The Pearl of Death

"The master minds tackle the master crimes!"

1944 1h 9m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

★7.1TMDB · 106

ThrillerMysteryCrime

Synopsis

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The famous Borgia Pearl, a valuable gem with a history of bringing murder and misfortune to its owner since the days of the Borgias, is brought to London, thanks in part to Sherlock Holmes. But before long the jewel is stolen, due to an error on Holmes' part, and shortly thereafter, a series of horrible murders begin, the murderer leaving his victims with their spines snapped and surrounded by a mass of smashed china.

“The master minds tackle the master crimes!”

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Where to watch · US

Cast

Basil Rathbone
Sherlock Holmes
Nigel Bruce
Dr. John Watson
Dennis Hoey
Inspector Lestrade
Evelyn Ankers
Naomi Drake
Miles Mander
Giles Conover
Ian Wolfe
Amos Hodder
Charles Francis
Francis Digby, curator
Holmes Herbert
James Goodram, courier

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Roy William Neill
Writers: Bertram Millhauser, Arthur Conan Doyle
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Tight 69-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

82 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Roy William Neill, shot by Virgil Miller. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Paul Sawtell. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Ray Snyder shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce and Dennis Hoey carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The master minds tackle the master crimes!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Roy William Neill directs. Virgil Miller behind the camera. Paul Sawtell scores. Ray Snyder cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 69-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
282 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Part of the "Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Roy William Neill, shot by Virgil Miller. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Paul Sawtell. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Ray Snyder shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce and Dennis Hoey carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "The master minds tackle the master crimes!".
9IMDB entry: tt0037168 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 10 themes, including "museum", "ocean liner", "murder", "black and white".

The technical file

Cinematography: Virgil Miller
Original score: Paul Sawtell
Editing: Ray Snyder
Costume design: Vera West
Runtime: 69 min · 1h 9m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: The Pearl of Death (1944)

Part of

Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) Collection

A series of fourteen films based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories was released between 1939 and 1946; the British actors Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce played Holmes and Dr. John Watson, respectively. The first two films in the series were produced by 20th Century Fox and released in 1939. The studio stopped making the films after these, but Universal Pictures acquired the rights from the Doyle estate and produced a further twelve films. Although the films from 20th Century Fox had large budgets, high production values, and were set in the Victorian era, Universal updated the films to the contemporary era of the Second World War, and produced them as B pictures with lower budgets. Both Rathbone and Bruce continued their roles when the series changed studios, as did Mary Gordon, who played the recurring character, Mrs. Hudson.

Also by

Roy William Neill

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-06-30
★ 7/10
Having safely snaffled the blood-steeped “Borgia Pearl” from the dastardly clutches of “Giles Conover” (Miles Mander) “Holmes” (Basil Rathbone) is hoist by his own petard when his rather pompous illustration to the museum curator of the flaws of electronic security systems only sees it stolen again! This time, he and “Watson” (Nigel Bruce) have to try to track it down whilst the smug “Lestrade” (Dennis Hoey) has a laugh at their expense. They really haven’t much clue, until a man is murdered in a particularly violent fashion and his body found amidst some smashed china. Then another, then another - all with broken crockery. “Holmes” reckons this might be the clue, but it’s a jigsaw puzzle just to put together one of the fragments of one of the items, there is no chance they can reassemble all of the pieces - except, well maybe there is a pointer to the criminal mastermind concealed amongst all this debris? The denouement is a bit rushed here, but along the way there is plenty of mischief from a Rathbone at his most supercilious and from Bruce who manages to use his keen deductive brain to stop himself gluing his sleeve to his scrapbook. There’s plenty of humour in this one too, a bit of menace and Evelyn Ankers’s “Naomi” proves to be quite adept at disguises and dishwashing - even if you maybe wouldn’t give her a job in a porcelain shop.

Production companies