Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		2.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		2.5

Silver Blaze 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.

Silver Blaze was the last of the five Wontner Holmes films, coming out in 1937, but kind of interestingly (and maybe just a little humorously), the film didn't make it to "this side of the pond" until 1941, which was two years after the first Rathbone-Bruce outing, The Hound of the Baskervilles, had come out, which probably contributed at least in part to this film's rejiggered U.S. title Murder at the Baskervilles. This is another of the Wontner Holmes films that has what is arguably just a tenuous connection to its source Conan Doyle story. In this case, as with Conan Doyle's 1892 story The Adventure of Silver Blaze, there's still a mysteriously missing race horse at the center of the tale, but the mere fact that the redolent family name of Baskerville is included in this version may indicate that things have strayed somewhat from Conan Doyle's original formulation.

This is another Wontner effort that has moments of energy when Professor Moriarty (Lyn Harding) enters the fray, but even with an unusual setting and context, the film's probably less than fulsome budget keeps things pretty limited in terms of the actual presentational aspects. Once again, there are near mind numbing sections of exposition at play, though there is the kind of fun aspect of seeing Dr. Watson in a predicament that is usually accorded a film's damsel in distress.

Silver Blaze Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Silver Blaze is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Film Detective with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. The Film Detective doesn't provide any substantial information about the element or elements utilized for this set. This particular presentation struck me as a kind of middle ground between Sherlock Holmes' Fatal Hour and The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes. While it still has a somewhat filtered appearance as with The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes, there is more of a grain field consistently in place in this presentation. Things are still relatively fuzzy and not especially well detailed a lot of the time, and as I mentioned with regard to The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes, I'd say that fine detail fares best in terms of patterns (like the checkerboard on Mrs. Hudson's apron in screenshot 4) rather than actual textures, which can often appear smooth and relatively featureless. There are a couple of sudden increases in brightness which throw contrast off momentarily. As with The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes, there's an ebb and flow to how organic the grain looks, or frankly how much grain there is. Parsing through the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review should give some indication of the variances on display.

Silver Blaze Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Silver Blaze features a Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono track that is probably overall the best sounding of the films in this set, though that's a relatively low bar. The film's somewhat later production era probably accounts for some of this, as there's an at least somewhat more fulsome midrange in this track, though the overall sound is still thin and boxy. Dialogue is generally rendered cleanly. Optional English and Spanish subtitles are available.

Silver Blaze Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Sure Luck Holmes (HD; 7:38) is a Felix the Cat cartoon from 1928.


• The Adventures of Sam Sherman Part Three (HD; 7:14) wraps up the audio interview with Sherman. This part is rather interesting as Sherman discusses the "mystery of the missing underscore".


• Cousins of Sherlocko (HD; 9:47) is a silent from 1913.


• Commentary by Phoef Sutton and Mark Jordan Legan offers thoughts from the hosts of a podcast called Film Freaks. 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.

Silver Blaze Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A larger budget probably could have helped the horseracing aspect of this story, which is covered here mostly via description, but that's only part of the problem with this film, which arguably spends too much time speechifyin' and not enough time investigatin' (if linguistically minded Anglophiles will forgive a couple of dropped "g"'s). Video and audio once again encounter some obstacles, but the supplements are enjoyable, for those who may considering making a purchase.