Customer Reviews

The Complete Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes Collection

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If you're a fan of the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce versions of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, this collection is a must. After years of watching my old copies of the movies with the scratchy sound and visuals, I bought a couple of the digitally restored dvd's (done by UCLA). Having seen those, I popped for the remainder of the collection. The difference is stunning!

I had no idea how much visual and aural detail I was missing -- bits of dialogue, acting nuances, that lovely old Black & White movie lighting. These are definitely worth the price of admission.

The complete Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes is really an excellent restoration! If you like Rathbone and Bruce and the Sherlock Holmes stories this set is a must! The fine job UCLA has done mean you see the actors clearly and all the details are crisp and clear. Definitely better than early VHS copies of the movies where a copy was made of a copy of an old deteriating film. Always did like Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes; WGN (Chicago) in the late '60's or early '70's had run the Rathbone Holmes movies on the weekend with Basil introducing the story! If all you have seen are copies of older prints you won't believe the clarity and sharpness of these DVD's!!!

Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce are just a pleasure to watch. I love the movies that take place during the Victorian period and I only wish this series would have had more of that ambience. The quality of these films is impeccable. Anyone who is a fan of this series must absolutely invest in these DVDs for their collection.

It doesn't get any better than Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. The television series made with Jeremy Brett as Holmes was an okay stand-in at the time--I have all that on VHS and enjoy it for what it's worth--but for all the increased detail and effort to "get it right" of this latter-day video rendition of literary fiction's most venerable detective, the end result of Brett's collective performance simply doesn't carry the panache of Rathbone's earlier portrayals. Plus, there is no Rathbone-Bruce chemistry in play (have any two actors in the history of cinema ever been so closely, so indivisibly associated with each other by the public?). And, quite frankly, in spite of the ham-it-up license Rathbone and Bruce almost giddily exercised, not to mention the immediate, predictable and for my money regrettable swing by Hollywood away from the incomparable writing of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle into a never-never-land of outrageously topical and sometimes just silly plot conceptions subsequent to the release of the mainly faithful seminal entry of the series, The Hound of the Baskervilles, these B&W films curiously enough nevertheless sock and punch the audience with plenty of creditable (albeit foreign to the original) atmosphere. The collective work also certifies Rathbone for what he actually was, a superb actor in his own right, and one of the all-time capable and infinitely versatile character actors of the big screen, a multi-talented personality mainly wasted by Hollywood year after year after year as, for instance, the heavy versus more marquee-worthy names such as Errol Flynn in The Adventures of Robin Hood, or the comedic fall-guy for Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov and Aldo Ray in We're No Angles, and, in an exceptional pairing with Spencer Tracy (and directed by John Ford of all people), Rathbone gave a kind of virtuoso performance in the often-overlooked but brilliant comedic-drama The Last Hurrah. All in all, Rathbone's career represents a kind of cinematic shame, or perhaps a better way to phrase that would be to say the movie industry never quite understood or appreciated the true talent and screen potential Rathbone actually possessed, though in spite of this corporate ignorance of the work at hand, we, the cinematic public, at least have to enjoy what we have to enjoy of Rathbone doing his thing as only he could do it, and I guess we ought to be finally grateful for that.

Anyway, to date I have only seen Volume I of this restoration effort by UCLA at my brother's, and needless to say (I guess I did say it already in my header) I'm waiting eagerly to gain possession of these classics for my collection. It's just nice to be able to saunter over to the bookshelves and cherry-pick a Rathbone Holmes when evening descends and thunder threatens all around.

There's hours of enjoyment to be found in this valuable package. It contains all 14 Sherlock Holmes films featuring Basil Rathbone and Sir Nigel Bruce dating from 1939 to 1946. There's also a fascinating account of the films' restoration history, in which we are told that the work occupied almost a whole year for each film, and also that one or two of the films, including one of the last of them, "Pursuit to Algiers", were almost ready to disintegrate. The resultant visual quality is amazingly good - I can distinguish the various tweeds from which the coats of Holmes and Watson are made.

Mainly produced and directed by Roy William Neill, the series originated in England where the first 2 films were made. Each used "period'" costume and setting, although only the first was based on a Conan Doyle story. Then production was transferred to Hollywood where mainly British cast members were still used, but the settings were now contemporary and sometimes the films were unashamedly war propaganda.

With a presence, appearance and inimitable diction, Basil Rathbone is unsurpassed as an exponent of Sherlock Holmes in film. His wish to be relieved of the role and the death of regular producer and director Roy William Neill terminated the series. Nigel Bruce, as Doctor Watson, replicates the bluff, doddery English buffoon that he played so well in numerous films of those years. It's nothing like Conan Doyle's original, but wonderfully endearing.

These were never more than B Grade film productions in their day, most lasting little more than one hour. Somehow, their appeal remains strong. If the opportunity arises, and visitors and relatives of all ages survey my shelves, one or other of these films is often chosen in preference to something of more substance. "The Hound of the Baskervilles" is the most often chosen, but my favorite is "Pursuit to Algiers".

Great quality! Wonderful to see these films again - after years of watching old VHS fuzzy tapes!

I placed my order for this product on 5/29 with an estimated ship date of 8/1 - 8/3. It's now 10/5 and I have not received the item and they have not changed the estimated delivery date on my order (even though it passed two months ago). I understand delays can occur, but four months and no communication? It may take Sherlock Holmes to solve the mystery of where my order is....

This item was ordered on 8/27. The order form form showed that it was available then. I still have not received it a month later and the backorder notice says it could take another month until the end of October ..... two months.
I will wait for the order to be filled because it is the entire collection of Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and the price is very reasonable.

I'm not sure that Rathbone will go down in history as the best of the Holmes characters (and even less convinced of Bruce as Dr. Watson) but these are by far the best and most fun of the Sherlock Holmes movies. Even the Jeremy Brett editions don't measure up to the black-and-white footage of these films. I like that Rathbone and Bruce had a rather tongue in cheek quality to their work: reading the original stories gives a sense that Holmes enjoyed a bit of whimsy that the more dark and serious movies miss.

If you love the Holmes stories these films are a must (as are the new annotated stories.) Great stuff.

Congrats to the preservationists' at U.C.L.A! They've done it again! True, this set is on the expensive side, but if you were a Sherlock Holmes' fan (with Basil Rathbone, of course!), you have struck Paydirt! This is it! Save your pennies and get your copy - you won't regret it, believe me! Kudos to all involved in the restoration effort!