The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		2.0
Audio		2.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		2.5

The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes 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.

One of the slightly peculiar things about this set is that it skips over two Wontner Holmes films, though one of those missing items with the appropriate title The Missing Rembrandt is indeed considered, well missing, with no extant prints known to exist. That film came out in 1932, as did The Sign of Four, which does exist and looks like it's been released on DVD at least. Next up in the series was this 1935 effort, which is culled from one of Conan Doyle's better remembered stories, The Valley of Fear. Fans of the original written versions may know that this was Conan Doyle's fourth and final Holmes novel and rather interestingly works in real life elements based on The Molly Maguires.

Things are perhaps understandably fictionalized and maybe even slightly obfuscated a bit in this adaptation, though some elements, like Holmes (Arthur Wontner) and Watson (Ian Fleming) getting involved with a character named John Douglas (Leslie Perrins) is at least somewhat linked to the original version. This is another Wontner film where Moriarty (Lyn Harding) just kind of shows up and announces himself, and so any "suspense" has to be generated from other means. In that regard, The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes offers a somewhat disjunctive trip down "memory lane" via an extended flashback that serves to introduce this film's version of The Molly Maguires.

This is another resolutely talky Wontner Holmes film that develops a bit of tension from the relatively brief interactions between Holmes and Moriarty, but otherwise a lot of the film just feels listless.

The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Film Detective with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.34:1. As with the other films in this set, The Film Detective hasn't provided much information about what kind of element or elements they were able to utilize. I'm marking this and the following Wontner film down a point from the kind of already middling score I gave Sherlock Holmes' Fatal Hour, due at least in part to the fact that both this presentation and that of the following film struck me as being more filtered looking. If you look through the screenshots accompanying this review, it is possible to spot something that approaches grain, especially on lighter backgrounds, but to my eyes this presentation often looked more like video than film. What struck me about this presentation and the following film's is that this scrubbed look can kind of ebb and flow, so that some moments look relatively more organic, and others are kind of smooth and textureless. There can be decent fine detail at times, in things like some of the fabrics on costumes, but more in terms of patterns rather than textures. Contrast is generally secure, and while there's age related wear and tear, it isn't overly distracting.

The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes features a Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono mix. The audio is probably marginally better than in the first Wontner film in this set, one which predates this production by several years, but this still shows signs of age and, at times, wear and tear. The entire sound is very thin and boxy sounding, and there's noticeable background hiss that tends to peek through more substantially in quieter moments. Dialogue is rendered generally cleanly if not overly forcefully. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Copper Beeches (HD; 19:09) is a short from 1912 featuring Sherlock Holmes and produced under the imprimatur of Arthur Conan Doyle. This is in amazingly good condition.


• The Adventures of Sam Sherman Part Two (HD; 6:08) continues with the audio interview with Sherman which plays to scenes from the films.


• Blind Man's Bluff (HD; 26:29) is an episode of a 1964 Sherlock Holmes television series featuring Ronald Howard (not that one).


• Commentary by Jason A. Ney features another well searched outing with Dr. Ney. 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.

The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Harding as Moriarty injects a little much needed energy into the film, but the character is almost a sidebar at times, despite ostensibly being once again the very personification of an evil mastermind. The rest of the film can be a bit of a slog, though the quasi-historical element gives things at least a bit of color. Both video and audio encounter substantial hurdles, but the supplements are enjoyable, for those who are considering making a purchase.