Basil Rathbone: Master of Stage and Screen Green" (original) (raw)

The Woman in Green

(1945) 68 min. b&w

The Woman in Green is the eleventh Sherlock Holmes film that Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce made together (ninth in the Universal series). Hypnosis and blackmail are involved in this tale, which opens with Inspector Gregson of the CID narrating. Four defenseless women have been found murdered, and in each case the right forefinger has been cleanly severed. Scotland Yard has no clues or leads, and is under great pressure to solve the case, so Gregson calls on Sherlock Holmes for help.

Gregson and Holmes discuss the case over a whiskey and soda at Pembroke House, where they also observe Sir George Fenwick sitting with an attractive young woman. The inspector comments, "Is that his daughter with him?" and Holmes replies, "Don't be so naive, Inspector."

A little while later they observe Sir George and the young woman leaving together. Holmes comments, "Wonder where she's taking Sir George Fenwick." To which the inspector replies, "Don't be so naive, Mr. Holmes."

Holmes and Gregson have a drink at Pembroke House. Sir George and the Woman in Green sit in the background.	Holmes observes Sir George and his lady friend.

The following morning Sir George wakes up in a room over Edgeware Road, having no memory of how he got there, and we hear a newspaper boy calling out the news of a horrible murder in Edgeware Road. As Sir George reaches into his coat pocket, he discovers a severed finger in it. He returns to the woman's home to try to figure out what happened, and Moriarty confronts Sir George, claiming to have seen him commit the murder.

Sir George's daughter comes to Holmes after observing her father bury the finger in the garden. Holmes, Watson and Gregson arrive at Sir George's house too late to save him. He's been shot.

After Sir George is murdered Holmes finds enough clues to figure out that blackmail was the motive for the finger murders, but he remains baffled as to how the people are convinced they committed a murder.

The Woman in Green

AUDIENCE SLANT: (Family) Mystery fans will be very well satisfied with Sherlock Holmes' infallibility. An excellent supporting feature.

BOX-OFFICE SLANT: Sherlock Holmes' adventures have a following. Should do well as a supporting feature or even as the top half of a dual mystery program.

Plot: Basil Rathbone is called in by baffled Inspector Matthew Boulton to aid him in solving the series of "finger murders" in which women have been killed and their index fingers expertly amputated. Rathbone and Nigel Bruce show their usual infallibility by having Rathbone pretend to be hypnotized, as he suspects others have been, in order to set up a blackmail racket in connection with the murders. He and Bruce succeed in trapping the murderers after a suspenseful moment or two when Holmes is about to be murdered himself.

Comment: The story has been cleverly contrived and has plausibility, suspense and a satisfying culmination. It is well produced and directed, and the actors are most expert in conveying impressions of Sherlock Holmes, his assistants and his antagonists. Rathbone and Bruce do very well and Hillary Brooke as a blonde menace is beautiful and convincing. The picture should do well as a supporting or leading feature on a dual mystery program.

�Showmen's Trade Review, June 23, 1945

Watson is lured away from Baker Street by a phone call, a fake medical emergency. As soon as he's gone, Moriarty pays a visit to Holmes. The ensuing dialogue is largely inspired by Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Final Problem."

"All that I have to say has already crossed your mind," said he. "The possibly my answer has crossed yours," I replied. "You stand fast?" "Absolutely." . . . "Well, well," said he at last. ". . . You hope to place me in the dock. I tell you that I will never stand in the dock. You hope to beat me I tell you that you will never beat me. If you are clever enough to bring destruction upon me, rest assured that I shall do as much to you."(from "The Final Problem," The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle.)

Compare the above passage with the actual dialogue from the film below:

Moriarty claims that his men will kill Dr. Watson if he, Moriarty, fails to return unharmed. As they talk, Moriarty nudges Holme's chair closer to the window. After Moriarty leaves, and Watson returns, Holmes notices an open window in the empty house across the street. He asks Watson to go check it out. From the house across the street Watson can see the silhouette of Holmes through the window. He also sees a man with a rifle approach the window and aim. Before Watson can stop him, the man shoots. Fortunately, he shoots a bust of Julius Caesar, and Holmes is right behind Watson. They capture the sniper and discover that he is hypnotized. Suddenly Holmes realizes the method used in the finger murders: the victims are hypnotized and therefore easily led to believe they might have committed the murder. Holmes and Watson pay a visit to the Mesmer Club, the meeting place for the top hypnotists. Sherlock Holmes' brother Mycroft is a valued member of the club.

'THE WOMAN IN GREEN' ONE OF BEST IN SHERLOCK HOLMES SERIES

The best Sherlock Holmes film adventure in some time, "The Woman in Green" has suspense, a neatly contrived plot and better-than-usual characterizations. Even its title, which suggests glamour as well as mystery, has marquee value far above the routine entry in this long-lived series. The eleventh film based on the characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle deals with a blackmailing murder syndicate under the leadership of that arch-criminal, Professor Moriarty, and his accomplice, a beautiful blonde hypnotist. Sherlock Holmes, who is again aided by the loyal, blundering old Dr. Watson and also annoyed by a bluff Scotland Yard inspector, is called in to solve a series of baffling thumb murders and he even permits himself to b mesmerized in order to trap the culprit. Under Roy William Neill's direction, interest is maintained throughout and the players, especially Basil Rathbone, as Holmes; Nigel Bruce, as Dr. Watson, and Henry Daniell, who is suavely fiendish as Moriarty, offer their usual capable portrayals. Although she is not photographed in Technicolor, Hillary Brooke adds pulchritude and charm as the woman of the title which Paul Cavanagh and Frederick Worlock also do good work. This is a first-rate dualler generally.

DENLEY

�Independent Film Bulletin, July 23, 1945

At the Mesmer Club Holmes spots the "Woman in Green," whom he saw with Sir George, and learns her name is Lydia. Holmes accompanies Lydia to Pembroke House, where Holmes confesses that he is losing sleep over the difficult case of the Finger Murders. Claiming that she can help him with his insomnia, Lydia coaxes Holmes to her apartment and there hypnotizes Holmes. Moriarty then enters the room and orders Holmes to write a suicide note and then walk out onto the ledge of the balcony. Before Holmes reaches the end of the ledge, Watson arrives with the police, and they arrest everyone involved with the finger murders. Watson jumps to the ledge to save Holmes and discovers that he isn't hypnotized at all. He was just playing along until the police could get there.

Moriarty breaks free from his captors and jumps to the ledge of the next building. But because he is handcuffed, he is unable to grab hold of anything and he falls to his death.

This film presents two adversaries for Holmes: the "Napoleon of crime" Moriarty and a seductive femme fatale. Oddly enough, audiences never questioned how Moriarty could be alive after apparently being killed in both The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon.

Many fans and critics believe George Zucco's Moriarty (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes) was the best, but Rathbone thought Daniell's interpretation of Moriarty was "delectably dangerous" and "masterly." Henry Daniell's performance was indeed superb, and the highlight of the film. The character of Moriarty didn't appear in any more Holmes films until 1976, in_The Seven Percent Solution_.

Hillary Brooke, the seductive femme fatale, appeared in two other Sherlock Holmes films in the Rathbone/Bruce series. She was the driver, Jill, in Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror, as well as Sally Musgrave in Sherlock Holmes Faces Death.

The working title of The Woman in Green was Invitation to Death. This was the last film of the series to be written by Bertram Millhauser. It used an idea in "The Adventure of the Empty House" but otherwise was an original story, not based on a Conan Doyle story. As gruesome as the murders of young women were, the murders described in the original script were even more gruesome. They involved the mutilation of young girls, ages eight or nine. The Production Code Administration (film censors) objected, and the script was changed to having the murder victims be adult women.

Shooting began on January 12 and ended on February 5, 1945. The film opened in New York City on June 15, 1945, and the rest of the USA on July 15, 1945.

"Basil was constantly fooling around on the set. We had a scene in the picture where the two of us were in a cocktail lounge. For some reason, the sequence was taking a long time to shoot, so, to break the monotony, we pretended we were getting drunk ... slurring our speech and the like ... with the scene ending by both of us sliding under the table and passing out." �Hillary Brooke, quoted in Starring Sherlock Holmes, by David Stuart Davies

Go to Page Two for more photos and reviews, and Page Threefor pictures of posters, lobby cards, and promo photos for The Woman in Green.

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| Cast Basil Rathbone ... Sherlock Holmes Nigel Bruce ... Dr. Watson Hillary Brooke ... Lydia Marlow Henry Daniell ... Prof. Moriarty Paul Cavanagh ... Sir George Fenwick Matthew Boulton ... Inspector Gregson Eve Amber ... Maude Fenwick Frederic Worlock ... Onslow Tom Bryson ... Williams Sally Shepherd ... Crandon Mary Gordon ... Mrs. Hudson Percival Vivian ... Dr. Simnell Olaf Hytten ... Norris (Fenwick's butler) Harold de Becker ... Shoelace Seller Tommy Hughes ... Newsman Alec Harford ... Commissioner of the CID Colin Hunter... Constable Ivo Henderson ... Constable Kay Harding ... Fourth victim Fred Aldrich ... Detective Kermit Maynard ... Detective Boyd Irwin ... Officer who closed window Violet Seton ... Nurse Mowbray (at Mesmer House) Arthur Stenning ... Mesmer Club Porter Tom Ferrandini ... Club Patron Eric Mayne ... Member of Mesmer Club Paul Power ... Member of Mesmer Club Count Stefenelli ... Member of Mesmer Club John Burton ... Waring (Mesmerist) Tony Ellis ... Carter (hypnotized subject) Leslie Denison ... Vincent (barman at Pembroke House) William H. O'Brien ... Pembroke House waiter | | Credits Production Company ... Universal Executive Producer ... Howard Benedict Producer ... Roy William Neill Director ... Roy William Neill Screenplay ... Bertram Milhauser Cinematographer ... Virgil Miller Film Editing ... Edward Curtiss Music Director ... Mark Levant Original Music ... Paul Dessau Violin player ... Louis Kaufman Art Directors ... John B. Goodman, Martin Obzina Set Directors ... Russell A. Gausman, Ted Von Hemert Costume Design ... Vera West Production Manager ... Charles Stallings Asst. Director ... Melville Shyer Special Photography ... John P. Fulton Special Effects ... Chris Guthrie Camera operator ... Roswell A. Hoffmann Second Camera ... Wallace Chewning Sound Director ... Bernard B. Brown Technician ... Glenn E. Anderson Sound Mixer ... Ronald K. Pierce Music Mixer ... Paul Neal Costume jeweller ... Eugene Joseff Prop Master ... William Nunley Dialogue Director ... Raymond Kessler Stand-in for Nigel Bruce ... George Hill Stand-in for Basil Rathbone ... Maurice Marks Stand-in for Henry Daniell ... Eddie Parker | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |

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Note: The Woman in Green is one of the four Sherlock Holmes films that is in the public domain. That means that anyone can legally produce and sell a DVD of this film. Consequently, it's easy to find cheap DVDs of The Woman in Green. But these cheap ones are also cheap quality. The links above are for the digitally remastered, high-quality DVDs produced by MPI Home Video. Don't waste your money on anything else!