The Scarlet Claw (1944)

By CinemaSerf

When “Holmes” (Basil Rathbone) and “Watson” (Nigel Bruce) visit Canada to attend a seminar hosted by “Lord Penrose” (series regular Paul Cavanagh) his scientific approach to crime solving contrasts with the more intangible one taken by their host, but that’s the least of their troubles when they are forced to travel to the misty village of “La Mort Rouge” to investigate the brutal slaying of “Lady Penrose”. The murder is shrouded in a mystery that isn’t a million miles from “The Hound of the Baskervilles”, but of course “Holmes” isn’t having any of this fantastic, glow-in-the-dark monster mumbo-jumbo - especially as the body count starts to mount up, the doctor finds himself stuck in one too many peaty bogs and this tiny community appears to have a multitude of potential culprits. Bruce gets a bigger slice of the action here, which I quite enjoyed and there is a substantial story for us to get our teeth into. Unlike in many of their other enjoyable adventures, the audience are left guessing too and there are plenty of red herrings from amidst this spooky and eery locale replete with disguises, squeaky floorboards and a great big dog to keep us intrigued. I reckon this is my favourite of this series, and on a creepy night with the rain pattering against the window, is actually quite menacing.