Thriller & Mystery > Neill, Roy William Thriller & Mystery

Shame he came back…

Advantages: Erm…
Disadvantages: Not very exciting storyline, much over-acting

Introduction I love Sherlock Holmes - I was brought up by my father reading Conan Doyle to me - and still enjoy the stories as an adult. It is a hard role to portray successfully on TV, but some actors have done it, particularly Jeremy Brett, whom I adore as Holmes, and Basil Rathbone. Rathbone starred in 14 films as Sherlock Holmes and was particularly good in The Hound of the Baskervilles; unfortunately the directors/screen-writers saw fit to ...
...the original stories. One up-rooted Sherlock Holmes and Watson from the late 19th century to the middle of the Second World War - something that can only be partially explained by the fact that it is a propaganda film with the aim of rousing the British public to victory. This particular film is again based on a non-Conan Doyle story. The director William Neill was born in a ship off the coast of Ireland in 1887. He directed a number of Sherlock ...

sunmeilan 27.01.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Sherlock Holmes - Pursuit To Algiers (DVD)

Sherlock Holmes in the Second World War??

Advantages: Entertaining
Disadvantages: Not a Conan Doyle plot

Introduction Basil Rathbone played Sherlock Holmes a total of fourteen times. He is probably one of the most famous actors to play the role and, at his best, does a superb job. This film is not one of his best though - this is not completely his fault - much of the blame has to lie with the director, Roy William Neil, for deciding to make a Sherlock Holmes film that is not based on any of the Conan Doyle stories. It was certainly watchable and enjoyable, ...
...and produced all of the Sherlock Holmes films starring Basil Rathbone after this one, the fourth in the series. Neil died in 1946, which effectively brought Basil Rathbone's stint as Sherlock Holmes to an end. The plot Sherlock Holmes is called in to protect a Swiss scientist, Dr Franz Tobel, who has agreed to share his plans for a bombsight (which apparently helps ensure the accuracy of bombs) with the British government rather than Germany. Holmes ...

sunmeilan 09.01.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Sherlock Holmes - The Secret Weapon (DVD)

Tongue in cheek Holmes

Advantages: Gripping plot
Disadvantages: Some over-acting by Basil Rathbone

...number of actors have portrayed Sherlock Holmes with varying success over the years, including Peter Cushing, Tom Baker, Leonard Nimmoy, Larry Hagman (of all people) and (my personal favourite) Jeremy Brett. This particular film stars Basil Rathbone, who made 14 films based on the Sherlock Holmes books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, this being the last he made. Co-starring Nigel Bruce as Doctor Watson, this film was made in 1945 and, as you may have ...
...1946, including a number of Sherlock Holmes films. He is also well known as a producer and on top of this also wrote a number of scripts for his films. The main actors Basil Rathbone .... Sherlock Holmes Nigel Bruce .... Dr. Watson Patricia Morison .... Mrs. Hilda Courtney, aka Mrs. Williams Edmund Breon .... Julian 'Stinky' Emery Frederick Worlock .... Colonel Cavanaugh Carl Harbord .... Inspector Hopkins of Scotland Yard Patricia Cameron .... ...

sunmeilan 28.08.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Sherlock Holmes - Dressed To Kill (DVD)

Whatever happened to Saskia Wagter?

Advantages: Utterly compelling, great performances
Disadvantages: None for me

...her, to no avail, and the police aren't really that interested in helping him. Then Rex starts to receive a series of letters from the kidnapper, asking to meet up with him. Each time Rex goes to the meeting place, however, the kidnapper doesn't show up. Unable to move on, despite getting together with a new girlfriend, Rex is beginning to think he will never find out what happened to Saskia. Then the kidnapper shows himself. Will he reveal what ...
...and is really amazing in the role. Clearly in love with Saskia, he is truly devastated at her disappearance - watching him chase around the service station looking for her is really moving. The story then skips three years, and Rex is a much harder man, but has never given up the hope that one day, he will find what happened to Saskia. Occasionally, he comes close to madness. This is a deeply convincing performance by the actor and he is a real pleasure ...

sunmeilan 13.12.2009 · Read full review
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Review of The Vanishing (Subtitled) (DVD)

Do you really believe in the perfect murder?

Advantages: Excellent Direction, Brilliant performance by lead characters, superb story line.
Disadvantages: None really.

...MY PERSONAL THOUGHT Dial M for Murder is one of the finest and entertaining thriller movies directed by legendary director Alfred Hitchcock. The story of this movie is really unique and interesting. The viewers get to know about the criminal and his evil plans from the very beginning of the movie. So the question is, will he be able to carry out the plan and murder his wife without any doubt. I really enjoyed the way Mr. Hitchcock unfolds each ...
...revolves around five characters. He gives equal importance to the each character of this movie and gives a brief introduction about them. So the viewers can get familiar with the characters and get to know about their likes, dislikes and thoughts. But Mr. Hitchcock makes it very concise and point to point on the screen. As soon as you get to know about the central characters of this movie, the storyline moves rapidly with great consistency. There ...

Gladiator007 11.12.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: exceptional
Review of Dial M for Murder (DVD)