Sometimes known as simply ‘The Spider Woman’, this fifth Universal Studios outing for Holmes and Watson as played by Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce makes for a memorable and exiting mishmash of published Holmes stories. Sherlock Holmes and the Spider Woman (1944) In many ways it is Arkin’s Freud who is the main investigator here along with the audience, guided by Watson, enjoying the ride – Homes’ nightmare sequence coming as something of a greatest hits montage.Ĭuriously, somewhere amid Holmes’ occasional plutonic concerns for Watson, his own moments of emotional doubt, Freud’s athletic tennis match and Watson’s delivery of a swift uppercut and the intellectual sparring between Holmes and Freud there is something, perhaps subconscious, being said here regarding masculinity.Ĥ. Nicol Williamson makes for a suitably empathic Holmes, erratic and vulnerable yet when the situation allows focused and brilliant.
#SHERLOCK HOLMES MOVIES SERIES#
This is something of a treat for fans, Charles Gray appearing here as Mycroft, several years before he would reprise the role in the TV series starring Jeremy Brett. With frequent references to published Conan Doyle stories via characters and events throughout, in many ways the film could be viewed as a superlative example of fan-fiction. However, this never veers into bawdy slapstick or mockery of its core character.
There is a slightly knowing comedic tone at times, comparable with other 1970’s Holmes outings and arguable other popular period pieces of the era such as The Three Musketeers.
This noteworthy cast makes for an interesting, exiting and original investigation into the psychology of the Sherlock Holmes character. Here Watson becomes convinced that Sherlock Holmes has become paranoid and delusional, particularly in the belief that Professor Moriarty (Lawrence Olivier) is his arch nemesis and a criminal mastermind.Īttributing this to his cocaine addition, Watson conspires with Mycroft (Charles Gray) to trick Holmes into visiting Vienna and Sigmund Freud (Alan Arkin).Holmes inevitably becomes involved in an equally thrilling case whilst there. Based on the 1974 novel by Nicholas Meyer, who also wrote the screenplay, Nicol Williamson takes on the role of Holmes, with Robert Duvall as Watson.
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