Too many fans seem to be blown away

Admirable film.

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Don't expect too much from this SPECKLED BAND. Filmed in 1931, its quality is indifferent, to say the least. The best part about it is to admire Raymond Massey, neat and tidy as Sherlock Holmes. My favorite view of Massey was as bad brother Jonathan in the immortal ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (1944), doing an outrageous imitation of Boris Karloff, so it's intriguing to see him essay a good role here. He's a little stiff and formal, but then the whole film is stiff and formal, with a conventional plot working inexorably towards its solution.

The Speckled Band (1931)** 1/2 (out of 4) After the mysterious death of her sister, Helen Stonor (Angela Baddeley) asks Sherlock Holmes (Raymond Massey) and Dr. Watson (Athole Stewart) to investigate her stepfather (Lyn Harding) who at times can have a mean streak and might have a reason for the sisters to be dead.Sir Author Conan Doyle always stated that "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" was his favorite Holmes story and it's easy to see why, although it's pretty hard to judge this film. I say that because it was originally at least 66-minutes and possibly 90-minutes but the only thing that survives is a print running 49-minutes. Obviously that's a lot of footage to be missing and it's clear as you watch the film because there are some rough edits at times. With so much footage missing it's hard to fully judge the movie but there's still a fairly complete story here to follow.I think one of the most interesting aspects was the casting of Massey as Holmes. The actor was still very much unknown when he took on the role but would eventually gain fame playing Abraham Lincoln. In this film, I found him to be a pretty entertaining Holmes and especially with some of the wit and humor that he displayed. He certainly had the look for the character and it's really too bad that he's not on screen more. Stewart, perhaps the only bald Watson, is decent in his role but doesn't stand out too much. Baddeley is charming in her role as the stressed sister but it's Harding who steals the film and not in a good way. His over-dramatic, theatrics like performance is so over-the-top that you can't help but laugh at times. Let's just say he leave to doubt at what type of person the character is.Again, with so much missing it's hard to judge the film. There's a subplot involving gypsies that might have played out more in the longer version and I'm also curious if Holmes had a bigger role. The film was obviously shot on a small budget and it shows at times but there's still a mildly entertaining movie here. Fans of Holmes will certainly want to check it out.

Had I seen the director's cut of The Speckled Band I might have given it a higher rating. But the version I saw was one released in Canada and only ran 50 minutes. Still the basic idea of the famous Sherlock Holmes mystery came through and Raymond Massey was a fine Holmes.A slight change in the plot that Arthur Conan Doyle wrote has Dr. Watson played here by Athole Stewart called in on the inquest on the death of Joyce Moore. That was a mistake because Watson being a doctor and also having served in the Afghan War would have known exactly what the cause of death was and Holmes would never have to be called in.In any event her sister Angela Baddely is fearful for her own life and fearful of a coarse and brutal stepfather Lyn Harding. Harding is also a blusterer and he dares Massey to pin anything on him.Harding also served in India and that's the key to what happened to Moore and almost to Baddely. I would like to have seen the full version of The Speckled Band as it is considered one of Arthur Conan Doyle's best Holmes stories. Still as an introduction to Holmes it's not a bad one and Massey's portrayal stands up well. In fact it was his first real cinema role of note.

This is an excellent, atmospheric old Holmes film, but the version available on DVD is badly mutilated, with countless maddening cuts and at least 20 minutes missing, and apparently maybe 40, as no one really knows for certain. (Records apparently record a version which once ran for 90 minutes!) I do hope that a decent print of this film is preserved somewhere, as it is well worth saving. This was the second time this story by Conan Doyle was filmed (the first time was the 1923 silent, with Ellie Norwood as Holmes). Raymond Massey appears here in his first credited film role, and he is a superb Holmes. A pity he never played him again! He had the perfect neuraesthenic manner, the thin thinker's face, the suppressed melancholy, all the right ingredients, and was like a more accessible and sympathetic version of Basil Rathbone. Massey also plays Holmes with a naturalism and almost an abandon, in complete contrast to the rest of the very up-tight cast. Massey does not hesitate to throw himself down on a sofa as if he were in his own home and not on a studio set. Isn't it bizarre that Massey's daughter Anna Massey (one of Britain's finest actresses and fascinating female conversationalists) was married to Jeremy Brett, who became famous for playing Sherlock Holmes half a century after his father-in-law had done so? Massey's Dr. Watson is played by Athole Stewart, who is a boring and tedious actor, at least in this role. There is no chemistry at all between the two men, and Massey just gets on with the job and makes the best of it. The ingénue of the piece is played by Angela Baddeley (sister of Hermione, whom I knew, and the Rev. William Baddeley, formerly rector of St. James Piccadilly in London, whom I also knew, as did countless others, as he seems to have known just about everyone in London in his heyday). Angela goes in for big soulful eyes and for fear. She has the wobbly voice which all such girls had in 1931. It is truly a wonder that anyone would marry a girl with such a wobbly voice, but they must have done, as the race continued somehow to breed, and England is more populous than ever. I guess this goes to prove that wobbly voices are no obstacle to the propagation of the race, no matter how repellent they may be to us in retrospect in these old movies. Lynn Harding plays a terrifying Rylett, the baddie of the story, and he does so with such overdone rage that one half expects the cameraman must have run away in the middle of several of the scenes quaking with anxiety. Indeed, Rylett comes near to being a mad dog,though he never quite foams at the mouth. It's called over-acting. The film is nicely directed by Jack Raymond, who started as a silent film actor, and died in 1953 after directing 46 films, most of which seem to be lost, or are at least unknown to us today. This was his only Holmes film. A shocking innovation in this entry into the Holmes cinematic canon is the portrayal of a busy 'outer office' adjoining Holmes's flat, containing the latest gadgets and automated filing systems, with some alluring and trendy gals operating them. We could have done with a lot more shots of all that, which apparently did exist in the original full version. There is one visual red herring in this film which I found amusing. The film begins with a young girl named Violet dying,and her last words are: 'the speckled band'. While we are all wondering what on earth the speckled band could possibly be, Jack Raymond shows a swarthy gypsy encamped near the house where the murder happened, and around his head he has wrapped a scarf which is a speckled band. This is just a tease, but a very good one. I wonder if anyone else has ever spotted it? Of course the real speckled band is something else entirely, but I won't go into that. Holmes fans all know anyway, and those innocents unacquainted with the story should never be told in advance. If there is anyone out there who can find a decent print of this film, please try your best, and if you succeed, do notify me by writing to me at 221B Baker Street, London W.1. Thanks awfully.