Stolen emeralds, an endangered prince, a fog-bound steamship, a plane crash, a revolver hidden in a purse. Through a clever series of encounters, which Sherlock Holmes deciphers with his usual sharp intellect, Holmes and his dear friend, Doctor Watson, are directed to a specific address at a specific time in a foggy London back alley; there, Holmes is engaged by a group of foreign gentlemen to escort an important personage from England back to his home country. While Holmes and Watson do not battle spies in "Pursuit to Algiers," the sleuths do return to matters of foreign intrigue. Leonard Lee wrote the first of two Holmes screenplays for this, the tenth in Universal's Sherlock Holmes series. Lee's screenplay is light on suspense, and, despite the assured direction of veteran Holmes' director Roy William Neill, the film can only be rated better than average among the Rathbone-Bruce movies.
Despite some sinister fog-shrouded scenes in London's back streets, cinematographer Paul Ivano shoots most of the film aboard the S.S. Friesland, a steamer bound for Algiers. While interior shots are crisp black-and-white images, the deck scenes are murky and layered with obviously fake fog. Although the producer-director and the two above-the-title stars are back, not only the writer and cinematographer, but most of the supporting cast are fresh faces in the series. Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce are in good form, and Watson is given a bit more to do than usual, including a song entitled "The Bonnie Banks o'Loch Lomond" that spotlights Nigel Bruce's own fine voice; the retelling over dinner of a Holmes adventure, "The Giant Rat of Sumatra;" and a few solo errands of responsibility at Holmes's direction. None of the supporting players stand out, although lovely Marjorie Riordon as a young singer from Brooklyn has a nice voice, and the cold sexually ambiguous Martin Kosleck is appropriately sinister as the knife thrower.
Perhaps after ten episodes the Universal Holmes series had become routine and perfunctory to the participants. The proceedings play out almost entirely aboard a ship, and the plot lacks a single diabolical villain of the caliber of Professor Moriarty or Adrea Spedding, the Spider Woman. However, most Holmes fans should be pleased, and even the sharpest viewers may not guess Holmes's final revelation. While not the best of the series, "Pursuit to Algiers" is good fun and definitely entertaining.
