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Entry tags:	sherlock holmes arthur wontner

Movie Review--The Sign of Four

---- The Sign of Four, 1932-----
Sherlock Holmes....Arthur Wontner
Dr. John Watson.....Ian Hunter
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Arthur Wontner (1875-1960) was clearly chosen for the part due to his striking resemblance to many of Sidney Paget's Holmes illustrations (I have found via IMDB that he received the role after being seen playing a character based upon Holmes, but surely his appearance had something to do with it. I also found this on IMDB... "No better Sherlock Holmes than Arthur Wontner is likely to be seen and heard in pictures, in our time... The keen worn, kindly face and quiet prescient smile are out of the very pages of the book". Vincent Starrett's 'The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes' XD)

Here are some pros and cons of the film...

Pros: This particular Wontner film doesn't have a deerstalker!Holmes in London, which is always a plus. (I don't mind if they show him in it in the country, but it hardly makes sense to go about in one in the city, I should think! xD)
Wonter does well, and I don't see any particular flaws in his performance, other than the fact that he might have been a bit too old to play the detective (he was about 57 at the time). If I play it on mute, I am actually reminded of JB's performance.
The film tells the story of SIGN well enough, but it takes a few liberties (such as its date, the fact tha Small has more than just Tonga as an accomplice, Mary gets captured, Sholto actually kills Morstan, etc.)
We get the privilege of seeing Holmes in costume, questioning Mrs. Mordecai Smith, and also we get to see when he returns to Baker Street and tricks Athelney Jones with the costume. (Also, the other scenes with Holmes and A. Jones are rather good.) Another pro is that this film does NOT feature an OoC or resurrected Prof. Moriarty.

Cons: This is yet another out-of-period Holmes film--though it is older than the Rathbone ones ;) --complete with motor taxis and terrible fashion (the women's clothing is especially distracting.)
The Watson (Ian Hunter, who in later Wontner films gets replaced with Ian Fleming) wasn't terrible, but he left something to be desired (though the fact may be attributed to the presence of Miss Morstan.).
I think the era was really the worst part of it...the rest was either quite good or interesting enough. Holmes's costume, however, was a bit poor: the stuffing job he did to give the impression of weight was terrible. XD
I don't know that I like Wontner's voice--though, I'll admit I am hearing it a bit now when I think of Holmes...
Another thing is that Holmes DID say "Elementary, my dear Watson," at least three times, which was laughable. But, since the last two times he said "elementary" was or a joke, that's a bit forgivable. :)

In all, I recommend it to any Sherlockian. I cannot guarantee that you will enjoy it, but I liked it, and I think it's something any Holmes fan should see.

Here are some screencaps from the episode....these aren't all the ones I took, but they're just for example... XD Sorry they take up space like this, but I don't know how to get them to show up any other way...