Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1942)

Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon was my first introduction to the world famous sleuth; I was in 8th grade at the time and out of sheer boredom (it was 2 AM on a Friday night) I popped in my dad’s video copy (COLORIZED) in the VCR, and I have been hooked ever since. Whenever there was a Sherlock Holmes movie on television, I had to watch it.  However, the Rathbone-Bruce films weren't enough to quench my thirst, so I eventually turned to the Arthur Conan Doyle short stories; I bought "The Classic Illustrated Sherlock Holmes" and absolutely ate it up. What’s amazing about Doyle’s character is how he has transcended time; Sherlock Holmes is just as relevant now as he was in Victorian London. The TV show Sherlock was not the first adaptation to transpose Doyle’s creation to a modern day setting; the Universal series did the same thing in the 1940s by setting it against the backdrop of World War II. In the early films, Holmes was often pitted against Nazi agents. In The Secret Weapon,  a Swiss scientist, Dr. Tobel, has invented a bombsight that the Nazi’s desperately want and it is up to Holmes to see that it does not fall into their hands.

The plot is secondary in a movie like this; the real joy of the Universal Sherlock Holmes series was seeing Basil Rathbone’s definitive take on the Doyle character (sorry, Jeremy Brett fans). Indeed, part of the fun is watching Holmes don various disguises to either evade or locate his enemy. In the Secret Weapon he disguises himself as:  an elderly, German book dealer, a Lascar sailor named  Rum Sangh, and Frederic Hoffner, a scientist. It's amazing how Rathbone completely loses himself in these characterizations; often to the point that you forget it's Sherlock Holmes in disguise. There was never any sense that Rathbone was phoning in his performance, despite starring in 14 Sherlock Holmes movies from 1939 to 1946. Rathbone is extremely energetic in the role of Sherlock Holmes and is always fun to watch; check out his musical number in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It's a fairly gratuitous moment, but an absolute delight as well. Holmes dons the disguise of a music hall performer and sings "I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside" at a garden party.

Rathbone is well matched by Lionel Atwill's ratlike portrayal of Professor Moriarty. In the Rathbone series, Moriarty was played by three distinct actors: George Zucco, Lionel Atwill, and Henry Daniell. Each of them gave a fairly distinct performance, but Atwill was my favorite. His Moriarty was a complete slime bag and gave off a foul odor.  Zucco and Daniell were fairly dignified in their roles, but Atwill's Moriarty is absolutely shameless, as Holmes often points out. Zucco and Daniell's Moriarty lived in lavish settings, Atwill's lives in a complete dive. Yet, there is a mutual respect between him and Holmes; Moriarty even regrets having to kill Holmes, because he is the only worthy adversary out there. The battle of wits between Holmes and the "Napoleon of Crime" are among the best scenes in the movie, as well as in the entire series. Rathbone and Atwill had a wonderful dynamic that it's no wonder they were often cast opposite one another; their most famous pairing was in Son of Frankenstein, in which Atwill gave a commanding performance as the wooden armed Inspector Krogh, while Rathbone hammed it up in the role of the title character.

Nigel Bruce has often been a source of controversy among die hard Sherlock Holmes fans, there are many who resent his bumbling portrayal of Dr. Watson. I, personally, rather enjoy Bruce's comedic take on the character.  Of course, this is largely due to the fact that the Rathbone/Bruce films were my first exposure to Sherlock Holmes. In the Arthur Conan Doyle stories, Watson isn't really much of a character, his main function is that of a narrator, hence he often gets lost in the shuffle (the two exceptions being Hound of the Baskervilles and The Sign of Four). The literary stories are told from the first person point of view, but when adapted into film, Watson's narration is unnecessary, not to mention redundant. Watson is essentially Holmes sidekick, therefore the logical solution would make him the comedy relief. This change boils the blood of many purists, but Bruce is a good enough actor that Watson's bumbling antics never become a stumbling block. It also helps that Rathbone and him have excellent chemistry; the two of them effortlessly work off one another. Watson maybe a bit clueless at times, but he's extremely loyal to his temperamental friend, and is often brave when the moment calls for it.

It's interesting to note that in The Secret Weapon, Watson and the equally inept Inspector Lestrade (Dennis Hoey) save Holmes not once, but twice from certain death. The first time, Holmes is tied up and placed in the false bottom of a trunk; Moriarty instructs his two lackeys to take the truck and dump it into the ocean. The two men are on their way, when they run into Lestrade and Watson. Lestrade demands to see the contents of the trunk, the men open it up, revealing tools on top. At first, Lestrade is taken in by the ruse and send the men on their way, but Watson notices that the trunk is unusually heavy for something containing a few tools. A light bulb goes off in Lestrade's head and he calls out after the two men; they panic and drop the trunk, thus saving our hero from certain peril.  Later on, just when it seems Moriarty is going to put a bullet in Holmes head, the dimwitted duo arrive just in the nick of time, once again prolonging the life of the famous sleuth.

The was the first entry directed by Roy William Neill, who would go on the direct the remaining films in the series. Neill's greatest accomplishment is how he managed to keep things moving at a brisk pace; there is  almost no let up in Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon. Holmes is almost always on the move, be it walking through the desolated streets of London (this film takes place during the German air raids), or frequenting the many swill holes in London in an effort to locate Professor Moriarty. Neill's efficient direction becomes even apparent when you compare the Rathbone films to the Arthur Wortner adaptations of the 30s. Wortner made for an excellent Holmes; he was much more subdued in his portrayal than Rathbone. However, his Sherlock Holmes films are quite a chore to sit through due to the pedestrian direction; they are sluggish in spots, to the point where they make Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey seem like a Michael Bay film. Also, the editing is extremely choppy that it's often hard to tell where one character is in relation to another. Wortner gives it his all, but sadly, even his performance can't redeem these stale films. The Rathbone/Bruce films may not be most faithful of adaptations, but they are a lot of fun. Even the worst film in the series, Pursuit to Algiers, is still worth a look.

Credits.
Cast: Basil Rathbone (Sherlock Holmes), Nigel Bruce (Dr. Watson), Lionel Atwill (Moriarty), Dennis Hoey (Inspector Lestrade), Kaaren Verne (Charlotte Eberli), William Post, Jr. (Dr. Franz Tobel), Holmes Herbert (Sir Reginald Dailey), Mary Gordon (Mrs. Hudson).
Director: Roy William Neill
Screenplay: Edward T. Lowe Jr., Scott Darling, Edmund L. Hartmann. Based on “The Dancing Men” by Arthur Conan Doyle.
Running Time: 68 min.

The Lost World (1925)

The Lost World was the pre-cursor to King Kong and the grandfather of the modern day blockbuster; many of today’s special effects extravaganzas follow its template, a slim framework to hang its special effects on.  The special effects in The Lost World are dated, but they are charming in their crudity, and are certainly the best parts in the film. The non effects scenes are rather unremarkable, but passable. The Lost World suffers from two major flaws:

1)      The Love Triangle. The character of Paula White (the appealing Bessie Love) was not in Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel and was created specifically to provide the character of Edward Malone (Lloyd Hughes) with a love interest.  This in itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it takes an awkward turn for the worst with the introduction of famed hunter Sir John Roxton (Lewis Stone), who also vies for Paula’s affection.  The problem is that this love triangle is a complete mismatch in Edward’s favor, Paula doesn’t return Roxton’s affections, she just shrugs them off. Often, the relationship between Paula and Sir John comes off as being more father/daughter than potential lovers, because it’s so tame. If one were to edit out the title cards in The Lost World, Sir John would come across as a concerned father wanting the best for daughter. It doesn’t help that Lewis Stone was old enough to be Bessie Love’s father. The Love Triangle, for all its build up, is much ado about nothing; Sir John takes Paula’s rejection of him in relatively good humor and remains friends with Edward.  There is never any moment where it threatens to tear apart the expedition, instead everyone remains agreeable throughout. It might have helped had there been a least once scene in which Sir John contemplates letting Edward get mauled by a dinosaur, or setting his gun sights on Edward, instead of the Ape Man that is tormenting him throughout the movie.  Instead, it’s a rather dull subplot that could have easily been discarded.

 

2)      Harry O. Hoyt’s pedestrian direction.  A common occurrence throughout the film is how Hoyt will constantly undercut the tension in a by cutting back and forth between two different locations. Early in the film, the expedition party has downed a tree to get across a chasm. When the tree falls, the films cuts to a Brontosaur (or to be correct, an Apatosaurus) grazing in the jungle. It is startled by the sound of the tree falling. Cut back to the expedition walking across the tree on a time. Cut back to the Brontosaur. Cut back to the party. Whatever tension Hoyt was trying to get out of the party crossing the chasm is completely deflated by the comical Brontosaur munching away on the greens. It is an extremely odd directorial decision that only baffles the viewers; a few cut a ways last for merely a split second.
The reveal of the dinosaurs is rather unremarkable as well. Professor Challenger and company finally come upon the plateau, the sight of Challenger’s previous expedition and the disappearance of Maple White (Paula’s father), when the film abruptly cuts to a long shot of a Pterodactyl gliding into frame.  There is no build up to its appearance, it just randomly appears. It takes Challenger and friends a couple of seconds to notice its existence and when they finally see it, they are absolutely amazed.  In King Kong, the film heightens its suspense by slowly revealing Kong to the audience; first all we hear is a roar, then a couple of footsteps, then the sound of trees being knocked over, and finally, after nearly a minute of screen time has passed, Kong emerges into frame, and we in the audience can’t believe what we are seeing. The Pterodactyl scene doesn’t have quite the effect, because there is nothing to clue us in to its appearance. I’m sure in 1925, audiences must have been blown away by what they were seeing, but to the modern viewer it’s just as an awkward moment, “Oh, look! A Pterodactyl! MEH!” When we first saw Kong, we immediately feared for Ann Darrow’s (Fay Wray safety), but the Pterodactyl is never a threat to our protagonists; it munches on an animal in its talons and then promptly flies away, never to be seen again.

For many years the only available copy of The Lost World was a heavily mutilated print that ran a little over an hour, consequently giving the film a very disjointed feel about it. In 1998, a 93 minute print was located and it helped fill in a few narrative gaps, though even this print is missing important scenes (the original print ran 108 minutes).  One of the crucial scenes the 1998 print added back in was Edward’s relationship with his fickle girlfriend, Gladys. Edward desperately wants to marry her, but she rebukes his proposal saying she will “only marry a man of great deeds and strange experiences – a man who can look death in the face without flinching!” This is Edward’s main motivation for going on the expedition in the first place (as it is in the novel), yet this scene was surprisingly deleted from most prints, making you wonder why Edward would willingly risk life and limb for an expedition he doesn’t really believe in; he, at first, thinks Challenger’s claims of dinosaurs in the Amazon are complete nonsense.  It also essentially deletes Edward’s character arc, he goes from thinking the world of Gladys to finding true love in the arms of Paula. At the end of the film Edward bumps into Paula again, only to find that she has married a nebbish clerk named Percy Potts, and he couldn’t be more delighted. He has a few laughs with Gladys and her husband, wishes them luck, and then goes running into the arms of the awaiting Paula. It’s great to see these two scenes restored, because it gives the character of Edward some depth, instead of just being a handsome face that stumbles through the scenery. I personally would love to see Percy Potts get his own spin off; his story of how he landed a complete babe like Gladys would be an inspiration to geeks everywhere, especially me.  He has never left London his entire life and is afraid of his own shadow, yet he somehow manages to win the hand of the lovely Gladys ----truly inspirational!

 

However, the best thing about The Lost World, other than its special effects, is Wallace Beery’s portrayal of Professor Challenger, which is spot on from the book. Challenger has the mind of Einstein, but the body of a Neanderthal, and often gives into his more primitive instincts; it is revealed that he has attacked three reporters that tried to interview him. When Edward reveals that he is a reporter, Challenger lunges at him, but Edward is able to hide amongst the crowd. Later on, Edward sneaks into Challenger’s house and tries to plead his case, but Challenger won’t hear any of it, and the two of them tumble and tussle out the front door. It’s only after that Edward reveals he is a friend of Sir John Roxton that Challenger backs down and is willing to listen.  Challenger has all the intelligence in the world, but distances people with his boorish behavior. It takes the intervention of Edward to get the expedition funded; he is able to sell it to his newspaper as a rescue mission to save Maple White (which makes for a great human interest story).  It is a great performance from Beery, sadly, he gets lost in the shuffle once the special effects and the love triangle take front and center.  Professor Challenger has little to do in the second half, except antagonize fellow scientist, Professor Summerlee (Arthur Hoyt).

There is also a misguided attempt by the filmmakers to turn Sir John Roxton into a tragic figure; for all of his world renown, he is a lonely man. This might have worked if Sir John was a compelling figure, but he’s a complete bore.  It also doesn’t help that Edward is the audience surrogate; we see the world through his eyes, so naturally he’s the character we empathize with most.  He desperately seeks the love of Gladys, something that most of us can relate to and foolish jumps into dangerous because he wrongly thinks it will impress her. He’s a fallible character, hence relatable. Sir John is a rather distant character and his interest in Paula is a foolish pipe dream.  When the movie ends with him standing alone on the streets of London, we are totally indifferent to his plight. Lewis Stone is a fine enough actor, but he’s given very little to work with here. He played a very similar role in the camp classic The Mask of Fu Manchu and is much more effective, largely because he is a perfect foil for Karloff’s depraved madman. Plus, he’s so single minded in his goal to stop Fu Manchu that he doesn’t have time to pursue much younger women. PHEW!

 

Bessie Love has a great appeal as Paula White, largely due to her very expressive face. Indeed, Love’s likability is able to gloss over the fact that Paula is kind of a flake.  She could easily avoid the awkward moments with Sir John, if she just stated that she wasn’t interested in him, instead she laughs off his advances. She could easily throw out the word that most men dread to hear, “FRIENDS,” but she doesn’t even do that.  She avoids confrontation; because she doesn’t want to hurt Sir John’s feelings. However, inevitably the truth comes out and Sir John is heartbroken. It is even more infuriating that it is Edward that tells Sir John that Paula and him are going to get married. It is the ultimate cock punch!  Sir John is able to muster a smile, despite having his heart stomped on. When it looks like the expedition will make it back to civilization, after all, Paula calls off the engagement with Edward, because of his obligation to Gladys (which is kind of moot point, given that Gladys doesn’t love Edward and never agreed to marry him).  Once it is revealed that Gladys is married to the awesome Percy Potts, Paula, once again, kicks Sir John to the curb and embraces Edward. UGH!   Love would later go onto to star in The Broadway Melody, which was the first sound feature to win the Oscar for Best Picture. Alas, it has not aged particularly well, but she manages to liven up the proceedings with her likable personality.  This time around, her character is on the fuzzy end of a love triangle; her bland boring boyfriend falls in love with her younger sister.

When The Lost World is mentioned, no one ever thinks of the cast and the director, but rather the stop motion special effects by Willis O’ Brien. As mentioned in the introduction, the special effects are extremely dated and fairly jerky at times, but there are some genuinely effective moments.  The most famous scene is the Brontosaur rampaging through London at the film’s climax, but to me, the most nightmarish sequence is the Allosaur attack on the expedition party. It’s a rare moment where the filmmakers are able to build up some tension; the Allosaur is first seen in the shadows, obscured by a couple of trees. The only thing visible is its eyes, which come across as two glowing orbs floating in the night sky. It finally emerges from the trees and attacks the party. They are able to repel it by throwing a torch in its mouth. It’s a brief scene, but highly effective.  It’s one of the few scenes in the movie where the actors actually interact with a dinosaur; usually the effects scenes are fairly unrelated to the actual storyline. It is common to have a scene with the cast doing a bit of business, then the film will cut to two dinosaurs duking it out, then cut back to the cast, who are completely oblivious to the prehistoric wrestling match that just occurred.  The Lost World is relevant, because in many ways, it proved to be a test run for the much superior King Kong, which still inspires filmmakers to this very day.  Also, it gave us the memorable character of Percy Potts…a truly original creation. Hopefully, a young filmmaker will realize the potential of this awesome character and give him his own movie. It is long overdue!

Credits:

Cast:  Wallace Beery (Professor Challenger), Bessie Love (Paula White), Lloyd Hughes (Edward Malone), Lewis Stone (Sir John Roxton), Alma Bennett (Gladys Hungerford), Arthur Hoyt (Professor Summerlee), Bull Montana (Ape Man), Margaret McWade (Mrs. Challenger), Finch Smiles (Austin), Jules Cowles (Zambo).

Screenplay: Marion Fairfax.
Based on the novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Director: Harry O. Hoyt
Running Time: 93 min.