Jewel robbery

Movie
German title	Jewel robbery
Original title	Terror by Night ; also: The Stolen Jewels
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Publishing year	1946
length	about 60 minutes
Age rating	FSK 12
Rod
Director	Roy William Neill
script	Frank Gruber
production	Roy William Neill for Universal Studios
music	Hans J. Salter
camera	Maury Gertsman
cut	Saul A. Goodkind
occupation
	Basil Rathbone : Sherlock Holmes; Nigel Bruce : Dr. John H. Watson; Dennis Hoey : Inspector Lestrade; Alan Mowbray : Major Duncan-Bleek; Renee Godfrey : Vivian Vedder; Mary Forbes : Lady Margaret Carstairs; Frederick Worlock : Prof. William Kilbane; Geoffrey Steele : Roland Carstairs; Boyd Davis : Inspector MacDonald; Skelton Knaggs : Sands; Billy Bevan : fat train conductor; Leyland Hodgson : thin train conductor; Tom Pilkington : Baggage Car Attendant; Gerald Hamer : Mr. Shallcross; Janet Murdoch : Mrs. Shallcross; Harry Cording : Mock, the coffin maker;
chronology
← Previous ; Dangerous Mission	Successor → ; Hunt for music boxes

Jewel Robbery is the thirteenth film in the series starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes . It was directed by Roy William Neill and was released in theaters in 1946.

action

Sherlock Holmes has an important mission to protect the diamond of Lady Carstairs and her son Roland, the star of Rhodesia. So far, the diamond has not brought luck to any of its users, many have even been murdered. Doctor Watson arrives with an old friend, Major Duncan-Bleek, who has been in India for fifteen years and has only just returned. Inspector Lestrade is also supposed to be watching the diamond from Scotland Yard . Shortly after the start of the journey, he finds Roland Carstairs dead in his compartment. The diamond is stolen. There are no signs of injury on Carstair's body, which is why Holmes suspects that he was poisoned.

Holmes, Watson and Lestrade begin questioning the passengers. The Shallcross couple are suspected by Watson for their nervousness, but they only took one teapot with them. Lady Carstairs tries to get into her son's locked compartment; she too could benefit from the sum insured. The math professor Kilbane also takes a defensive attitude towards Holmes. After a murder attempt on Holmes, Holmes wants to look at Vivian Vedder's coffin. As Holmes suspected, there is a special compartment in the coffin in which someone could easily hide. Vedder admits that someone hired her for money to collect the coffin with a false bottom and stow it on the train. However, she would have known nothing of the criminal machinations.

Shortly thereafter, Holmes finds the luggage cart attendant murdered. For the viewer, it turns out that Duncan-Bleek is actually Sebastian Moran, who was a good friend of Holmes' archenemy Moriarty. Moran sends the criminal Sands, who was hiding in the coffin in the secret apartment, to get the real stone from Lestrade. He also manages that by knocking down Lestrade, but Duncan-Bleek alias Moran also kills Sands so that he does not betray him. But its camouflage has long been blown. Lestrade wants to arrest Moran, but now the Scottish police arrive under Inspector McDonald, who takes the stone from Moran and is supposed to take it away. There is a fight on the train.

Since Holmes suspects that McDonald is an accomplice of Moran who is only pretending to arrest him, Holmes threads it during the scuffle so that Lestrade is led away from McDonald instead. Holmes was also able to remove the star from Rhodesia McDonald. Sebastian Moran stays on the train with Holmes and Dr. Watson, while Lestrade arrested McDonald and the other accomplices.

backgrounds

After two films, Dennis Hoey returns as Lestrade. It is also his last appearance in the role of the commissioner, as the series ended that same year after the next film Hunt for Music Boxes .
There are hardly any references in this film to the stories of Arthur Conan Doyle , there are only smaller episodes based on The Empty House , The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax and The Sign of Four .
C. Aubrey Smith makes a cameo as an elderly gentleman on the platform.

Reviews

The TV magazine Prisma , which is considered to be strict, noted that the film was a bit out of the ordinary in its design, the film was given three out of five stars. The film portal Moviemaze awarded just as many stars, which regards the shortness of the film as the crux of the matter:

“Jewel robbery” is just an average investigative adventure for the master detective and his loyal friend Dr. Watson became. (Screenwriter) Gruber has combined all the ingredients for an exciting new "Sherlock Holmes" case - there are plenty of obscure suspects in the cramped space of a train - but the story doesn't take the time to look at them more closely. Everything had to be done quickly, so you get the impression that “jewel robbery” can be completed in just under 60 minutes. Neither the plot gets the time to unfold and refine, nor is the potential of the interesting and opaque fellow travelers used. Towards the end there is dynamism in the case, but the way Sherlock Holmes quickly explains in just five minutes why he was always in control of the situation is unsatisfactory. As always, Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, who are now in their 13th assignment with the Sherlock Holmes / Dr. Give Watson with a dreamlike security. Interesting faces were also found for the supporting roles, which contribute to the crime scene atmosphere within the scope of their possibilities. "

Web links

Commons : Terror by Night - collection of images, videos and audio files

Jewel robbery in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Terror by Night at Turner Classic Movies (English)

Individual evidence

↑ Sherlock Holmes: Jewel theft. In: prisma.de . Retrieved November 28, 2018 .

[1] Sherlock Holmes: Jewel theft. In: prisma.de . Retrieved November 28, 2018 .