I'm no expert on Sherlock Holmes, either in literary or cinematic form. I sort of half-read some stories back in elementary school, and I've seen both the Basil Rathbone and Peter Cushing versions of The Hound of the Baskervilles. Beyond that, I'm an idiot -- albeit an idiot very keen on getting himself up to speed. Luckily, I have the Arthur Conan Doyle stories in my possession, and thanks to their inclusion in a number of cheap DVD box sets, I own more than a few Holmes movies. This one? It probably wasn't the best one to start off with.

Cheap mystery film movie staple Arthur Wontner stars as Holmes while Ian Fleming (no, not that Ian Fleming) appears as Watson and Lyn Harding plays Moriarty. All three of them worked together on other Holmes films that have since been overshadowed by the more famous Rathbone/Bruce series of films, and all three are serviceable if somewhat un-engaging in this movie. It's the dull supporting cast and even duller plot that let the three principals down. I know it's based on an actual Holmes story, but that doesn't change the fact that, especially in cinematic form, solving the mystery of a fixed horse race seems decidedly beneath Holmes. For that matter, fixing a horse race seems equally below Moriarty. And both of them seem about as interested in the plot as I was. Really? Bailing out bookies by fixing a horse race? This is the best Moriarty has to offer? One assumes that had there been another film in the series (this was the last), it would have been about Holmes busting up Moriarty's diabolical three card monte stand.

Eventually, they throw a murder in to try and wake us up, but it's not a very interesting murder. The entire thing seems like something that should have been easily solved by the police. It doesn't help that the film is set at The Baskerville estate, and people keep making reference to that hound incident" Holmes helped them out with. All that does is remind that I'd be much happier watching The Hound of the Baskervilles.

If this film has a saving grace, it's that Watson isn't an idiot like he is in the Rathbone/Bruce films. I may not know much about Sherlock Holmes, but even I knew Watson was supposed to be sharp and capable. Ian Fleming (no, not that Ian Fleming) is much closer to the original vision of Watson. As I said, the three stars are quite good. They're just in a boring movie. In the end, my love of low-budget mysteries from the 30s and 40s got me through to the end, but I don't have much good to say about this movie. Worth checking out if you are a hardcore mystery movie fan or want to see a film where Watson doesn't spend the whole running time being an idiot, but even to those people, this is going to end up being a pretty forgettable movie.