Movie Review: The Pearl of Death (1944)

The movie stars Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Evelyn Ankers, Miles Mander and Rondo Hatton.

I once again decided to watch a movie this morning before going to work and, since I've had recent luck with classic Sherlock Holmes' movies, decided to watch another one. After some consideration, I picked this one.

At first, I thought I made a mistake with this particular film because, at least early on, it didn't seem like it was going to be as good as the other films I've watched. This is mostly because, at first, it didn't seem to have much of a mystery. We knew what was stolen, why it was stolen and even who did it. It was really just a matter of tracking down the crook.

However, as the movie progressed, it turned out to be much more interesting than I originally thought, mostly because the various, seemingly-unrelated murders were somewhat intriguing. Holmes (Rathbone) knew the killer was a man known as the Creeper (Hatton). But, his relationship with the man who stole the pearl (Mander) and why he was murdering those particular people was definitely puzzling.

I also liked some of the suspense that was created when Holmes faced the Creeper later on in the film. It's always great seeing a movie hero overcome a situation where he is greatly over-matched and I did wonder just how he was going to survive the situation.

Another thing I found I liked about this movie was the way this case managed to humble Holmes, even if it was just for a little bit. Rathbone's version of the detective does come off as super arrogant in a lot of the films and it was great to see that arrogance backfire. It also seemed to create a little more tension between him and Inspector Lestrade (Dennis Hoey) because they were momentarily on equal footing and Holmes had to work to re-earn the inspector's respect.

Despite my early doubts, this turned out to be a surprisingly good movie with a halfway decent mystery. I definitely enjoyed watching it and would recommend it.

My Grade: B