A Study in Scarlet

A Study in Scarlet (1933)

In London, a secret society led by lawyer Thaddeus Merrydew collects the assets of any of its deceased members and divides them among the remaining members. Society members start dropping like flies. Sherlock Holmes is approached by member James Murphy's widow, who is miffed at being left penniless by her husband. When Captain Pyke is shot, Holmes keys in on his mysterious Chinese widow as well as the shady Merrydew. Other members keep dying: Malcom Dearing first, then Mr. Baker. There is also an attempt on the life of young Eileen Forrester, who became a reluctant society member upon the death of her father. Holmes' uncanny observations and insights are put to the test.

Date of release
1933-05-14
TMDB
5.5 / 10 (33)
Runtime
1h 12m
Genres
Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Director
Edwin L. Marin

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Based on: A Study in Scarlet

A Study in Scarlet is a 1933 American pre-Code horror mystery thriller film directed by Edwin L. Marin and starring Reginald Owen as Sherlock Holmes and Anna May Wong as Mrs. Pyke. The title is taken from Arthur Conan Doyle's 1887 novel of the same name, the first in the Holmes series, but the screenplay by Robert Florey was original.

Production

Despite her billing, Anna May Wong only appears on screen for under ten minutes. Reginald Owen had played Dr. Watson in Sherlock Holmes the previous year. Owen was one of a small number of actors to play both Holmes and Watson. Owen is also credited for "Continuity and dialogue" since he co-wrote the screenplay with Florey.

Merrydew's name may have been inspired by the villain referred to by Holmes as "Merridew of abominable memory" in The Adventure of the Empty House. The character Jabez Wilson shares the same name as the main character in the Holmes story The Red-Headed League, although there is no connection between that story and the film.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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