Baker Street Bargain

from V, JUNE/JULY 1988

BAKER STREET BARGAIN

Basil Rathbone (far right) as Sherlock Holmes in Pursuit to Algiers (1945)

IN A belated tribute to the centenary of Sherlock Holmes (he's 101 this year), Key Video is releasing all 14 films featuring Basil Rathbone as 221B Baker Street's most famous denizen. Although there have been 186 Holmes films since 1902 and 67 actors in the role of the pipe-smoking sleuth – including John Barrymore, Roger Moore and Larry "J.R." Hagman – Rathbone's portrayal is perhaps the best loved. The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) was his debut, but the fast-paced Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939) and atmospheric The Scarlet Claw (1944) are more entertaining. Best villain: The Creeper (Pearl of Death, 1944). Best line: "Great Scott! That was meant for us!" (The House of Fear, 1945). Best price: $19.98 each. It's elementary. – Tom Soter