The One With "The Creeper"

telegonus

For those who have a hard time remembering which of the Rathbone-Bruce Sherlock Holmes pictures is which, this is the one with Rondo Hatton as "the creeper". It's an excellent entry in the series, with some bright dialog for Rathbone, more supercilious here than usual, and an excellent plot derived from a Conan Doyle original. This one feels longer than it is, as the plot is fairly convoluted, though not in a bad way. There's no Professor Moriarity on hand in this one; and no Atwill, Daniell or Zucco, either. One has to settle for Miles Mander instead. I have a fondness for Mander as an actor and I'm not sure why; and while I wouldn't say that he appeared exclusively in good movies, he did appear in a high percentage of my favorite ones. He had a way of looking sour that was absolutely unique in the annals of film, and this combined with what appeared to be physical frailty made him appear a.) menacing and b.) like he had one foot in the grave. He needed an assistant like the hulking Hatton to do his dirty work, as he seemed incapable of doing it himself. Poor Hatton was a real life victim of acromegaly, which accounted for his grotesque appearance, which the movie studios exploited, rather cruelly I think, and which certainly saved them in the makeup department, as Hatton was frightening looking without. In any case, aside from the bad taste of using a crippled and deformed man as a villain, the movie is highly watchable and toward the end quite exciting, as it almost veers from mystery to horror movie.

score 10/10

telegonus 27 April 2005

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1068821/