Silver Blaze (1937 film)

Silver Blaze

U.S. poster
Directed by Thomas Bentley
Produced by Julius Hagen
Written by Arthur Conan Doyle (story "Silver Blaze")
H. Fowler Mear (adaptation)
Arthur Macrae
Starring Arthur Wontner
Ian Fleming
Cinematography Sydney Blythe
William Luff
Edited by Michael C. Chorlton
Alan Smith
Release dates
 July 1937
Running time
 71 minutes
USA: 65 minutes (TCM print)
Country United Kingdom
Language English

Silver Blaze is a 1937 British, black-and-white crime and mystery film, based loosely on Arthur Conan Doyle's short story "Silver Blaze". It was directed by Thomas Bentley, and was produced by Twickenham Film Studios Productions. It starred Arthur Wontner as Sherlock Holmes, Ian Fleming as Dr. Watson and Ronald Shiner (uncredited) as Simpson the Stable Boy/Jockey .[1] In the United States the film was released in 1941 by Astor Pictures, where it was also known as Murder at the Baskervilles, retitled by distributors to capitalize on the success of the Basil Rathbone Holmes film, The Hound of the Baskervilles.[2]

Synopsis

Sherlock Holmes takes a holiday by visiting his old friend, Sir Henry Baskerville (Lawrence Grossmith). Holmes' vacation ends when he and Watson suddenly find themselves in the middle of a double-murder mystery; they must find Professor Robert Moriarty (Lyn Harding) and Silver Blaze before the horse race, and bring the criminals to justice. Neither Moriarty nor Baskerville appear in the original story.

Like all of the films featuring Wontner as Holmes, Silver Blaze is set in contemporary (e.g. 1930's) times. Indeed, at one point, during an automobile chase, Holmes, Watson, and the local Chief Constable are attacked, gangland-style, by a Tommy-gun-armed Col. Moran.

Cast

Critical reception

TV Guide wrote that the film "suffers from too slight a plot stretched out to feature length. Wontner is good in his final portrayal of the great detective, and the film does have some interesting moments; but on the whole this is lackluster Holmes, an all too elementary case." [3]

References

  1. ↑ "Silver Blaze". BFI.
  2. ↑ "Murder At The Baskervilles". TV Guide.
  3. ↑ "Murder At The Baskervilles". TV Guide.


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