The Woman in Green (1945)

“Then we shall walk together through the Gates of Eternity hand-in-hand”, 19 November 2020

Sherlock Holmes is approached by Scotland Yard for help investigating a rather grisly series of murders.  After each murder, one of the female victims’ fingers has been removed.  

For me, The Woman in Green is a nice entry in the Rathbone Sherlock Holmes series - nowhere near as good as something like The Scarlet Claw, but few movies are.  The viciousness of the murders, even though we see nothing, made for an interesting plot detail.  The rest of the writing is especially strong.  There are bits of dialogue between Holmes and Moriarty that are as good as any you’ll find in the series.  The supporting cast, featuring a terrific performance by Hillary Brooke in the title role (though being in black and white, it was difficult to tell if she was, in fact, wearing green), is more than capable and made for an interesting adversary for Holmes.  I even enjoyed Henry Daniell in the role of Moriarity.  I know he has his detractors, but I think Daniell could play a villain with the best of them.  Finally, I actually enjoyed much of Watson’s schtick - something that has been known to get on my nerves.  Sure, the scene where he’s hypnotized goes a bit too far, but his bumbling ways in The Woman in Green actually add to the plot (and also to the fun).

The films’ greatest flaw is it’s ending.  Up to that point, The Woman in Green is as good as most any of the Holmes films.  I’m not going to give too much away other than to say Moriarity’s means of doing away with Holmes is ridiculous.  Just shoot him for crying out loud!  And the ease with which Moriarity is taken into custody (again, not really a spoiler - you didn’t think he’d get away, did you?) is equally hard to swallow.  

7/10