I got this for my dad’s birthday..it’s great quality and it literally has all the movies all together..don’t have buy them separately..he totally loves it..best birthday present ever
Posted by TamaraS
“The Complete Sherlock Holmes” Overpriced? yes. But we have here the entire corpus of the pairing of Nigel Bruce (as Doctor Watson) and Basil Rathbone (as Sherlock Holmes), including even the first two films with Holmes & Watson in period costume. I will not mention here (by way of praeteritio) all of the negative criticism Nigel Bruce received for his bumbling, country-squire interpretation of Watson; nor will I point out the unfortunate plots involving political propaganda and World War II. These films were made during the war-years and I have no idea what people might expect from movies made in the 1940s. Of course many excellent period costume films were made in the 1940s. But someone at Universal decided it would a good idea to update Sherlock Holmes and bring him out of the London fog and hansom cabs of the Victorian/Edwardian eras. But not all of the plots of these films concern World War II or WWII political propaganda and some even have very good stories, plots and scripts, e.g., “S.H. and the Scarlet Claw”, which is supposed to take place in Canada. Rathbone’s hairdo in a couple of films is rather wild (especially in “S.H. in Washington”)—with a rather startling comb-over or, more accurately, comb-forward. But it is worth pointing out that Basil Rathbone (one of my favorite actors) should be remembered as a highly educated actor (he had studied Latin & Greek), versatile and with a wonderful sense of humor, quite unlike some of his screen villains, like the Marquis St Evremonde in “A Tale of Two Cities” (1935) or Mr Murdstone in “David Copperfield” (1933). As far as his sense of humor goes, one anecdote should suffice. Mr Rathbone—in the manner of Leslie Nielsen—had acquired a very realistic-looking pile of fake dog-poo at a local joke-shop. He strategically placed the poo right in the path of the only door to a soundstage and he waited for the inevitable results. Some visiting schoolchildren were in on the conspiracy. Humphrey Bogart stepped in the fake poo and, in typical Bogey fashion, cussed a blue-streak and exhibited absolutely no sense of humor at all. Rathbone was also skilled in swordplay, as a viewing of “Robin Hood” with Errol Flynn attests. Another thing worth mentioning is the diction of actors appearing in films before, say, the 1960s. Actors like Rathbone and Bruce had classical training and elocution lessons. As a result, the audience can hear and, what’s more important, understand each and every word. In those days there was no room for mumbling, slurred speech or method acting. That came later with Marlon Brando, who sounds as if he learned English from a Korean record album played at the wrong speed (to paraphrase Clive James). Back to this DVD collection: Yes, it is rather expensive. But, because the entire collection of the Rathbone–Bruce teaming is here presented, I would say that it is definitely worth the steep price, especially if you, like me, are a die-hard Sherlock Holmes fan.
Posted by MrCreosote
So much fun to relax and enjoy the most charming Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce sleuthing their way through a beautiful black and white world of mystery and suspense. Well worth the money.
Posted by HarryVaderchi
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