The Pearl of Death (1944)

Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) learns that notorious thief Giles Conover intends to steal the famous Pearl of Death (think Hope diamond except it’s a grey marble). And through his bumbling (you heard me right!) Conover manages to do just that. Conover ditches the pearl before being apprehended and our heroes try to locate it before the bad guys do.

One of the better episodes, but not a solid mystery in the traditional sense. The only real mystery was where Conover hid the pearl, and we were in the process of figuring that out fairly early. Still, a better story and me sleeping through the midsection is no reflection on it.

Evelyn Ankers plays the bad guy’s blond helper chick. She did a lot of Universal during the 40’s. She was the love interest in The Wolf Man, Elsa Frankenstein in Ghost of, and also in another Sherlock flick. Sadly, she would turn 40 and have to retire. Now I turn your attention to prolific character actor Ian Wolfe.

Ian Wolfe played the elderly shopkeeper, doctor, councilman, whatever in just about everything. If you don’t immediately recognize him then get yourself checked for face blindness immediately. He has over 300 acting credits, more than half feature films. This is the seventh film of his I’ve covered here and has appeared in a bunch more I should see, and also another Sherlock flick. Fourteen of his films were nominated for best picture with three winning. He played different characters in two episodes of Star Trek. He started doing TV in the late 40’s and continued until the late 80’s. His last film was Dick Tracy at age 94. Seriously, he was in everything.

The Pearl of Death (no Sherlock Holmes and ...) provides a fair amount of mystery along with the regular elements we have come to expect. I would be negligent if I didn’t admit that I am growing a little tired of the series, but on the whole they are solid entertainment. AMRU 3.5.

“If it isn't, I shall retire to Sussex and keep bees.”