''The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes'' is a 1935 British

mystery film A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur Detective, sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means ...

directed by

Leslie S. Hiscott Leslie Stephenson Hiscott (25 July 18943 May 1968) was an English film director and screenwriter who made over sixty films between 1925 and 1956. He was born in London in 1894. He directed ''Alibi'' (1931), the first ever depiction of Hercule ...

and starring

Arthur Wontner Arthur Wontner (21 January 1875 – 10 July 1960) was a British actor best known for playing Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's master detective Sherlock Holmes in five films from 1931 to 1937. Career Wontner's acting career began on the stage where he ...

. It was based on the 1915

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 ...

novel ''

The Valley of Fear ''The Valley of Fear'' is the fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. It is loosely based on the Molly Maguires and Pinkerton agent James McParland. The story was first published in the ''Strand Magazine ...

'' by

Arthur 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 Ho ...

. It is the fourth film in the 1931–1937 film series starring Wontner as Sherlock Holmes.

Plot

and

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 ...

come out of retirement to investigate a mysterious murder. They find that an American criminal organisation called The Scowrers has asked evil mastermind Professor Moriarty to wreak vengeance on John Douglas, the informant who sent them to prison. Holmes outsmarts Moriarty, solves the murder and brings Moriarty to justice. Like all the films featuring Wontner as Holmes, this one has a contemporary 1930s setting, making the flashback sequence pitting undercover detective Douglas against the Scowrers somewhat problematical since, historically, the real-life incident on which this sequence is based, Pinkerton operative James McParland's infiltration of the

Molly Maguires The Molly Maguires were an Irish 19th-century secret society active in Ireland, Liverpool and parts of the Eastern United States, best known for their activism among Irish-American and Irish immigrant coal miners in Pennsylvania. After a seri ...

, occurred in the 1870s, a full half-century earlier.

Cast

Lyn Harding David Llewellyn Harding (12 October 1867 – 26 December 1952), known professionally as Lyn Harding, was a Welsh actor who spent 40 years on the stage before entering British made silent films, talkies and radio. He had an imposing and menaci ...

Professor Moriarty Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character and criminal mastermind created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to be a formidable enemy for the author's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. He was created primarily as a device by which Doyle could ...

Leslie Perrins Leslie Perrins (7 October 1901 – 13 December 1962) was an English actor who often played villains. After training at RADA, he was on stage from 1922, and in his long career, appeared in well over 60 films. Hobbies Perrins and wife Violet w ...

as John Douglas *

Jane Carr Ellen Jane Carr (born 13 August 1950) is an English actress. She is well known for her first film role as Mary McGregor in drama '' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'' (1969) and the voice role of " Pud'n" on the animated ''The Grim Adventures of ...

as Ettie Douglas *

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., a ...

Charles Mortimer Charles Mortimer (1885–1964) was a British actor. Son of Charles Neil Mortimer - actor. Husband of Greta Wood - actress. Filmography * '' Watch Beverly'' (1932) (film debut) * '' You Made Me Love You'' (1933) * '' Sometimes Good'' (1934) * ...

Inspector Lestrade Detective Inspector G. Lestrade, or Mr. Lestrade ( or ), is a fictional character appearing in several of the Sherlock Holmes stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. Lestrade's first appearance was in the first Sherlock Holmes story, the novel ...

Minnie Rayner Minnie Rayner (2 May 1869 – 13 December 1941) was a British stage and film actress. In 1889, while in South Africa, she acted in the comic opera '' Falka'' as Edwige, the fiery Gipsey girl and sister of the brigand chief. The play was staged ...

Mrs. Hudson Mrs. Hudson is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes novels and short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. She is the landlady of 221B Baker Street, the London residence in which Sherlock Holmes lives. Mrs. Hudson appears or is mentioned in man ...

Michael Shepley Arthur Michael Shepley-Smith (29 September 1907 – 28 September 1961), known professionally as Michael Shepley, was a British actor, appearing in theatre, film and some television between 1929 and 1961. He was born in Plymouth, Devon. Shepl ...

as Cecil Barker *

Ben Welden Ben Welden (born Benjamin Weinblatt; June 12, 1901 – October 17, 1997) was an American character actor who played a wide variety of Damon Runyon-type gangsters in various movies and television shows. Early years Welden was born in Toledo, O ...

as Ted Balding *

Roy Emerton Roy Emerton (9 October 1892 – 30 November 1944) was a British film actor. Earlier in his life, he was a sailor, stoker, docker, railway worker, and miner and served in the First World War. He played in a great number of popular London stage p ...

as Boss McGinty *Conway Dixon as Ames *

Wilfrid Caithness Wilfrid Caithness or Wilfred Caithness (1883–1954) was a British stage and film actor. He played the role of Sebastian Moran in the 1935 film ''The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes''.Reid p.163 Selected filmography * ''A Voice Said Goodnight '' (193 ...

as Col.

Sebastian Moran Colonel Sebastian Moran is a fictional character in the stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. An enemy of Sherlock Holmes, he first appears in the 1903 short story "The Adventure of the Empty House". Holmes once described him as "the second most ...

*Edmund D'Alby as Capt. Marvin *Ernest Lynds as Jacob Shafter

Critical reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote, "a mellow, evenly paced British film that renders to Holmes what Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would have rendered to him: Interest, respect and affection...Mr. Wontner decorates a

calabash pipe A tobacco pipe, often called simply a pipe, is a device specifically made to smoke tobacco. It comprises a chamber (the bowl) for the tobacco from which a thin hollow stem (shank) emerges, ending in a mouthpiece. Pipes can range from very simp ...

with commendable skill, contributing a splendid portrait of fiction's first detective. Lyn Harding is capital as Moriarty and Roy Emerton, Leslie Perrins, Ian Fleming and Michael Shepley perform competently."

References

External links

* 1935 films British mystery thriller films 1930s English-language films 1930s mystery thriller films Films based on British novels Films based on mystery novels British black-and-white films Sherlock Holmes films based on works by Arthur Conan Doyle Films shot at Twickenham Film Studios Films set in London Films directed by Leslie S. Hiscott 1930s British films {{mystery-film-stub