Casa do Medo

With lots of atmospheric detail and an interesting, involved Sherlock Holmes mystery story, this is one of many enjoyable features in the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce series. The plot is, to be honest, pretty far-fetched, but it makes for a very entertaining story with lots of intriguing developments. The supporting cast features Dennis Hoey as Inspector Lestrade, Aubrey Mather as an interesting oddball character, and Paul Cavanagh in a good role as one of the suspects.

The story takes some of the basic elements from Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Five Orange Pips", but places it in an entirely new setting that works much better on the screen. It also adds many other ideas, some from Doyle, and some from other sources. The good cast and the effective atmosphere in a remote corner of Scotland help to keep the story interesting instead of straining plausibility.

Roy William Neill does one of his many solid directing jobs in the series, keeping a good balance between entertainment and mystery, and between the original characters and the contemporary setting. It might not be the most tightly-crafted of the series, but it's certainly one of the more enjoyable ones to watch.