Classic Films
Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2014 10:10 pm
There's a reason Basil Rathbone is still considered the definitive Sherlock Holmes: I don't think there's been a better casting in the history of cinema. It's like he came straight off the page.
And the films' Moriarty set the stage for every movie supervillain who followed -- he employs a man just to hang out at his house playing sinister music. It is amazing.
The writing, the chemistry, the staging and the mysteries themselves -- they're just perfect. And on top of all that, the first two films were released within six months of each other. 1939 was a hell of a year.
(EDIT TO ADD: It took me a minute to place where I recognized George Zucco from -- he's the model for Hugo Strange. I always knew Strange was a sort of Moriarty to Batman's Holmes, but I didn't realize how direct the physical resemblance was. Must have been a quick turnaround; Adventures of Sherlock Holmes was released on September 1, 1939, and Strange's first appearance was cover dated February 1940, which means it was actually released a couple of months earlier than that.)
And the films' Moriarty set the stage for every movie supervillain who followed -- he employs a man just to hang out at his house playing sinister music. It is amazing.
The writing, the chemistry, the staging and the mysteries themselves -- they're just perfect. And on top of all that, the first two films were released within six months of each other. 1939 was a hell of a year.
(EDIT TO ADD: It took me a minute to place where I recognized George Zucco from -- he's the model for Hugo Strange. I always knew Strange was a sort of Moriarty to Batman's Holmes, but I didn't realize how direct the physical resemblance was. Must have been a quick turnaround; Adventures of Sherlock Holmes was released on September 1, 1939, and Strange's first appearance was cover dated February 1940, which means it was actually released a couple of months earlier than that.)