brit accents, despite the fact that American accents would have been more sensible in Canada. But no matter. This slight idiosyncrasy aside, The Scarlet Claw is the ultimate Rathbone/Bruce Universal outing. Not adapted from any of the original Doyle tales, (though borrowing heavily from The Hound of the Baskervilles), The Scarlet Claw is dripping with atmosphere. Fog-wreathed marshes are the setting as Holmes tracks a ghostly apparition that has graduated from sheep mutilation to murdering humans. The local villagers believe the culprit to be supernatural, but level-headed Holmes rejects the idea out of hand, and sets himself to the task of finding the murderer.

Rathbone, as Holmes, is at the top of his form here...cold and detached, clinical in his reasoning. And Bruce's Watson, even in this dumbed down incarnation, is a pleasure to watch. Crisp direction, beautiful cinematography (particularly for a B-film), plenty of twists and turns along the way, and no small amount of deductive reasoning from Holmes, make this the strongest entry in the Universal series. The later films were often good, but none ever matched the achievement of The Scarlet Claw...which is simultaneously Gothic, suspenseful, and very, very Holmesian. It is not without its logical flaws, but the flaws are justified by the picture's enormous entertainment value. And of all the films in the series, this one is, by far, the most entertaining.

I don't know how I missed this one over the years, but watching it today on TCM, I don't remember ever seeing it before.

THE SCARLET CLAW was written especially for the screen and not from any novel penned by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Turns out it's one of the very best entries in the series, up there with THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES and THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES as essential Holmes films.

It has all the atmosphere one would want in a Sherlock Holmes story and a mystery that deepens as the plot goes forward but resolved in a very satisfying way by Holmes. The cast includes an excellent performance from PAUL CAVANAGH as Mr. Penrose, whose wife dies a vicious death at the hands of a killer and leads to Holmes' investigation. GERALD HAMER as a nervous postman and VICTORIA HORNE as a frightened housekeeper are also fine, as is MILES MANDER as a judge whose life is in danger from a serial killer.

Although this one takes place in Canada, it might just as well have taken place on the Dartmouth moors in Devonshire--that's the kind of atmosphere it has with plenty of mist and fog to add to the Gothic ambiance of the tale.

Well worth watching for Sherlock fans. Especially good is NIGEL BRUCE as the bumbling Dr. Watson who inadvertently helps BASIL RATHBONE from time to time. His blustery interpretation of the comic sidekick is especially well done in this caper. Rathbone, of course, is beyond reproach.

Universal's Sherlock Holmes series brought the characters into the 20th Century. Many of the were related to World War II, stories in which Holmes went in pursuit of spies and counterspies; others tried to mimic the original Arthur Conan Doyle stories with a presentation of mental puzzles. Although generally well executed, seldom did any of the titles rise above the level of "B Pictures"--but on the rare occasions that they did, they did so with a vengeance, and THE SCARLET CLAW is such a case. Directed at a fast clip by Roy William Neill, memorably photographed by George Robinson, and sporting an expert cast in a particularly clever script, this is easily among the best of the series.

The story hearkens back to such titles as THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES. Lord Penrose (Paul Cavanaugh) is convinced that his small, Canadian town is beset by an evil spirit--and is indeed giving a lecture on psychic phenomena when his wife is found murdered, presumably by a apparition that haunted the town many years before. Convinced that it is the work of an otherwordly being, he does not welcome the arrival of Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone), who is convinced that there is nothing ghostly about the matter in the least.

The Universal films counted a great deal on the chemistry between Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Holmes and sidekick Dr. Watson, and indeed that chemistry is on full display in this particular title. But the overall cast is remarkably fine, not only the aforementioned Cavanaugh but most particularly Gerald Hammer, who frequently appeared in these films and here offers a uniquely memorable turn as the fearful postmaster. And, unlike most other films in the series, the solution to the crime is indeed a shocker.

The restoration is very handsome and the DVD comes with two nice bonuses, a short documentary on the challenges faced by those who restored the series (THE SCARLET CLAW receives particular mention) and an erudite audio commentary by film historian David Stuart Davies. If you've seen one or two films in the series and been unimpressed--give this one a try to see what Rathbone and company could do when when they had all the right makings. Recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

"The Scarlet Claw" is probably the best of these Rathbone/Bruce films. The plot is very cool. I found the movie to be more frightening than "The Hound of the Baskervilles". And of course, Rathbone is always wonderful as Holmes. I would recommend this movie to any Sherlock Holmes fan or to anyone who just likes mystery movies.

A plea from a dead noblewoman propels Sherlock Holmes towards a confrontation with a phantom murderer known as THE SCARLET CLAW.

Holmes & Watson are faced with a real thriller in this moody, atmospheric little film set in Québec. The villain is particularly nasty--a glow-in-the-dark fiend who savagely rips out the throats of its victims. This just might be the case which changes Holmes'mind about the reality of the supernatural...

As ever, Basil Rathbone & Nigel Bruce are perfect in their roles, like two favorite old uncles, eccentric and a bit crotchety, that one still welcomes to one's fireside. Rathbone is ever the cerebral gymnast, making deductions which sometimes lead him straight into danger. Bruce is a bit more lively this time, getting to indulge himself a bit with an extremely humorous inebriated scene.

A sturdy cast of character actors make up the very frightened inhabitants of the bog-girded village of La Morte Rouge: Paul Cavanagh as the occult-studying peer; Ian Wolfe as his alcoholic butler; Arthur Hohl as the brutal innkeeper; Kay Harding as his unfortunate young daughter; Gerald Hamer as a nervous postman; Miles Mander as a terrified old judge and Victoria Horne as his disquieted housekeeper.

With the war against the Axis still continuing at the time of production, the film concludes with Holmes pithy patriotic paean to Canada.

This film follows SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SPIDER WOMAN (1944) and precedes THE PEARL OF DEATH (1944).

Roy William Neil continued to direct this series, and this is one of the best. Story is not adapted by a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle tale, but instead tells an original one. Holmes & Watson are in Quebec Canada to attend a conference when they are called upon to investigate a murder of Lady Penrose, who had in fact already contacted Holmes, but was too late to save her. Locals believe it to be a supernatural creature at work, but Sherlock knows better. Atmospheric and exciting entry seems inspired by earlier "The Hound Of The Baskervilles", but is better handled here. The series was at its peak now, and in the next two entries as well.

Although to some people this might be blasphemous, I am not at all a fan of the way Bruce interprets the Watson character. This is simply because I believe this is not the way ACD intended to portray the character and it's simply ridiculous. Movies being another art form though, one must certainly make allowances for alternative interpretations. Rathbone, as usual, excels himself here and in my personal Holmes actor ranking he's first just before Jeremy Brett.

At the outset, I had the slight impression that the story is a bit of a rip-off of the HOUND but very soon one realises that the storyline goes into quite another direction. But since The Hound Of The Baskervilles is my very favourite Holmes story that didn't undo the story for me.

What made me wonder a bit was that although set in francophone Canada the only French allusions are the use of the address 'monsieur' and the name of the village... Everything else sounds quite English.

Still, the movie is greatly entertaining and the eerie marshland atmosphere with a hint at the supernatural is cleverly caught.

The setting in this Sherlock Holmes adventure is Canada, and features a nice tribute to my neighbors in the north at the end of the film with a quote from Winston Churchill.

I was glad to see a movie debunk all this occult nonsense that the film world usually embraces, or at least is fascinated by. The characters are interesting and Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) is his normal mumbling and bumbling entertaining self. There are a couple of good suspense scenes, too.

This is one of the better SH thrillers and looks super on the restored DVD. It's hard not to enjoy all the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes movies. They are real treasures.

Interesting and thrilling entry with Basil Rathbone facing off a strange and terrible murderer . The film gets mystery , tension , thrills , detective action and packs an exciting deal of outstanding surprises with great lots of fun . Displaying atmospheric settings , adequate cinematography with plenty of lights and shades, as well as evocative musical score . Holmes and Watson solve the bloody of an old lady committed by a supernatural killer in the creepy Canadian village of Le Mort Rouge . Later on , there happens other grisly murders executed by means of a scarlet claw . But Holmes suspects these killings have been committed by a sinister mastermind , an ominous murderous who is as cunning as Doctor Moriarty . Holmes helped by his bumbling , dumb colleague Doctor Watson: Nigel Bruce starts investigating the strange events . Holmes vs. Monster! . "There's Blood on the Moon Tonight!" .Thrills! Horror!...as the mystery wizards tackle a trackless terror! . Thrills! New Terror! . A Mangler runs Amok ...Bloody Claws the only Cles! The crime masters at their greatest! New Thrills! Holmes Haunts a House!. Screen's weirdest Terror. His best Mystery of all !. Grim Mystery to hold you breathless!.

Good Sherlock Holmes movie with nice settings , thrills , plot twists , suspense , unanswered mysteries and an outstanding , first-class weird villain . This is a top-drawer and intriguing film with horror elements in Universal style , freely based on the splendid novels by Arthur Conan Doyle . Nice atmosphere similar to classic filmed in 1939 The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sidney Landfield with Basil Rathbone , Nigel Bruce y Richard Greene . Magnificent Basil Rathbone's interpretation , considered to be the best and most authentic Sherlock Holmes . Rathbone plays Holmes as an intelligent , obstinate , broody, pipesmoking sleuth , his acting is similar to subsequent actors as Peter Cushing and Jeremy Brett for TV or Nicol Williamson (Seven-per-cent-solution) or Christopher Plummer (Murder by decree) . As usual , Dr. Watson plays his botcher, bungler or clumsy partner , masterfully incarnated by Nigel Bruce . They are well accompanied by notorious secondaries as Paul Cavanagh , Miles Mander and Ian Wolfe , but this time doesn't appears neither Inspector Lestrade , nor Mrs Hudson . The movie has a creepy atmosphere specially when is developed on the moor where appears a bizarre phosphorescent being .

It contains spooky and murky cinematography by George Robinson . As well as eerie and creepy musical score by Paul Sawtell . This atmospheric motion picture was compellingly directed by Roy William Neill who shot efficiently various episodes of the attractive series . Neill directed in his ordinary style , in fact he was regular filmmaker -along with John Rawlins- of the stunning series , such as : Dressed to Kill, Terror by Night , Pursuit to Algiers , The Woman in Green, The House of fear , Sherlock Holmes in Washington , Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon , Scarlet Claw , among others . Rating : Better than average. 7/10. The picture will appeal to fans of the excellent series starred by Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, resulting to be one of the best episodes.

I like all of the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes films, but this is one of my favorites. Imagine you are in The Quiet Man's village of Inisfree full of quirky colorful characters and suddenly the fog rolls in and a glowing monster wandering around the marshes first starts ripping out the throats of sheep, then graduates to people.

The same thing happens here, except it is in a village in wartime Canada. Luck will have it that Holmes and Watson are in Canada at a convention on the occult when the first human victim is killed, the wife of one of the attendees of the conference. She was once a famous actress. This is quite a mystery, since two of the people Holmes comes to suspect end up victims of "the monster" themselves, and yet none of the three victims has anything in common, none know each other now nor ever did. Well, they actually did have one thing in common - each had an odd premonition that they were about to be killed before it happened. The first victim actually sent a message to Holmes at the convention in Canada asking for his help, unfortunately, not in time though.

You know you are in present day because of the technology being used, but the characterization of Holmes, Watson, and the villagers makes the film timeless. How odd that Universal could hit it out of the park in the 40s with the Sherlock Holmes series in the realm of suspense and even horror, but really never managed to hit the mark post Laemmle with any of the actual Universal horror franchises.

This is a wartime film that rarely enough has nothing to do with WWII, yet at the end Holmes manages to find a way to quote Churchill.

I'd highly recommend this one.

I still can't totally understand why so many fans seem to like the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes. Don't get me wrong, Basil Rathbone is a good Sherlock Holmes. Nigel Bruce on the other hand is so absolutely awful that his portrayal of Dr. Watson far eclipses Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes! To be fair, I think that part of the problem is that the Nigel Bruce Watson was written poorly to begin with. The Watson of these series of movies is nothing more than an incompetent man of frightful stupidity and vivid imagination. He has been turned from a faithful narrator who has a narrow view on events to a gag character who only provides laughter or miss-steps at the right (cheesily, not actually right) moment.

This movie is probably something that would (or SHOULD, at least) have true fans of Sherlock Holmes cringing. Although the "original" title should give anyone a clue that this isn't an actual Doyle story, so this comes as no surprise. The writers seem to be singularly uninspired and unintelligent. Their story is like a hodge podge of Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories with aspects here and there from this story or that (most notably the phosphorus!). Not only do they rip off previous stories and mash them together, but they also fail at it.

The story is just awful. I had to force myself to endure this movie in the hopes that the ending might provide a nice twist or something else. Too bad I was wrong. The movie was dreadfully boring and didn't truly inspire anything other than intense dislike (particularly for the bumbling fool they'd made of Watson - stuck in a bog! Twice! That's just not funny).

If you like bad jokes like that or if you don't particularly care for intellectual stimulation in your mystery movies I can't even understand why you bother watching the stuff! But if you do, then go ahead and watch this awful stuff. If you want a faithful representation of the Sherlock Holmes series, you're not getting it here. And you are definitely not getting it as long as Nigel Bruce plays Watson. This is just taking old favorites and ruining them. But that seems to be a dubious pleasure to some of you.

Universal once again brings Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce back as Holmes and Watson. This time the duo is listening to an expert talk about cults and so forth, and within moments they are thrust into a mystery of a woman's death supposedly by the hands of a ghost. They must travel to the town Le Mort Rouge(The Red Death) in Canada where the conference was being held. Rathbone is in fine form as Holmes. He seems to be so comfortable with this role by this point that his mannerisms just flow. As good as Rathbone is, it is the comic performance of Nigel Bruce as his bumbling sidekick Dr. Watson who really does a whale of a job stumbling and mumbling through his role. Bruce plays off Rathbone wonderfully, and he has a larger than life presence(steals many a scene too I might add). The rest of the cast is definitely all quality. The direction by Roy William Neill is first-rate. He directs very smoothly by enhancing the two central characters but also creating a very effective moody atmosphere. The story is imaginative and not derived from a Doyle story. I like the way that the scripter managed to put mystery writer G. K. Chesterton's name into the film. The last little monologue by Holmes at the conclusion of the film is a wartime thanks to Canada and how it acts as a link for mankind. Interesting tribute.

Breathing a similar style to the earlier The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Scarlet Claw sees the great Sherlock Holmes in the middle of another supernatural themed adventure. While this yarn isn't quite up to the standards of The Hound of the Baskervilles, it still represents another success in turning the detective novels into films. This time round, we follow a remote village that is at the mercy of a mysterious ghost who appears to be killing them off. Not being a believer in ghosts, our logical protagonist, Sherlock Holmes, decides to take the case on and travels to the remote village to find, as usual, that there's more going on than meets the eye. Once again, this story is riddled with inventive twists and a plot that is constantly full of suspense and, as usual, it makes for great viewing. While the plot doesn't have any depth or substance, it doesn't matter at all because this film is made for pure entertainment value, and on that front it certainly delivers!

Once again, Basil Rathbone takes the lead role as the super-sleuth Sherlock Holmes and, as usual, does excellently with it. He does so well at playing this character that you when you think Sherlock Holmes, it's Rathbone's image that instantly pops into your mind. While this may have hindered the rest of his career a little, it's definitely a good thing while you're watching a Sherlock Holmes movie. Also reprising his role from previous Holmes movies is Nigel Bruce in the role of Dr Watson. He too makes great use of the role, and again it's hard to imagine anyone else playing Dr Watson. The supernatural elements of the story are nice, and seeing the numerous atmosphere scenes is always a treat. The black and white cinematography helps to create a foreboding atmosphere, which compliments the story nicely. The ensemble of characters surrounding the mystery are well done and the film throws in a number of red herrings in order to keep the conclusion from the audience until it is finally time to give it away. All in all; great stuff!

One of the best in the series, only no offence but I would have preferred it to be based somewhere in the UK and not Canada That Linchpin Of The English Speaking World. If you ignore references to Toronto and French place names the village, its inhabitants, their accents and the fog would make it Brigadoon or some-such anyway!

Apart from La Morte Rouge being generally populated by Limehouse rejects, this is a cracking story albeit cobbled from various sources, which doesn't let up for the 71 minutes running time. Watson is more bumbly again, and Holmes more condescending towards him as a result making for some humorous quotes and quips. Lord Penrose is the only character in here who should have been slashed for his myopic rudeness, but only the good get murdered in TSC. Poor old Watson, he sure paid for his avuncular feelings for Marie.

When Holmes confronts him, the perp acts and talks more like a robot than a consummate calculating killer, something was rushed there. But a great little B film, worthy entry no. 8/14 in the series.

One of the absolute finest entries in Universal's Sherlock Holmes series, along with "The Pearl of Death" which came out immediately after this movie. These two are the best Holmes-films because they're atmospheric and unsettling horror stories rather than simple detective films revolving on an all-knowing hero. The story is worth digging into and the scenery & set pieces are terrific, with fog-machines seemly on every street corner and a mysterious villain hiding out in the marshes of a small Canadian town with a dubious name; La Mort Rouge. Holmes and his loyal assistant Watson (who seems to get dumber every film) are in Canada for a congress about the supernatural and decide to stay when they're facing seemly authentic supernatural murder case! A woman's throat has been brutally torn out and the villagers of La Mort Rouge fear there's a 100-year-old ghost at large. Skeptical Holmes, however, doesn't really believe this and looks for a suspect who's more human. I really appreciated how the screenplay doesn't idolize Sherlock Holmes too much! For example, despite his amazing deduction-talents, Holmes still can't prevent some extra murders from happening and not once but twice he arrives to late in order to stop the murderer. It might be a detail, but for me this makes the character a lot more convincing and realistic. The obligatory WWII references are more camouflaged than usual and Roy William Neill's direction is as solid and professional as ever. "The Scarlet Claw" is a highly enjoyable mystery/horror classic with some fascinating story-twists and engaging performances. Recommended!

I watch most of the Rathbone/Bruce Holmes films over and over again, but not this one. It is set in a strange Canada, populated by Brits, Scots and surely there must be an Irishman or two in the "French café". There are too many supposedly farcical scenes where Dr Watson tries to get the locals to talk. Peripheral characters are good, though: Judge Brisson, his enigmatic housekeeper Nora, the unfortunate waitress Marie, and Potts, the Cockney postman. What's HE doing in "La Mort Rouge"?

Despite Watson's bumbling, though, he - as throughout the series - comes to the fore when a medical diagnosis is needed.

It is a shame that the initial conflict between the occultist Lord Penrose and the rational Holmes is let drop about halfway through the action.