Sherlock Holmes' Fatal Hour

source: The Sleeping Cardinal

The Sleeping Cardinal

This archaic attempt to bring Sherlock Holmes to the cinema screen is painfully slow-moving and will be hard-going for all but the most dedicated early-talkie buffs, but Arthur Wontner and Ian Fleming (no relation) are agreeable as Holmes and Watson, respectively. The best scene of the film involves a talking painting! ** out of 4.

The Fatal Hour is truly a hidden gem of a film. Authur Wotner accentuates the cerebral and neurotic sides of Sherlock Holmes to excellent effect here. Fleming, as Dr. Watson, plays the perfect straight man to the eccentric Holmes. This film also demonstrates some early artistic film touches such as the fantastically dark and shadowed opening scene and claustrophobic interior shots which work to emphasize Holmes's "armchair-detective" style. The one serious fault I had with the film was the underwhelming first encounter between Moriarty and Holmes; the scene lacks the tension one would envision between the two. But even with this disappointing scene, I found the film a real treasure. I discovered this movie on the Hulu channel American Pop Classics, and they had some other really wonderful and obscure movies as well: http://www.hulu.com/studio/American-pop-classics?sort=name

SHERLOCK HOLMES' FATAL HOUR (1931) shows its age as a creaky early talkie, and the mystery isn't particularly thrilling. But Arthur Wontner is fantastic in the role of Sherlock Holmes and it's a real treat to see him play the sleuth here (for the first of several times). Holmes is up against his arch-rival, the elusive Prof. Moriarty, the brain behind a vast criminal organization. It's true that there's very little action in this film, but listening to Wontner (as Holmes) explain his deductions and seeing him face off against his nemesis is fun stuff. The subplot about the card cheat gets tedious and it's a little annoying how Watson and Lestrade can never keep up with even the simplest jumps in Holmes's logic ("No one could've shot into this window from street level. And why are you blabbering about trees?"), but it's an enjoyable flick for fans of Arthur Conan Doyle's detective.