The House of Fear
1945 Directed by Roy William Neill
Synopsis
The Good Comrades are a collection of varied gentlemen who crave one thing - solitude. They reside at Drearcliff House, ancestral home of their eldest member. All seems serene and convivial until one by one the members begin to perish in the most grisly of manners. Foul play is suspected by the Good Comrades' insurance agent, who turns to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson for guidance.
Cast
Recent reviews
More-
Basil Rathbone is Sherlock Holmes for me. I know very well that his interpretation of the infamous sleuth is not particularly true to Conan Doyles literary character,but after watching the box set of all his Sherlock films it is now Rathbones face I see when i'm reading the books. Nigel Bruce plays Watson as a bumbling fool who adds the comic relief which,while not true to the books either,typified how the character of the Doctor would become known in general culture.
It's all quite predictable fare if you are familiar with Holmes at all:a macabre mystery followed by a display of Holmes' unique talent which leaves all the other characters confounded as to how he does it. At least until the end where he explains how,that is. The dialogue throughout is clever and contains a few witty moments while the cinematography produces an atmosphere more usually found in the horror genre.
A great little mystery. -
My last of the Rathbone-Bruce Holmes films for now (I won't see the first two the pair made at Fox until I get the big box set that has all 14 movies {possible birthday gift idea}), sigh. I can now say that these movies are some of my favorites, and that Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce (and the filmmakers behind the camera of course) created two of the best screen characters and one of the very best screen duos. God bless all involved with the possible exception of Rondo Hatton whom God was clearly not a fan of.
As for The House of Fear specifically - it's not one of my favorites of the bunch but there is a lot…
-
Rathbone and Bruce do Ten Little Indians in this old dark house mystery about a club of wealthy old men bumping each other off for the insurance money.