The Art of Sherlock Holmes: The House of Fear

 

The posters for the 10th in the Rathbone-Bruce series say it was based on the story "The Five Orange Pips". It would be more accurate to say the film featured The Five Orange Pips, because they're just about all that remained of the Doyle tale. Still, this 1945 entry in the series has plenty of spooky atmosphere and grisly deaths, so it can't be all bad. The guys at the dinner table on the 1-sheet (below) look like they're rehearsing to replace Bela Lugosi.

Earlier Rathbone-Bruce posters are HERE.

The Art of Sherlock Holmes: The Pearl of Death

This ninth entry in the Rathbone-Bruce series (from 1944)  is notable mainly for the appearance of Rondo Hatton as The Creeper. Hatton's facial deformity was the real thing. He was gassed while fighting in WWI and contracted a disease that messed up his pituitary gland. A bit player until landing his role in this film, he made two more movies as The Creeper (a different character) and had a major part in The Spider Woman Strikes Back. He died in 1946.

The Pearl of Death was loosely based on the Conan Doyle story "The Six Napoleons". The 1-sheet (above) is notable mainly Holmes and Watson appearing to be two heads on the same body.

More Sherlock Holmes posters HERE.

The Art of Sherlock Holmes: The Scarlet Claw

This 1944 film, 8th in the Rathbone-Bruce series, is considered one of the best. And thanks to the title, it lends itself to some of the best graphics. The 1-sheet (above) and 3-sheet (below) make it look more like a horror movie than a detective mystery. The 3-sheet's claw, reaching into the screen like a bad 3-D movie ad, is pretty hokey, I admit, but the finely rendered creepy people at the bottom make up for it.

The title card below, despite the Kong-sized claw at center, makes the real claw look like a tool for weeding a flowerbed. 

Meanwhile, down under, the Australians refuse to let such trifles as scarlet claws spoil their sunny dispositions.

Click HERE to enter the Rathbone-Bruce Art Gallery.

The Art of Sherlock Holmes: The Spider Woman

This one, along with The Scarlet Claw, is considered one of the best of the Universal entries in the Rathbone-Bruce series. And why not? It has one of the best villains. And it didn't hurt that the writers borrowed elements from as many as five Conan Doyle stories: The Final Problem, The Empty House, The Speckled Band, The Sign of Four, and The Devil's Foot 

This 1944 film takes the series back to England, where gamblers are committing suicide in their pajamas. To solve the mystery, Holmes fakes his own death and returns in disguise, only to meet his match in Gale Sondergaard as The Spider Woman.

This flick also has the distinction of being the only one of the series to foster a spin-off. Gale Sondergaard returned two years later (without Holmes and Watson) in The Spider Woman Strikes Back. Backing her up in that one were Rondo Hatton (The Creeper from the Holmes movie The Pearl of Death), Kirby Grant (Sky King), Brenda Joyce (Maureen O'Sullivan's successor as Jane), and Milburn Stone (Doc from Gunsmoke)!

Visit our Rathbone-Bruce Poster Museum HERE.

The Art of Sherlock Holmes: Sherlock Holmes Faces Death

No more chasing Nazi spies! That's the good news in this sixth film in the Rathbone-Bruce series, from 1943. This one, very loosely based on "The Musgrave Ritual", finds Holmes and Watson in a spooky old convalescent home, facing such weird elements as a human chessboard and clock striking 13.

The posters show an interesting progression. The title card (above) features the original photographs of the main players. For the 1-sheet (below) those same photos were enhances with paint. And on the much larger 3-sheet (bottom), even more painterly effects are employed.

 

Enter the Rathbone-Bruce Poster Gallery HERE.

The Art of Sherlock Holmes: Sherlock Holmes in Washington

Unless you're intrigued by the notion of a toy plane crashing into Basil Rathbone's right eye, this 1943 poster offers little of interest. But the film is actually pretty good. Unlike the previous four, this one is not based on any Conan Doyle story. Holmes, Watson and the bad guys, played by George Zucco and Henry Daniell, are all chasing after a secret war document on a piece of microfilm. Zucco, you may recall, played Professor Moriarty earlier in the series, and Daniell would portray him later.

The Archive's Sherlock Holmes Poster Gallery, featuring some far better artwork, is now open for further viewing.

The Art of Sherlock Holmes: Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon Part 2

It's been awhile since we visited the Rathbone & Bruce Art Gallery. Sorry. Here's the Australian version of "Secret Weapon", fourth in the franchise.

To view posters from the earlier films, click here:
The Art of Sherlock Holmes

The Art of Sherlock Holmes: Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon Part 1

The fourth in the Rathbone-Bruce series (and second in the 1940s adventures from Universal) finds Holmes and Watson trying to keep a new-fangled bomb site out of the hands of the Nazis. It premiered in February 1943.

This one begins with a bit from "The Empty House," featuring Rathbone in disguise as a German bookseller, and employs the code from "The Dancing Men." Professor Moriarty is on hand, too (he sides with the Nazis, of course), played this time by Lionel Atwill.

Holmes's best line: "I must confess I shied at the thought of disemboweling a complete set of Charles Dickens."
And Moriarty delivers the zinger: "The needle to the last, eh, Holmes?"

The Art of Sherlock Holmes: Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror Part 2

Here's another example of the art from a U.S. poster (the half sheet above) being the basis for a line drawing in the Australian daybill below. I'm just guessing, but I reckon the Australian printing process - or the paper used - did not reproduce paintings and photographs well. I have one Australian daybill in my own collection (the Alamo flick The Last Command) and the paper is extremely thin, rather like that in a Silver Age comic book.

Next week: Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon

For earlier posters in the Rathbone-Bruce series, click the "Sherlock Holmes" label link below.

The Art of Sherlock Holmes: Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror Part 1

It is, of course, a shame that Universal Studios chose to haul Holmes and Watson out of their proper milieu (as depicted in the two Fox films) and drop them into WWII. On the other hand, given conditions in wartime Hollywood, that strategy may have been the only thing that allowed this film (and the eleven to follow) to be made.

The film acknowledges its departure from tradition with a nice scene in which Holmes picks up his deerstalker. At Watson’s urging, he puts on a fedora instead, and off they go.

The story for this one borrows bits from “His Last Bow” (German spy Von Bork is now a Nazi spy) and brings in the “Voice of Terror,” inspired by real life Nazi propaganda broadcasts (which I remember mainly from an issue of Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos: “Lord Haw-Haw’s Last Laugh”).

The Art of Sherlock Holmes: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Part 3

This artwork appeared on a window card - a cardboard poster distributed by theaters to area merchants for display in store windows. The top few inches (here cropped off) were left blank so the theater could provide its name, show dates & times, etc.  Next: The series moves from 20th Century Fox to Universal, with Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror.

The Art of Sherlock Holmes: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Part 2

I'm not sure where the poster above originated. The fact that it omits "The Adventures of" from the title makes me think it is not from from an American release. The half-sheet below is from the American release. If I had to guess, I'd say the one above might be from Australia. Australian posters often used original line drawings based on the photos and paintings from American posters. Does anyone know for sure?

The Art of Sherlock Holmes: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Part 1

This one's my favorite of the Rathbone-Bruce series, and probably the one I've seen the fewest times. For some reason it rarely turns up on TV. Loosely based on the old William Gillette play (first performed in 1899), which Gillette had based on elements of several Conan Doyle stories. Moriarty tries to steal the crown jewels and ends up battling Holmes atop the Tower of London. Great stuff. And a great, enormous 6-sheet poster with a larger-than-life-size Basil Rathbone.

The Art of Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) Part 3

This insert (14" x 36") retasks the artwork from the 1-sheet, omitting the dog. Somehow it puts me more in mind of St. Patrick's Day rather than of a gigantic hound. Next: We move on to The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

The Art of Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) Part 2

After being slighted on the 1-sheet we saw yesterday, Rathbone gets face time with Richard Greene and Wendy Barrie on this gorgeous 3-sheet. Nigel Bruce will have to wait a while longer to get decent billing. Wish I had this baby covering one of my walls. It's 41 inches wide and almost 7 feet tall!

The Art of Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) Part 1

I'm enough of a Sherlock Holmes fanatic that I enjoy watching just about anyone in the role. But for me, only one actor will ever be Sherlock Holmes, and that's Basil Rathbone. He's like Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan. Clayton Moore as the Lone Ranger. Guy Williams as Zorro. Sean Connery as Bond. And as you may have guessed, I love old movie posters. So here begins a retrospective of great posters from the Rathbone-Bruce film series. Watch for The Hound Part 2 coming soon to your local Almanack.