Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Manthast Absolutely amazing

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

one-nine-eighty Based on "The Adventure of the Six Napoleons" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle this film brings Rathbone and Bruce back as Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson. Crooks are after a valuable Pearl, it's up to Holmes and Watson to stop the pearl finding it's way into the clutches of the wrong doers. But as Holmes makes an uncharacteristic mistake the upper hand is lost and Holmes and Watson are soon forced to take up the chase. Can they get the pearl before murderous consequences occur? As with the other Rathbone and Bruce films performances here are solid. Dennis Hoey supports well as the bumbling Lestrade, as do Evelyn Ankers and Miles Mander as Naomi Drake and Giles Conover. Shot by Universal and directed by Roy William Neill this is 9th of 14 films with Rathbone and Bruce taking the lead. This is a straight forward Sherlock Holmes story and therefor it's one of the better ones that Universal pumped out, no Nazi's or dinosaurs in sight - although there is the Creeper, but the less said about that the better. It feels more upbeat in pace than others in the series, it feels like reading a comic at times where the hero is trying to keep up and then get ahead of the bad guys. I enjoyed this and like the other films in the series its guaranteed to add to a wonderful lazy Sunday afternoon. A lovely mystery and suspense film with a chase style pace to it. Enjoy.

bkoganbing Baker Street purists won't have too much to quarrel about with this adaption of Arthur Conan Doyle's The Six Napoleons. Because of a master criminal's haste to get away, six people who bought busts of Napoleon Bonaparte are marked for death unless The Pearl Of Death is found.Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce are on the trail of another master criminal, in the Sherlock Holmes stories, Professor Moriarty's second in command Giles Conover. Conover is played with a quiet menace by British colony regular Miles Mander.What Mander is after is the Borgia Pearl which with its connection to the Borgias has as bloody a history as the fabled Star Of India. Rathbone already pulls a double switch on Mander and his lovely accomplice Evelyn Ankers. But later through a bit of Holmes own hubris Mander steals the Borgia Pearl from the British Museum. But he doesn't have it long. Pursued by the police fresh from the theft Mander ducks into a pottery shop and hides the pearl in some fresh plaster busts of Napoleon, in one of six of them which are later sold.Now he's on a mission to recover his loot and it's a bloody mission because Mander brings along in tow the Hoxton Creeper, a giant of a man who can and does snap people's backs to kill them. The creeper is played by Rondo Hatton and he brings this Holmes feature into the realm of Gothic horror. In fact Dr. Watson's knowledge of forensic medicine is called into play here when he correctly identifies Hatton's known method of homicide.One of the better Basil Rathbone films from the Sherlock Holmes series.

drystyx Most of the Sherlock Holmes films are based totally on atmosphere, with the clues nonexistent for the viewer, based on objects the audience can not smell, hear, touch, taste, or see, or based on events that are not in the story until after the crime is solved.This is a Sherlock Holmes mystery in which we are finally given some clues. We actually go step by step with Holmes in solving the case, instead of learning about a fact "expo facto".Instead of Moriarty, we have a similar bad guy, just as formidable, with the same sort of henchmen we are used to seeing from such bad guys. He steals a pearl from under the nose of Holmes.And that is another fresh addition to this film. Holmes becomes mortal. He makes a very embarrassing mistake, and he does it while showing off. His superiority complex betrays him. In a moment of arrogant conceit, he gives the criminal the very opportunity to steal the pearl.Unfortunately, Watson is the buffoon again, and you probably know he wasn't that way in the original stories. However, here he at least is shown to be capable with firearms, and a capable doctor.The clues and evidence are shown to us. We actually get to help solve this case. And we get to see Holmes make a fool of himself for once.These two factors make this the most unique of the Sherlock films, and the one that is the "must see", if someone is to watch just one.

dougdoepke Solid Holmes entry. The suspense remains on high throughout as Holmes races to find the great pearl before criminal mastermind Giles Conover (Mander) gets it. Director Neill keeps things moving briskly, along with good suspenseful use of the hulking, sadly mis-shapen Rondo Hatton, surely one of filmdom's most tragic and unforgettable figures. It's also one of Rathbone's best performances as the masterful detective. Note his level of intensity at appropriate moments, establishing an air of intellectual authority that's completely convincing. I would think this is one of the performances that made him the definitive Holmes.On the downside: Miles Mander, in my view, is a little too undistinguished to measure up as a Holmes archrival and intellectual competitor. Too bad they couldn't get a Lionel Atwill or a George Zucco for the Conover role. On the other hand, Evelyn Ankers shows some uncommon versatility as Conover's icily beautiful assistant. That opening scene of her, the old man, and the disappearing pearl is one of the most intriguing set-ups of the series. Nigel Bruce's Watson gets a rare extended comedic scene showcasing his superb talents as an absent-minded bumbler. Too bad the series didn't leave the comic relief to him instead of overloading with the fitfully funny Inspector Lestrade (Hoey). Anyway, it's a very well-crafted and suspenseful 69 minutes of series entertainment.