The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes (1935)

50% of users liked it
(209 ratings)

The fourth of Arthur Wonter's quintet of Sherlock Holmes films, Triumph of Sherlock Holmes was a fairly faithful adaptation of Conan Doyle's The Valley of Fear. This time, Holmes (Wontner) and Dr. Watson (Ian Fleming -- not the James Bond author!) investigate a mysterious murder at Birlstone Castle.… More The fourth of Arthur Wonter's quintet of Sherlock Holmes films, Triumph of Sherlock Holmes was a fairly faithful adaptation of Conan Doyle's The Valley of Fear. This time, Holmes (Wontner) and Dr. Watson (Ian Fleming -- not the James Bond author!) investigate a mysterious murder at Birlstone Castle. The killings seem to be tied in with a secret American society of coal-miners called the Scowlers. The architect of all this skullduggery is that "Napoleon of Crime," Professor Moriarty (the magnificent Lyn Harding), who has conspired with an American gangster (Ben Welden) to assassinate the Pinkerton agent responsible for breaking the back of the Scowlers. There's very little in the way of mystery in Triumph of Sherlock Holmes, but it scores on its full quotient of thrills and chills. Originally 84 minutes, the film was cut to 75 for its American release. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 24 min.
Directed By: Leslie S. Hiscott
Genres: Mystery & Suspense, Classics

In Theaters: Feb 1, 1935 Wide
On DVD: Mar 29, 2005
Studio: American Pop Classics

No Critic Reviews Found…

Featured Audience Ratings

Byron B

Here's another British Holmes mystery moved up in time to the 1930's with Wontner. Wontner's portrayal of Holmes still has a wry wit, but he is supposedly of retirement age and so does not engage in the sort of action from the earlier film. Fleming, no not THAT… More
Here's another British Holmes mystery moved up in time to the 1930's with Wontner. Wontner's portrayal of Holmes still has a wry wit, but he is supposedly of retirement age and so does not engage in the sort of action from the earlier film. Fleming, no not THAT Fleming, appears as Dr. Watson this time. He does seem closer to the description and character of Watson from Doyle's original stories. This story is satisfactorily based on Holmes gathering clues and deducing conclusions. That is in the last third of the picture. Moriarty unbelievably meets Holmes face to face on the verge of Holmes' retirement, and seems to magically appear and disappear when meeting with a sinister client. As the plot synopsis here states, Holmes is drawn out to solve one last murder mystery. The widow of the victim tells a surprisingly long flashback story of her husbands involvement with yet another sinister secret society. These relatively unknown cheaper productions from the 30's available on Hulu and probably DVD discount racks could really use some polishing of their audio and video quality.