Pursuit to Algiers.

Review #1262: Pursuit to Algiers.

Cast: 
Basil Rathbone (Sherlock Holmes), Nigel Bruce (Doctor Watson), Marjorie Riordan (Sheila Woodbury), Rosalind Ivan (Agatha Dunham), Morton Lowry (Steward), Leslie Vincent (Prince Nikolas / Nikolas Watson), Martin Kosleck (Mirko), Rex Evans (Gregor), John Abbott (Jodri), and Gerald Hamer (Kingston) Produced and Directed by Roy William Neill (#846 - Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, #873 - Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon, #925 - Sherlock Holmes in Washington, #936 - Sherlock Holmes Faces Death, #1021 - The Spider Woman, #1040 - The Scarlet Claw, #1056 - The Pearl of Death, #1161 - The House of Fear, and #1216 - The Woman in Green)

Review: 
As the Rathbone-Bruce batch of Holmes films gravitates towards its end, one would imagine that this film (the twelfth of the series) would continue on the decent path of the others with its traditional pacing and fair quality alongside offbeat choices involving plotting or characters. After all, this is a movie that starts with Holmes getting a clue to a secret place from a menu with fish and chips and then being recruited to escort a prince back to his country on a plane that is too small for both Holmes and Watson (because one needs a famed detective to escort a prince home). At least one can't say these films have given up on making themselves sticking out (this happened to be released three months after The Woman in Green). Surprisingly (or not), Holmes is presumed to be dead (again) when the plane is shot down, but he shows up on the ship with Watson en route to Algiers because he doesn't like plans set up by others (I can agree with that).  Really, you could make a comedy about these assassination attempts at the prince (disguised as Watson's nephew, because he has quite the resemblance), ranging from trying to poison the tea to knife throwing through a port-hole (ouch) to exploding paper hat packages, but at least one can say they'll have some sort of smile when watching this film, which is mostly set on a ship. It even finds time for a song for Watson to sing, which goes along fine actually. There isn't much of a mystery this time around, since you get to know who the assassins and their plot very early on, so it really seems more of a quiet thriller more than anything, complete with red herrings (with diamonds that don't matter, no less) to boot. At least there are some references to previous Holmes works that will make it seem a bit interesting, such as Watson talking about a giant rat of Sumatra. The highlight of the film proves to be the duo of Rathbone and Bruce, who walk through this conventional kind of vague mystery film just fine, with the latter having his own moments that aren't just there to make fun of the character he plays, such as the aforementioned song or when he believes that Holmes is dead and has to collect himself. The other cast-mates are hit and miss, save for the main trio of villains, who don't even get a showdown scene with Holmes. Imagine watching a movie for 65 minutes and having a twist ending instead of some silly showdown where Holmes and Watson could outsmart three bumbling agents (one of them being wrestler Wee Willie Davis). This is a ridiculous movie, but in the collection of Sherlock movies, it is at least light entertainment that works itself out just fine. You won't find yourself frustrated at what you see, unless you are a strict enthusiast for the Holmes canon or really want something more from the 12th of fourteen movies from seven decades ago. For me, this is just fine. Can one strive for films more (or less) than fine? Sure, but this will work for those curious enough to look further.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.