Day 101: "Yes, the obvious always appears simple."

Who said that movies have to be long to be entertaining.  Tonight's movie: Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon was a mere 68 minutes in length, but a lot of fun.  I decided to go back to 1943 for this one, I wanted to see what films were like from the days of paying once and sitting in the local movie house all day watching an assortment of films.  I've seen a boatload of the old science fiction serials, and I wanted a look at the adaptaions of some of the literary heroes.  This Sherlock Holmes is based on the Arthur Conan Doyle story "The Dancing Men," which I have never read, but I would assume this was a loose interpretation, as it is set during WWII and not in the Victorian period.  In this, Holmes helps a Swiss designer escape from the Nazis (forever the popular villains, along with zombies), so that he can bring his radical new bomb sight to the Allies.  Holmes uses a variety of disguises in this, as well as the usual heavy helping of deductive logic, however flawed it may be.  Thoroughly enjoyable and a great way to introduce yourself to some classic "whodunnit" cinema, Sherlock Holmes is just a fun ride through Saturday afternoon matinee history.

Basil Rathbone plays Holmes, the role for which he is best known.  He is a wonderfully cocky, slightly arrogant, and altogether brilliant Holmes, and one that Robert Downey, Jr. borrowed a bit from in his own take on the role.  Nigel Bruce is the ever bumbling Watson, although he does save Sherlock's bacon a few times.  Finally Lionel Atwill is Professor James "Moriarity" (Moriarty is the correct spelling, they have it  wrong in the credits.), slimy and totally devious, although he does suffer from "James Bond Bad Guy Syndrome," a crippling inability to just kill the good guy, but instead explaining the plan, and putting our hero into a eminently escapeable situation.

Lots of good, old fashioned fun, check it out.  Watch the black and white, though, not the colorized abomination.  Good for the whole family, although trying to convince a child that a B/W movie is worth seeing will be a labor, and short to boot!  7.75/10.

See you tomorrow, and GO WATCH A MOVIE!!