''Pursuit to Algiers'' (1945) is the twelfth entry in the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes film series of fourteen. Elements in the story pay homage to an otherwise unrecorded affair mentioned by

Dr. Watson John H. Watson, known as Dr. Watson, is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson first appeared in the novel ''A Study in Scarlet'' (1887). The last work by Doyle f ...

at the beginning of the 1903 story "

The Adventure of the Norwood Builder "The Adventure of the Norwood Builder", one of the 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is the second tale from ''The Return of Sherlock Holmes''. The story was first published in ''Collier's'' (US) on 31 October 1 ...

", notably the steamship ''Friesland''. Off-camera, Watson also recounts to his audience another unrecorded affair mentioned in the 1924 story "

The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire", written by British author Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 12 Sherlock Holmes stories collected between 1921 and 1927 as ''The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes''. It was first published in the January 1924 issues ...

", that of the Giant Rat of Sumatra, "a story for which the world is not yet prepared".

Plot

About to leave London for a much-needed holiday,

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

and

receive a cryptic invitation. Intrigued, Holmes accepts and is met by the prime minister of Rovenia ovinia who begs him to escort Prince Nikolas home. His father has been assassinated, and as his heir, Nikolas is now king. Holmes agrees. Arrangements have already been made for an airplane. When it develops engine problems, a smaller replacement only has room for the prince and Holmes, leaving Watson behind. When Watson protests, Holmes suggests that he follow on a passenger ship bound for

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

. On the voyage, Watson reads that the airplane has crashed in the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

and that it is unlikely that there are any survivors. Holmes, however, has an aversion to plans made by others and is aboard the ship with Nikolas. He instructs Watson to introduce the prince to the other passengers as his nephew. Though Watson suspects everyone, from singer Sheila Woodbury to exercise fanatic Agatha Dunham to a secretive pair who later turn out to be archeologists, of being killers, it is not until the ship makes an unscheduled stop at

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

that the real Soviet agents come aboard: Gregor, circus knife-thrower Mirko, and a hulking mute named Gubec. First, Mirko tries to kill Holmes by throwing a knife through a porthole, then Gregor substitutes an explosive party favor, but Holmes foils both attempts. Finally, the villains succeed in kidnapping the prince when they dock at Algiers, only for Holmes to reveal that the "prince" was a decoy; the real prince had been posing as a steward, hidden in plain sight the whole time. The decoy Nikolas is later recovered unharmed.

Cast

Basil Rathbone Philip St. John Basil Rathbone MC (13 June 1892 – 21 July 1967) was a South African-born English actor. He rose to prominence in the United Kingdom as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in more than 70 films, primarily costume ...

Nigel Bruce William Nigel Ernle Bruce (4 February 1895 – 8 October 1953) was a British character actor on stage and screen. He was best known for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in a series of films and in the radio series ''The New Adventures of Sherlock H ...

* Marjorie Riordan as Sheila Woodbury *

Rosalind Ivan Rosalind Ivan (27 November 1880 – 6 April 1959) was an English stage and film character actress. Ivan appeared in fourteen American films from 1944 to 1954. Rosalind Muriel Pringle was the daughter of Stamford and Annie Pringle, who marrie ...

as Agatha Dunham *

Morton Lowry Morton Lowry (born Edward Morton Lowater;Lancashire Birth Records, Volume 8c, pg. 1257. 13 February 1914 – 26 November 1987) was a British actor. He is best known for his film roles as John Stapleton in ''The Hound of The Baskervilles'' (1939 ...

as Steward *

Leslie Vincent Leslie Vincent (September 6, 1909 – February 1, 2001) was an American actor. Biography Born in 1909 as Leslie Fullard-Leo, Vincent grew up in Hawaii and graduated from Punahou School. During the 1930s, he lived in Shanghai for a year and th ...

as Prince Nikolas, a.k.a. "Nikolas Watson" *

Martin Kosleck Martin Kosleck (born Nicolaie Yoshkin, March 24, 1904 – January 15, 1994) was a German film actor. Like many other German actors, he fled when the Nazis came to power. Inspired by his deep hatred of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, Kosleck made ...

as Mirko * Rex Evans as Gregor *

John Abbott Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott (March 12, 1821 – October 30, 1893) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the third prime minister of Canada from 1891 to 1892. He held office as the leader of the Conservative Party. Abbot ...

as Jodri *

Gerald Hamer Gerald Hamer (16 November 1886 – 6 July 1972)Profile
ftvdb.bfi.org.uk; accesse ...

as Kingston *

William 'Wee Willie' Davis William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...

as Gubec * Tom Dillon as Restaurant Owner *

Frederick Worlock Frederick Worlock (December 14, 1886 – August 1, 1973) was a British-American actor. He is known for his work in various films during the 1940s and 1950s, and as the voice of Horace in '' One Hundred and One Dalmatians'' (1961). Career On st ...

as Prime Minister * Sven Hugo Borg as Johansson

Reception

Universal Studios film director Roy Neill delivers a tongue-in-check version of the Sherlock Holmes film genre in ''Pursuit to Algiers'' in which even the actors "seem aware they are trapped within a genre picture." This "

camp Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...

" portrayal of the famous detective exaggerates every virtue of

Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

's literary creation, with Neill and Rathbone issuing a burlesque reveling in Holmes unerring expertise in everything” ranging from the "Moorish architecture of Lisbon" to "recognizing a knife-thrower glimpsed at an obscure Parisian circus" and perfectly identifying "suspicious foreigners" based on their "gravely flawed fashion sense."Schwartzman, 2004: Compared to

Murder By Death ''Murder by Death'' is a 1976 American comedy mystery film directed by Robert Moore and written by Neil Simon. The film stars Eileen Brennan, Truman Capote, James Coco, Peter Falk, Alec Guinness, Elsa Lanchester, David Niven, Peter Sellers, M ...

, "an irreverent homage to

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...

..."

Footnotes

References

*Schwartzman, Theresa. 2004. ''Pursuit to Algiers, 1945''. UCLA Film and Television Archive: 12th Festival of Preservation, July 22-August 21, 2004. Festival guest publication.

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pursuit To Algiers 1945 films 1945 mystery films American mystery films American black-and-white films American detective films Films directed by Roy William Neill Films set on ships Sherlock Holmes films Universal Pictures films Films set in London Films set in Algiers 1940s English-language films 1940s American films