THE SECRET OF THE GEM OF DOOM!
After securing the delivery of the famous Borgia Pearl to a museum in London, the gem is stolen right under the nose of Holmes and Watson (Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce). The ninth film in the series borrows much of the story from an original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle tale, but introduces new villains, among them a grotesque hulk of a man called The Creeper who kills people by breaking their backs. A solid entry, with an exciting search for a pearl that causes much bloodletting. For once, it also offers Lestrade (Dennis Hoey) a chance to gloat when Holmes makes a stupid mistake… but his role as buffoon is as always secure.
1944-U.S. 69 min. B/W. Directed by Roy William Neill. Short Story: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (”The Adventure of the Six Napoleons”). Cast: Basil Rathbone (Sherlock Holmes), Nigel Bruce (John Watson), Evelyn Ankers (Naomi Drake), Miles Mander, Rondo Hatton, Dennis Hoey.
Trivia: Followed by The House of Fear (1945). Hatton was cast as The Creeper in two other unrelated films, House of Horrors and The Brute Man, both released in 1946.
