The Speckled Band (1931)

Sherlock Holmes: Raymond Massey
Dr. Watson: Athole Stewart
Year: 1931
Case: The Speckled Band

Rating:

Adapting the story by the same name, The Speckled Band is a dark, atmospheric piece that manages to follow Canon while still altering the plot to suit the era change. The story remains, more or less, authentic, with only minor changes made in direction and the cast of characters.

Raymond Massey as Sherlock Holmes

Raymond Massey is recognizable as Sherlock Holmes, but that is about all that can be said for his performance. It was not that it was lacking (indeed, he was a perfectly fine Holmes) but rather that his performance lacked the chemistry that his successors would bring to the role. Still, despite being unmemorable, Massey’s performance was hardly disappointing.

Athole Stewart as Dr. Watson

I must first confess that the concept of a bald Watson, for me, is quite jarring. That being said, I was soon able to overlook Watson’s lack of hair and focus instead on Stewart’s portrayal of the character. Stewart’s take on Watson is quite… interesting. Stewart’s Watson is chipper, and energetic, and tactile, and quite the womanizer. I can’t say I minded this version of Watson (in fact, at times he is quite charming), but he’s certainly not the Watson that lives in my head.

Delightful Elements

Sadly, I must confess that this film earned more quibbles than delightful elements. That being said, the film is not without merit.

Despite the poorer quality of this film and the woolen acting, the slash, when it was present, was still quite obvious. Both Holmes and Watson are quite tactile with one another (indeed, at one point Holmes caresses Watson’s thigh for several minutes). In fact, the final scene has Watson touching Holmes a total of eight times before pulling him into a hug. It was quite… unexpected, actually.

Perhaps, though, the best scene of the entire film came with the arrival of their client. The door bell rings, and Holmes opens his bedroom door to step into the sitting room. He’s wearing a bathrobe and is followed immediately by Watson, who is also wearing a bathrobe. Immediately on their heels comes Mrs. Hudson. She’s dressed, but the implications are still quite staggering. The Baker Street Irregulars, it appears, have been replaced by the Baker Street Orgies.

Holmes and Watson’s banter, too, is quite amusing. In fact, it’s quite apparent that Holmes and Watson’s friendship was very carefully adapted. All things considered, the film is remarkably gay.

Oddly enough, though, what I liked best about this film was that it focused less on Holmes and Watson and more on the background story. Dr. Roylott was the true star here, with Holmes and Watson only appearing when necessary. In fact, the bulk of the film is devoted to expanding upon the events at Stoke Moran, long before Holmes’ involvement in the case.

Quibbles

We shall begin, perhaps, with the set. To be quite honest, I’m not entirely certain how I feel about Holmes and Watson’s move to 107 Baker Street, nor am I certain how to feel about the industrial office attached to the front of Baker Street’s familiar sitting room. Apparently Holmes is doing quite well at this point in his career, for he seems to have amassed an army of secretaries, and a dozen or so state of the art gadgets which now rest around his office/home/industrial complex. All in all, a very unusual, and not at all desirable, move.

While giving credit to the year in which this was filmed, I still must take offence to some of the special effects used. The decapitated, floating heads, which made numerous appearances, were, to be frank, unsettling. I’m still not entirely certain what they meant to represent.

The film deviates from Canon in several places, and yet, each of these deviations serves only to weaken the story. The suspense that was so inherent in the original story is now vanished (indeed, we know exactly who is responsible long before the crime occurs) while the remainder of the story has been rendered into a series of cliches. This is quite depressing, for SPEC is easily one of the best stories in Canon.

Finally, and sadly, the only surviving version of this film has lost twenty-minutes of footage, so, while still quite atmospheric, The Speckled Band is not as polished as some of its period counterparts. Random screen jumps and scene cuts make for a confused viewing. At one point, a character, mid speech, seems to snap his fingers and then, within the blink of an eye, he’s wearing his top hat and coat. I actually had to re-watch that scene three times to make sure I hadn’t passed out and missed the part where he put on his top hat and coat. The entire process was quite jarring.

Overall, though, the film is not bad. I would like to see the full version some day, but sadly I do not think this is possible. Still, I am going to give this film 2 out of 5 pipes, both of which are awarded for the Holmes/Watson/Hudson orgy scene.