Synergy Enterainment has put together two 3 disc sets of Sherlock Holmes public domain material that brings to mind the old nickname for cd's of random games, "shovelware". I almost bought these at HPB a few months ago but I have much of the material from the Internet Archive and the 20 bucks for the two sets could be used in any better way. They are about double that on Amazon right now. I saw they had both sets at the library and decided to take a gander to see the few items I hadn't seen already. Most of this stuff is old and in watchable shape. Each set has over 5 hours of material. Some of it isn't really Holmes stuff, it's just there to fill up space. You know, to give the buyer an illusion that they'e getting a lot.
Sherlock Holmes Fatal Hour is a 1931 film that was called The Sleeping Cardinal in England. Only a single copy of the US release is said to exist. It's a full length feature and one I had already seen. Arthur Wontner plays Sherlock. He was in 5 films, one of which is lost. It's ok, nothing too special. It turns up in a lot of the Sherlock Holmes public domain dvd sets.
Lost in Limehouse - or Lady Esmerelda's Predicament is a 1930 parody with Sheerluck Jones solving crimes in this 20 minute short. It's kind of dumb.
The Limejuice Mystery - or Who Spat in Grandfather's Porridge? is a 1930 9 minute parody with marrionettes playing at Sherlock Holmes. It's kind of silly but not too interesting.
The Sting of Death is a 1955 tv episode from The Elgin Hour. Boris Karloff starts as a bee keeper who raises killer bees. His name is Mr Mycroft and that's about the only connection to the Holmes stories. It's not very interesting and kind of dull.
The Man Who Disappeared is a 1951 pilot for a Holmes series that was never picked up. It's not too bad but not as interesting as the 1954 Holmes series with Ronald Howard. The story is an adaptation of The Man With The Twisted Lip.
A Case of Hypnosis is a 1952 parody with chimps. Yeow, huh. It's not too good at all. It's got Paul Frees and Daws Butler doing voices.
The Strange Case of Hennessy is a 1933 comedy short that's really a parody of Philo Vance. I wasn't that taken with it.
The Adventure of the Speckled Band is an episode of the 1949 tv show Your Show Time with Alan Napier as Sherlock Holmes. It was fun to watch and a pretty good production.
The Copper Beeches is a 1912 silent short that was part of a series of 8 produced with the help of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. All the rest are lost. It's not much to look at, mostly of interest to the Holmes fan.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - The Man with the Twisted Lip is another silent, this one from 1921.
The Case of the Screaming Bishop is a 1944 cartoon parody from MGM with Hairlock Combs. It's filled with plenty of slapstick action and noise. It's sort of funny.
Not too many of the pieces are at the top of the list to watch repeatedly. Once was enough in some cases. Not making me want to pick up a copy of the set. Glad to have it available at our local library. I've seen it listed on NetFlix.
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