Sherlock Holmes and the House of Fear
Encyclopedia
Sherlock Holmes and the House of Fear (aka. The House of Fear) is a 1945 crime film
directed by Roy William Neill
. It is loosely based on The Five Orange Pips
by Arthur Conan Doyle
, and features the characters Sherlock Holmes
and Dr. Watson. It is the 10th film of the Rathbone-Bruce series.
Holmes and Watson arrive at the scene only to find another murder has occurred. This man received five orange pips, and his body was burned to a crisp. Lestrade also arrives to investigate. Despite Holmes' best efforts, three more deaths occur, each time leaving the victim's body unrecognisable.
Lestrade jumps to the obvious conclusion, that the last surviving member, Mr. Bruce Alistair, murdered all the others. However, after Watson goes missing, Holmes has deduced the truth and leads Lestrade (and Alistair) to a secret room where all the "Good Comrades" - alive and well - are hiding with Watson tied up. Holmes explains that Alistair was the victim of a plot to frame him for murder and collect the insurance money by the other six. They even killed the local tobacconist, Alex MacGregor, because he saw one of the presumed-dead comrades on the beach alive and wrote a note to Lestrade. Unfortunately, the note was intercepted and read before it reached Holmes.
Crime film
Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films...
directed by Roy William Neill
Roy William Neill
Roy William Neill was a film director best known today for directing several of the Sherlock Holmes films starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, made between 1943 and 1946 and released by Universal Studios....
. It is loosely based on The Five Orange Pips
The Five Orange Pips
"The Five Orange Pips", one of the 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is the fifth of the twelve stories in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes....
by Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
, and features the characters Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
and Dr. Watson. It is the 10th film of the Rathbone-Bruce series.
Plot
Holmes is visited by Mr. Chalmers, an insurance agent with a strange tale. Seven elderly single men, calling themselves "The Good Comrades", live together in the remote Scottish castle of Drearcliffe House, near the village of Inverneill. Recently one of the "Good Comrades" received a strange message, an envelope containing nothing but seven orange pips. That night, he was murdered and his body horribly mutilated. A few days later, the second envelope was delivered, this time containing six pips, and the recipient also died mysteriously soon afterwards, his battered corpse being recovered from the base of the cliffs. Chalmers holds £100,000 of life insurance policies on the seven men, and suspects that one is systematically murdering the others in order to collect the money, and begs Holmes to investigate.Holmes and Watson arrive at the scene only to find another murder has occurred. This man received five orange pips, and his body was burned to a crisp. Lestrade also arrives to investigate. Despite Holmes' best efforts, three more deaths occur, each time leaving the victim's body unrecognisable.
Lestrade jumps to the obvious conclusion, that the last surviving member, Mr. Bruce Alistair, murdered all the others. However, after Watson goes missing, Holmes has deduced the truth and leads Lestrade (and Alistair) to a secret room where all the "Good Comrades" - alive and well - are hiding with Watson tied up. Holmes explains that Alistair was the victim of a plot to frame him for murder and collect the insurance money by the other six. They even killed the local tobacconist, Alex MacGregor, because he saw one of the presumed-dead comrades on the beach alive and wrote a note to Lestrade. Unfortunately, the note was intercepted and read before it reached Holmes.
Cast
- Basil RathboneBasil RathboneSir Basil Rathbone, KBE, MC, Kt was an English actor. He rose to prominence in England as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in over 70 films, primarily costume dramas, swashbucklers, and, occasionally, horror films...
– Sherlock HolmesSherlock HolmesSherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve... - Nigel BruceNigel BruceWilliam Nigel Ernle Bruce , best known as Nigel Bruce, was a British character actor on stage and screen. He was best known for his portrayal of Doctor Watson in a series of films and in the radio series The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes...
– Dr. Watson - Aubrey MatherAubrey MatherAubrey Mather was an English character actor.Mather began his career on the stage in 1905. He debuted in London in Brewster's Millions in 1909 and on Broadway ten years later in Luck of the Navy. He eventually branched out to films, starting with Young Woodley in 1930...
– Bruce Alastair - Dennis HoeyDennis HoeyDennis Hoey was a British film and stage actor, best known for playing Inspector Lestrade in Universal's Sherlock Holmes series. He played the Master of Harrow in The Foxes of Harrow and appeared in Tarzan and the Leopard Woman. After a career as a singer, Hoey moved to acting on the stage in...
– Inspector LestradeInspector LestradeInspector G. Lestrade is a fictional character, a Scotland Yard detective appearing in several of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle used the name of a friend from his days at the University of Edinburgh, a Saint Lucian medical student by the name of Joseph Alexandre Lestrade.... - Paul CavanaghPaul CavanaghPaul Cavanagh was an English film actor. He appeared in over 100 films between 1928 and 1959. He was born in Chislehurst and died in London from a heart attack....
– Dr. Simon Merivale - Holmes HerbertHolmes HerbertHolmes Herbert was an English character actor who appeared in Hollywood films from 1915 to 1952.Born as 'Horace Jenner', Holmes Herbert emigrated to the United States in 1912. He was the first son of Ned Herbert , who worked as and actor/comedian in the English Theatre...
– Alan Cosgrave - Harry CordingHarry CordingHarry Cording was a British character actor who appeared in many Hollywood films from the 1920s to the 1950s. Due to his stocky build and imposing 6'0 height, he usually portrayed thugs and henchman to the main villain....
– Captain John Simpson - Sally Shepherd – Mrs. Monteith
- Gavin Muir – Mr. Chalmers
- David ClydeDavid ClydeDavid Eugene Clyde is a former left-handed Major League Baseball pitcher who played all or part of five seasons for the Texas Rangers and Cleveland Indians...
– Alec MacGregor - Wilson Benge – Guy Davis
- Cyril DelevantiCyril DelevantiCyril Delevanti , sometimes credited as Syril Delevanti, was an English-born character actor with a long career in American films....
– Stanley Raeburn - Richard AlexanderRichard Alexander (actor)Richard Alexander was an American character actor. Born in Dallas, Texas, Alexander appeared in numerous film serials such as Flash Gordon and Zorro Rides Again, as well as a leading role in All Quiet on the Western Front. He is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park.-References:...
– Ralph King