The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (film)

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
1939 US theatrical poster
Directed byAlfred L. Werker
Written byEdwin Blum[1]
William A. Drake
Based onCharacters:
Arthur Conan Doyle
Play:
William Gillette
Produced byDarryl F. Zanuck
StarringBasil Rathbone
Nigel Bruce
Ida Lupino
George Zucco
Alan Marshal
CinematographyLeon Shamroy
Edited byRobert Bischoff
Music byRobert Russell Bennett
Cyril J. Mockridge
Distributed by20th Century-Fox
Release date
  • September 1, 1939 (1939-09-01)
Running time
81 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (released theatrically as Sherlock Holmes in the United Kingdom) is a 1939 American mystery adventure film[2] based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes detective stories. Although claiming to be an adaptation of the 1899 play Sherlock Holmes by William Gillette, the film bears little resemblance to the play.[3]

Released by 20th Century-Fox, the film is the second of fourteen Sherlock Holmes films produced between 1939 and 1946, starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. John Watson. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is the last film in the series to be released by Fox as well as the final film to be set in the Victorian period of Doyle’s stories (all subsequent Holmes films would be released by Universal Pictures and set in contemporaneous times (i.e. the 1940s).

The film co-stars George Zucco as Holmes's nemesis, Professor Moriarty, and follows Holmes and Watson as they attempt to foil Moriarty’s plans to target a wealthy family and steal the Crown Jewels.[4]

  1. ^ "Edwin Blum, 89, Writer for Stage And the Screen". The New York Times. May 6, 1995.
  2. ^ "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)". AllMovie. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
  3. ^ Thompson, Dave (2013). Sherlock Holmes FAQ. Applause. p. 203. ISBN 978-1-4803-3149-5.
  4. ^ S. Nugent, Frank (September 2, 1939). "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes". The New York Times.