Search - Sherlock Holmes in the Spider Woman on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Suitable for Children Movie Release: 1944 DVD Release: 11/25/2003 Format: DVD - Black and White SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 3 mins Studio: MPI Home Video Members Wishing: 4 Genres: Mystery, Detective Film

Someone in London has driven several prominent men to madness and suicide. Normally, Scotland Yard would call in Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) to help solve the case, but Holmes has recently perished in an accident. Or has he? Officially declared dead, Holmes is able to move about undetected as he tries to find out who's behind the rash of suicides -- and why. The culprit turns out to be the bewitching, deadly Andrea Spedding (Gale Sondergaard), and for once, Holmes seems to have met his match. The now-famous climax finds a bound-and-gagged Holmes hidden behind a shooting-gallery target, while his faithful assistant, Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce), unwittingly prepares to blast away at the target with live ammunition (in wartime, yet). Filled to overflowing with amusing dialogue and devilishly clever plot twists (one of them involving an autistic pygmy!), Sherlock Holmes and the Spider Woman is among the best of the Universal Holmes series. Best bit: told to "act inconspicuous," Inspector Lestrade (Dennis Hoey) ceremoniously rolls his eyes upward and begins whistling loudly -- whereupon Dr. Watson chides him with "Inconspicuous, Lestrade, not half-witted." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Basil Rathbone - Sherlock Holmes
Nigel Bruce - Dr. Watson
Gale Sondergaard - Andrea Spedding
Dennis Hoey - Insp. Lestrade
Vernon P. Downing - Norman Locke

Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce team up once again as Sherlock Holmes and his partner Dr. Watson in this installment from Universal's classic detective series, which gets a simple but attractive presentation on DVD. Sherlock Holmes: The Spider Women (based on a short story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) has been transferred to disc from a newly restored 35mm print, and is presented in the original full-frame aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with the original screen logos and credits. The audio is mastered in Dolby Digital Stereo; the dialogue is in English, with no multiple language options or bonus materials included, though the quality of the visual presentation will certainly satisfy fans of the series. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide