WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

ChampDavSlim The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Yash Wade Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

classicsoncall I enjoy films from a series in which casual references are made to stories that went before. The Charlie Chan flicks of the same era used to do it all the time. In this one, Dr. Watson compares the current mystery to the one encountered in "The Hound of the Baskervilles", all the more interesting because that film was made at competing studio Twentieth Century Fox. There was also that reference to author G.K. Chesterton's mystery stories and his fascination with the occult.Of the post-Fox movies (there were only two), this is by far the best I've encountered, certainly more entertaining than the first three Universal films which had Holmes (Basil Rathbone) dealing with Nazi agents. The atmosphere is established right from the beginning with a great image of a fog enshrouded landscape, the location of the drama taking place in the small Canadian town of La Morte Rouge, ominously translated as 'The Red Death'. Holmes and his assistant Watson (Nigel Bruce) are drawn into a murder investigation by virtue of a letter he receives from a woman who's found dead after it was posted.The plot intriguingly involves the use of disguises not only by Holmes, but the resourceful murderer who is revealed via some clever writing and the film director's sleight of hand. On the way to solving the mystery, Watson's role as an 'inconspicuous' guest at the Journet Café Hotel adds just the right comedic counterbalance to the story, but it's probably best not to try to follow that whole 'hoots and honks' conversation with butler Drake (Ian Wolfe). Once was enough for me.There's one scene I did question though. Why would Holmes immediately begin shooting at the phosphorescent 'ghost' on his midnight stroll through the swamp? Granted, there was a logical connection to be made regarding similar sightings preceding the murders of livestock and Lady Penrose, but what if there was some other explanation? Holmes could have shot an innocent person. I thought he quite literally jumped the gun on that one.Otherwise, Holmes' brilliant deductive reasoning is played out quite credibly in a fairly tense finale. The picture closes in similar fashion to those I've seen from the earlier Universal stories, whereby Holmes invokes Winston Churchill's admiration of the bond between Canada, America and the British Empire. A half century later some may find it a bit heavy handed, but at the same time it's a constructive reminder that tradition has some value in a current world turned upside down.

bkoganbing My favorite Sherlock Holmes film from the Basil Rathbone-Nigel Bruce era is The Scarlet Claw. Interestingly so because the story is not based on any of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories. But the writers at Universal really caught the Holmes spirit with this one.Holmes and Watson are in Quebec at a conference on the occult presided over by the titled Paul Cavanaugh. Rathbone ever the believer in pure reason is not a believer in the supernatural happenings that have been reported in Cavanaugh's area. But during the conference Cavanaugh receives word that his wife was brutally murdered by something resembling an animal's claw.After Rathbone and Bruce arrive at the small village where these incidents are taking place two other murders occur. The connection is established and we find out that the murderer is a former actor who served time and is now taking revenge on those he thought had wronged him.Knowing who it is isn't enough. The perpetrator is a master of disguise and Holmes gives the devil his due because he's been known to disguise himself often enough when on a case. I agree with several reviewers who said that The Scarlet Claw does venture into the Gothic horror genre that Universal did so well back in the day. But that's all to the good, after all the greatest of Holmes stories does just that also, The Hound Of The Baskervilles.Even Baker Street purists should like this one.

Neil Doyle I don't know how I missed this one over the years, but watching it today on TCM, I don't remember ever seeing it before.THE SCARLET CLAW was written especially for the screen and not from any novel penned by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Turns out it's one of the very best entries in the series, up there with THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES and THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES as essential Holmes films.It has all the atmosphere one would want in a Sherlock Holmes story and a mystery that deepens as the plot goes forward but resolved in a very satisfying way by Holmes. The cast includes an excellent performance from PAUL CAVANAGH as Mr. Penrose, whose wife dies a vicious death at the hands of a killer and leads to Holmes' investigation. GERALD HAMER as a nervous postman and VICTORIA HORNE as a frightened housekeeper are also fine, as is MILES MANDER as a judge whose life is in danger from a serial killer.Although this one takes place in Canada, it might just as well have taken place on the Dartmouth moors in Devonshire--that's the kind of atmosphere it has with plenty of mist and fog to add to the Gothic ambiance of the tale.Well worth watching for Sherlock fans. Especially good is NIGEL BRUCE as the bumbling Dr. Watson who inadvertently helps BASIL RATHBONE from time to time. His blustery interpretation of the comic sidekick is especially well done in this caper. Rathbone, of course, is beyond reproach.

chaos-rampant In this, the eighth entry in the continuing Sherlock Holmes saga, the sharp-witted detective and his affable assistant Dr. Watson, who happen to be in Canada for a discussion on the occult, find themselves hired under the most peculiar circumstances by a deceased woman. A ghostlike apparition or monster has been terrorizing the inhabitants of a small village near Quebec but the sceptical Holmes is not entirely convinced the human factor is not somehow involved in a series of gruesome murders that appear to have been committed with some kind of claw.THE SCARLET CLAW is not only one of the best entries in the Holmes series with Basil Rathbone, and certainly my favourite so far, but also a terrific murder mystery that works fine on its own terms, a genuinely engaging movie that manages to transcend its low budget limitations. It maintains the darker tone of its predecessor, THE SPIDER WOMAN, but injects it with an absorbing, suspenseful plot, an interesting backstory that is revealed gradually, and a villain whose motives make sense. In that sense it is less of a cartoon strip and more of a fully fledged movie akin to Rathbone's debut for Fox (THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES) yet simultaneously carries the pulpy atmospheric stylishness of a Poverty Row noir or a Universal horror film.A couple of jumps in logic are required of the viewer but this is not a movie to be picked apart. It is a movie to be enjoyed like fine, old cognac. For its fantastic performances by Rathbone and Nigel Bruce (much maligned for his interpretation of Dr. Watson but I think he's perfect counterbalance to Rathbone's Holmes), for the beautiful black and white cinematography, for the intricate plotting, for a great SFX scene that involves a glowing man running through the woods that hasn't dated one bit 60 years later. Fans of the series are in for a treat.