The Pearl of Death

1944 "The master minds tackle the master crimes!"
7.1| 1h9m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 01 August 1944 Released
Producted By: Universal Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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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.

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Director

Roy William Neill

Production Companies

Universal Pictures

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The Pearl of Death Audience Reviews

Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."
KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.
Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
bkoganbing Baker Street purists won't have too much to quarrel about with this adaption of Arthur Conan Doyle's The Six Napoleons. Because of a master criminal's haste to get away, six people who bought busts of Napoleon Bonaparte are marked for death unless The Pearl Of Death is found.Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce are on the trail of another master criminal, in the Sherlock Holmes stories, Professor Moriarty's second in command Giles Conover. Conover is played with a quiet menace by British colony regular Miles Mander.What Mander is after is the Borgia Pearl which with its connection to the Borgias has as bloody a history as the fabled Star Of India. Rathbone already pulls a double switch on Mander and his lovely accomplice Evelyn Ankers. But later through a bit of Holmes own hubris Mander steals the Borgia Pearl from the British Museum. But he doesn't have it long. Pursued by the police fresh from the theft Mander ducks into a pottery shop and hides the pearl in some fresh plaster busts of Napoleon, in one of six of them which are later sold.Now he's on a mission to recover his loot and it's a bloody mission because Mander brings along in tow the Hoxton Creeper, a giant of a man who can and does snap people's backs to kill them. The creeper is played by Rondo Hatton and he brings this Holmes feature into the realm of Gothic horror. In fact Dr. Watson's knowledge of forensic medicine is called into play here when he correctly identifies Hatton's known method of homicide.One of the better Basil Rathbone films from the Sherlock Holmes series.
drystyx Most of the Sherlock Holmes films are based totally on atmosphere, with the clues nonexistent for the viewer, based on objects the audience can not smell, hear, touch, taste, or see, or based on events that are not in the story until after the crime is solved.This is a Sherlock Holmes mystery in which we are finally given some clues. We actually go step by step with Holmes in solving the case, instead of learning about a fact "expo facto".Instead of Moriarty, we have a similar bad guy, just as formidable, with the same sort of henchmen we are used to seeing from such bad guys. He steals a pearl from under the nose of Holmes.And that is another fresh addition to this film. Holmes becomes mortal. He makes a very embarrassing mistake, and he does it while showing off. His superiority complex betrays him. In a moment of arrogant conceit, he gives the criminal the very opportunity to steal the pearl.Unfortunately, Watson is the buffoon again, and you probably know he wasn't that way in the original stories. However, here he at least is shown to be capable with firearms, and a capable doctor.The clues and evidence are shown to us. We actually get to help solve this case. And we get to see Holmes make a fool of himself for once.These two factors make this the most unique of the Sherlock films, and the one that is the "must see", if someone is to watch just one.
dougdoepke Solid Holmes entry. The suspense remains on high throughout as Holmes races to find the great pearl before criminal mastermind Giles Conover (Mander) gets it. Director Neill keeps things moving briskly, along with good suspenseful use of the hulking, sadly mis-shapen Rondo Hatton, surely one of filmdom's most tragic and unforgettable figures. It's also one of Rathbone's best performances as the masterful detective. Note his level of intensity at appropriate moments, establishing an air of intellectual authority that's completely convincing. I would think this is one of the performances that made him the definitive Holmes.On the downside: Miles Mander, in my view, is a little too undistinguished to measure up as a Holmes archrival and intellectual competitor. Too bad they couldn't get a Lionel Atwill or a George Zucco for the Conover role. On the other hand, Evelyn Ankers shows some uncommon versatility as Conover's icily beautiful assistant. That opening scene of her, the old man, and the disappearing pearl is one of the most intriguing set-ups of the series. Nigel Bruce's Watson gets a rare extended comedic scene showcasing his superb talents as an absent-minded bumbler. Too bad the series didn't leave the comic relief to him instead of overloading with the fitfully funny Inspector Lestrade (Hoey). Anyway, it's a very well-crafted and suspenseful 69 minutes of series entertainment.
ctomvelu1 Very loosely based on "The Six Napoleons," this flick finds Holmes and Watson on the trail of a missing black pearl. Holmes gets it away from the bad guys and then loses it back to the bad guys. The story is a direct filch from Wilkie Collins' "The Moonstone," the first English language detective novel. The pearl is cursed and has caused rivers of blood to flow as it changes hands over he centuries. Holmes even says he would rather see it dropped to the bottom of the ocean at one point. The villain (Mander) is dull as dishwater, but his female cohort (Keyes) is another matter. She wears more disguises than Holmes ever dreamed of as she attempts to track down the pearl after her boss loses it. Some of the music was lifted from the score for "The Wolfman," and Keyes just happened to be the love interest in that movie. See if you can spot Holmes' entrance in this one.