bkoganbing Silver Blaze finds Sherlock Holmes and the ever present Dr. Watson back at Baskerville Hall seen of their greatest case. Apparently Sir Henry Baskerville gives them free run of the joint in gratitude for saving his life back in The Hounds of the Baskerville case. Anyway no sooner are they there than the murder of a stable-boy and the theft of a prize race horse happen and suspicion falls on the Baskerville son-in-law.On the other side of the pond Arthur Wontner and Ian Fleming did a few Sherlock Holmes films and are as known there as Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce are here. The horse itself is found on the moor where that infamous hound used to prowl, apparently none the worse for wear. But that's only the beginning.Wontner and Fleming are certainly the equal of Rathbone and Bruce. Except for a couple of the early films, the Rathbone/Bruce films were B films the same as this British production so the quality is about the same. Professor Moriarty is at the bottom of things here as you note by the cast list. This Moriarty believes in taking direct action and does try to eliminate Holmes before he spoils the Professor's foul scheme. My criticism of the film is that in fact Moriarty is grafted into the screenplay. The original novel does not have him in it. I'm not a Holmes expert, but it seems to me that Moriarty always went in for bigger schemes than fixing horse races.Still it's a good Sherlock Holmes mystery well worth Americans viewing a British view of their conception of the greatest sleuth in history who happens to be one of their's.

thomrobbin-1 Just caught this as a restored version on TCM. I thought the most interesting (or comment-worthy) aspect of this film was the use of camera by director Thomas Bentley. Some interesting shots (low angle of Moriarty as he enters his new lair), tracking/dolly shots that tie aspects of the scenes together (dolly along the Baskerville terrace when Holmes arrives) and quick pans which bring characters together in scenes. Although I don't consider myself an expert on this period of production, I generally find many lower-budget films of this era were fairly static visually. It definitely improved my enjoyment of the film as a Holmes fan.

Spondonman Arthur Wontner as Holmes is virtually the only reason to see this film, although it would be a passable time-filler even without him. The production values are erratic, sometimes convincing, sometimes shoestring, but the choppy print doesn't really help.Wontner certainly looked like The Strand's Man, but I find his portrayals almost too eccentric to swallow easily. His devouring of tobacco smoke was made great play of at the beginning, but as the story kicks in we're treated to his more analytical and serious side in the solving of a murder and a mysterious death on the Moors. You've got to admire the effrontery of someone who can identify a horse's horseshoes and pick out and track them miles across the Moors to where a body lay!Having just seen Come on George, made 2 years later than this, I found it disconcerting to hear the stableman Ronald Shiner referred to as a "boy" - was he ever? I would have thought that both Rathbone and Bruce must have seen this series of films, if only for reference, but LeStrade is pronounced LeStrayed here (as it was later on in the Jeremy Brett UK TV series). Favourite bit: Holmes and LeStrade reaching hearty agreement on clearing Trevor's name from guilt. First time of watching, but hopefully I'll come back again sometime for a second helping.

Snow Leopard Although Arthur Wontner is little remembered today, in his time he was considered by many to have been the best of those who had portrayed Sherlock Holmes on screen. "Silver Blaze", the last of the Holmes series that starred Wontner, is a solid feature that takes the Doyle story of the same name and adds to it some of the characters and elements from the other Holmes stories.The strength of Wontner's performance is that he looks very convincing as the Holmes of literature, and he also looks very much at home in the Victorian era settings. While his portrayal of Holmes lacks the sharpness and forcefulness of Basil Rathbone or Jeremy Brett, Wontner is certainly adequate in the challenging role of the great detective. He does well here despite the low-budget look to everything else."Silver Blaze" is also of interest in adding Moriarty, Lestrade, and the Baskervilles to the original story. As Moriarty, Lyn Harding has some screen presence, but he doesn't really make Moriarty seem like the brilliant strategist that you expect him to be - here he is more like a tough guy whom you wouldn't want to cross. His role is mainly used to create some extra suspense sequences. The central mystery itself is an interesting one, with some of the unusual details that you hope for in a Holmes story. Overall, this is a solid if unspectacular feature.