Synopsis: When a killer murders young women around London and severs their fingers after death, Sherlock Holmes is called in to investigate. While the common belief is the killer is some sort of maniac, Holmes thinks the murders are, instead, the work of villain Moriarty and are part of a much larger scheme the criminal has thought up.
Movie Review: The Woman in Green (1945)
by StevenHelmer
A review of the 1945 Sherlock Holmes mystery starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.
Who's In It?
The movie stars Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Henry Daniell, Hillary Brooke and Paul Cavanagh.
Review
Since I've have enjoyed most of the classic Sherlock Holmes movies I've watched recently, I decided to continue doing so. And, since this particular film happened to be on one of our movie channels early this morning, I ended up recording it and watching it before work. Overall, I have to say it more than met my high expectations.
This was the first classic Sherlock Holmes (Rathbone) film I've watched with the infamous Moriarty (Daniell). While I was looking forward to seeing him in classic film form, I was also concerned the fact he was the killer would ruin the mystery. As it turns out that wasn't the case at all.
While it's clear, from the start, Moriarty is the bad guy Holmes is after, his motives aren't as clear, at least not at first. His victims seem to be somewhat random and the gruesome step he takes, cutting off a finger, seems to have no real purpose. As a result of this, the movie turned out to be much more interesting just because I had to watch in order to learn the answers.
Also making this movie exciting to watch was the way Moriarty wasn't content with just letting Holmes figure out his plans. Instead, he proactively goes after Holmes in an attempt to kill him. This did create a surprising amount of suspense because he had plenty of henchmen who were able to help him carry out that plan.
Probably the only thing I didn't like about this movie was the narration by Inspector Gregson (Matthew Boulton). Movies like this are better if they are introduced in a way that allows the viewer to know what is going on first-hand. While it didn't ruin the movie, the unnecessary play-by-play was a little annoying.
Final Opinion
As I mentioned, I could have done without the narration. But, overall, I thought this was a decent film with a good mystery and plenty of action. I would recommend it.
My Grade: B
More By This Writer
 | Love Poems for My Wife When Steve first met Cynthia back in 2000, he knew she was the woman for him and proposed to her just three months after their first date. Married to her since 2003, he has ofte... |
 | Angels Don't Always Have Wings Steve never thought of himself as an overly religious person and had rarely set foot inside of a church. However, after agreeing to attend a service following a visit to a churc... |
Updated: 11/01/2018, StevenHelmer
You might also like
Movie Review: The House of Fear (1945)A review of the Sherlock Holmes movie starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.
Movie Review: The Time of Their Lives (1946)A review of the 1946 comedy starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello.
Movie Review: Terror By Night (1946)A review of the 1946 mystery starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.
Disclosure: This page generates income for authors based on affiliate relationships with our partners, including Amazon, Google and others.
Movie Review: Exiled (1998)on 01/23/2021
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Episode Review: The Long Arm of the Witnesson 01/22/2021
Review of Walker Pilot Episodeon 01/22/2021
Review of Luige's Western Omelette Pizzaon 01/21/2021
Comments
StevenHelmer, Thank you for practical information, pretty pictures and product lines.
This is one of the Rathbone films that I've not seen of him as Sherlock Holmes. I recall no such instance of other than Holmes or Watson narrating. Why would the film decision-makers have had Inspector Gregson narrating?