Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		1.5
Audio		2.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		2.0

A Study in Scarlet Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 13, 2021

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of The Sherlock Holmes Vault Collection.

Several online sites offer the presumed fact that the character of Sherlock Holmes is perhaps the most portrayed personage in the entire annals of film and, later, television. The sheer number of Holmes adaptations for either the large or small screens is so overwhelming in fact that some fans may have a challenge in choosing their favorite. Some may go with more venerable classic interpretations like those from Basil Rathbone (Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Collection) or even Jeremy Brett (Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Granada Television Series), while others may prefer more modern performances from the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock: The Complete Series) or Jonny Lee Miller (Elementary). The Basil Rathbone - Nigel Bruce Holmes films are an interesting assortment, for a couple of reasons. As fans no doubt know, the first two films in the series, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, were set in Victorian England, while all the subsequent entries in the franchise were "updated" to an explicit World War II setting mimicking their production era and no doubt tied to a perceived need for cinematic heroes to vanquish various enemies. That aspect clearly presages some of the latter day revisions to the character as seen in both the Cumberbatch and Miller television series, but as will be mentioned in a moment, is not the first such instance of that particular strategy. But as a film franchise regardless of any time shift, the Rathbone - Bruce films are often the first to come to mind, at least in terms of Holmes films from that general period. In that regard, three British productions aggregated in this collection might reasonably be deemed to be one of the major groups of Holmes films to come in the sound era at least prior to the now legendary teaming of Rathbone and Bruce, with Arthur Wontner starring as the venerable sleuth and Ian Fleming (not that one) as Dr. Watson. The Wontner - Fleming films in this set were produced in 1931, 1935 and 1937, while the fourth film in the set, A Study in Scarlet, features Reginald Owen and came out in 1933. The Wontner films in particular but also the Reginald Owen film presage the World War II era Rathbone films by at least somewhat contemporizing events.

In some ways this version of A Study in Scarlet might have been subtitled "the case of the purloined concept", as commentators Peter Atkins and David Breckman get into in their conversation about the film included on this disc as a bonus feature. See if any of this sounds familiar: a seemingly random group of people is being murdered, one by one, with the killer leaving taunting notes that reference a children's rhyme which, in this particular iteration, begins with an ever lessening number (as more and more people are killed) of "little black boys" instead of either the increasingly objectionable "Indians" or outright notorious verbiage that one Dame Agatha Christie used in the original title of her work which thankfully became better known as And Then There Were None. That's right, iconic mystery author fans: Agatha Christie may have "nicked" (to use the term on the commentary) her idea from this film, which uses the title of Arthur Conan Doyle's first Sherlock Holmes adventure, but which is the invention of screenwriter Robert Florey.

There is a bunch of other stuff going on in A Study in Scarlet which is not directly linkable to one of Agatha Christie's most beloved works, but as Atkins and Breckman also jokingly reference, the film's supposed "twist" ending will seem, um, familiar to those who know of at least some of the film adaptations of Christie's piece. Some of the sidebars involve a patently odd "secret society" that in fact is not all that secret and which has a weird almost Communistic approach toward their finances, wherein the death of a member means that member's assets then pass to the remaining associates. That obviously would seem to be a situation that would pretty much invite mayhem, where survivors are guaranteed riches coming from the deceased, but as illogical as the whole setup is, it's almost a giant red herring dangling before the viewers' eyes perhaps meant to distract from the main story, which involves a woman named Eileen Forrester (June Clyde), who is the sole female in the aforementioned group, having more or less "inherited" her father's position in it.

Priceless stolen jewels ultimately also enter into the plot proceedings, with Holmes and Watson (Warburton Gamble) called in to help Eileen and to figure out why the group members are being exterminated (as if the "economic" aspect of the group weren't enough to suggest what's going on). The widow of one of the members (Anna May Wong) is an obvious suspect, though red herrings abound in this piece. Owen's take on Holmes is unlikely to excite fans of the character, and while the film certainly has some "meta" interest, as evidenced by some of the above discussion, it's a rather pedestrian effort that never really creates much suspense.

A Study in Scarlet Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

A Study in Scarlet is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Film Detective with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.34:1. This is by far the least pleasing looking transfer in the set, with a really "dupey" looking presentation that features pretty radically inconsistent contrast, something that when added to other deficits in whatever element was utilized can lead to a definite lack of even general detail, at times including close- ups. The entire presentation is fuzzy, and with contrast veering pretty wildly, there are moment where, for example, faces can be almost entirely blanched, to the point that facial features can't be made out, or, conversely, things suddenly get very dark to the point that blacks are decidedly crushed. Somewhere in the middle a few relatively decent looking moments emerge. There is something approaching grain in this presentation, but it often tends to look like small black pockmarks afflicting the image rather than resolving organically.

A Study in Scarlet Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

A Study in Scarlet features a Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono track. As with the video side of things, audio is compromised. There are some pops, cracks and background hiss which can bubble to the surface at times, and the overall sound is extremely thin and maybe even a little brash in the upper registers. Dialogue is discernable certainly, but there is quite a bit of age related wear on this track, making the optional English and Spanish subtitles helpful.

A Study in Scarlet Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The First Cinematic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (HD; 26:29) is a good overview of early Holmes films by Daniel Griffith, C. Courtney Joyner and Ballyhoo. Narrator Mark Redfield has a wonderfully stentorian voice.


• Slick Sleuths (HD; 7:15) is a Mutt and Jeff cartoon from 1926.


• Commentary by Peter Atkins and David Breckman is a pretty chatty affair, with Atkins evidently finding Breckman very funny. This is accessible under the Setup Menu.

Also each of the four films comes with a reproduction lobby card and an insert booklet with an essay.

A Study in Scarlet Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Owen just doesn't have the "traditional" Holmesian ambience, and may perhaps come off as especially inapt when thrust up against Wontner's reserved but probably more source appropriate portrayal. The real interest here is probably the "meta" aspect. This film has the most problematic video and audio in the set, but as with the other films, the supplements are enjoyable, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.