Overview: Fresh from The Film Detective, The Sherlock Holmes Vault Collection features four beautifully restored classic mysteries: The Fatal Hour (1931); The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes (1935); Silver Blaze (1937), starring Arthur Wontner; and A Study in Scarlet (1933), starring Reginald Owen.

The Sherlock Holmes Box Set comes complete with exclusive Sherlock Holmes collector’s items, fitting for every Sherlock fan to take on a case of their own.

Collector’s items include a 13-month Sherlockian calendar, featuring special anniversary dates and fun facts about the history of Sherlock Holmes; a collector’s edition Sherlock Holmes magnet; a Sherlock Holmes notebook for jotting down clues; a one-year subscription to The Film Detective app; and a Sherlock Holmes tote bag!

Blu-ray Verdict: First up us The Fatal Hour (1931) starring Arthur Wontner, Ian Fleming and Minnie Rayner. A card cheat is threatened with exposure into joining a criminal enterprise that Holmes believes is controlled by Professor Moriarty.

A few of the impressionistic scenes are impressive and lend what little atmosphere is available in the technological and limited restraints of the period. There are some interesting and odd little flourishes and we have some pre-code dialog like Oh my God and Go to Hell that would become no-no’s in the years ahead.

While the dated delivery is the damper in this otherwise nice presentation and it looks theatrical, but is somewhat enhanced by the creepy characters and some dark and mysterious images. Holmes, Watson, Moriarty, Lestrade, and Mrs. Hudson are all respectful renditions and, as always, the game is afoot in this complex adventure; one where Sherlock’s deductions are as sound as ever.

Next up is The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes (1935), again starring Wontner, Fleming and Harding along with Leslie Perrins. Holmes, retired to Sussex, is drawn into a last case when arch enemy Moriarty arranges with an American gang to kill one John Douglas, a country gentleman with a mysterious past.

Holmes’ methods baffle Watson and Lestrade, but his results astonish them. In a long flashback, the victim’s wife tells the story of the sinister Vermissa Valley.

In truth, this was my very first experience of their pairing, and they play off each other well, though the running gag of Watson’s nudging Holmes to be introduced to every new character wears thin after a while; although somehow, I think Holmes was sharp enough to get around to it eventually.

Holmes’ unique powers of deduction include a scene where he turns his attention to Watson’s shaving routine. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he leads Watson down a path to decoding a numerical message pointing to a murder at Birlstone Castle. Since the murder already took place, it’s up to Holmes to uncover the perpetrator.

Though the story was interesting enough, and is recommended for Holmes fans, I was dismayed by the apparent death of Professor Moriarty. Granted, this film was released in 1935, but I viewed it after seeing 1943’s Sherlock Holmes and The Secret Weapon, and 1945’s The Woman in Green.

In all three films, Moriarty meets his apparent demise by falling from a height thus I would have appreciated some originality, at least in the latter two.

Then comes Silver Blaze (1937) - otherwise also known as Murder at the Baskervilles - once again starring Wontner, Fleming and Harding. Sherlock Holmes takes a vacation and visits his old friend Sir Henry Baskerville.

His vacation ends when he suddenly finds himself in the middle of a double-murder mystery. Now he’s got to find Professor Moriarty and the horse Silver Blaze before the great cup final horse race.

Wontner and Fleming reprise their Holmes and Watson roles once again and strive to foil a plot by the villainous Professor Moriarty (Lyn Harding) and his top henchman Moran (Arthur Goullet).

This time around, the story involves a murder and the theft of a race horse in an effort to insure that a big time gambler doesn’t lose his shirt if the opposition horse wins.

There are similar elements in this film that were also used in the prior year’s Charlie Chan at the Race Track (champion horse with an altered appearance and use of a weapon at the end of the race, big time money resting on the outcome), but the stories diverge from there. They merge once again though as the case is solved by each film’s ranking detective.

I’m a little critical of Sherlock Holmes’ method in this one however. He relies on an old horseshoe belonging to Silver Blaze to make an exact match with a grassy outline in a moor a distance from the Baskerville Castle. Sure it fits, but so would just about any other horse shoe - sounds a lot like a ringer to me!

Lastly comes A Study in Scarlet (1933) this time starring Reginald Owen, Anna May Wong and June Clyde. In London, a secret society led by lawyer Thaddeus Merrydew collects the assets of any of its deceased members and divides them among the remaining members. Society members start dropping like flies.

Sherlock Holmes is approached by member James Murphy’s widow, who is miffed at being left penniless by her husband. When Captain Pyke is shot, Holmes keys in on his mysterious Chinese widow as well as the shady Merrydew. Other members keep dying - Malcom Dearing first, then Mr. Baker.

There is also an attempt on the life of young Eileen Forrester, who became a reluctant society member upon the death of her father. Holmes’ uncanny observations and insights are put to the test.

A Study In Scarlet finds character actor Reginald Owen, much better known as Scrooge in MGM’s A Christmas Carol, taking a turn as Sherlock Holmes. Owen had previously played Dr. Watson in another film so he became the only actor in cinema history to be both Holmes and Watson on the big screen.

Holmes is hired by Doris Lloyd as Mrs. Murphy whose husband at the beginning of the film met with a mysterious death in a locked train cabin. He was a member of a mysterious fraternal order of some kind whose members assets are split among the other members upon their demise.

Alan Dinehart is attorney for this group and he’s as slick a shyster as you would ever want to find. In fact Watson played by Warburton Gamble here says that Mrs. Murphy is in need of a probate lawyer more than a detective. A Study In Scarlet is inferior Holmes, not because of Reginald Owen, but because of a really bad script that left several questions unanswered. Why is Clyde part of the group when her father’s assets should have gone to the others?

Also, why are all the killings starting at this particular point? And for the fact that there is criminal activity at work, this really is a contest of wills and belongs in probate court.

Still Owen is a fine Watson and Alan Mowbray is an interesting Inspector Lestrade, but Baker Street purists may not finish this movie in the happiest of moods.

Bonus Features:
Disc 1:
The Fatal Hour (1931) featuring Arthur Wontner
Essay by Don Stradley
Commentary Track with Jennifer Churchill
The Adventures of Sam Sherman: Part One featurette
Recreated Sherlock Holmes Radio Broadcast
A Black Sherlock Holmes (1918) cut bonus short
A Black Sherlock Holmes (1918) uncut bonus short
Baffled (1900)

Disc 2:
The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes (1935) featuring Arthur Wontner
Essay by Jason A. Ney
Commentary Track w/ Jason A. Ney
The Adventures of Sam Sherman: Part Two featurette
The Copper Beeches (1912)
Blind Man’s Bluff, TV episode (1954)

Disc 3:
Silver Blaze (1937) featuring Arthur Wontner
Essay by Don Stradley
Commentary Track w/ Phoef Sutton & Jordan Legan
The Adventures of Sam Sherman: Part Three featurette
Sure Luck Holmes, Felix the Cat cartoon
Cousins of Sherlocko (1913)

Disc 4:
A Study in Scarlet (1933) featuring Reginald Owen
Essay by C. Courtney Joyner
Commentary Track w/ Peter Atkins & David Breckman
Elementary Cinema, an original production by Ballyhoo Motion Pictures
Slick Sleuths, Mutt & Jeff cartoon

Also includes: 4 original poster replications in ease disc case.

It won’t take a magnifying glass to see that the deluxe edition of The Sherlock Holmes Vault Collection features the biggest collection of bonus materials ever released by TFD on Blu-ray or DVD.

Special features include a host of newly restored Sherlockian shorts, including Slick Sleuths (1926), Sherlock Holmes Baffled (1900), A Black Sherlock Holmes (1918), Sure Luck Holmes (1928), Cousins of Sherlocko (1913), The Copper Beeches (1912) and “The Case of the Blind Man’s Bluff (1954), a Sherlock Holmes bonus TV-episode starring Ronald Howard.

Special features also include Elementary Cinema: The First Cinematic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, an original documentary by Ballyhoo Motion Pictures; Sherlock Holmes and the Blue Carbuncle, a radio broadcast recreation from Redfield Arts Audio; and exclusive introductions with filmmaker and film history icon, Samuel M. Sherman.

To top it off, each of the four discs includes its own audio commentary from esteemed film experts and enthusiasts, including author Jennifer Churchill; author and film historian Jason A. Ney; writers/producers Phoef Sutton and Mark Jordan Legan; and authors/screenwriters, Peter Atkins and David Breckman; original film posters replicated as postcards, and booklet inserts with original essays from author Don Stradley and author/screenwriter C. Courtney Joyner.

Cinedigm, the leading independent streaming company super-serving enthusiast fan bases, announced today that The Film Detective (TFD), the classic film restoration and streaming company, will release the Sherlock Holmes Vault Collection, featuring four Sherlock Holmes mysteries and special features, slated for release Dec. 21 on Blu-ray ($59.95) and DVD ($49.95). TFD has also opened the store for its highly anticipated deluxe collector’s, limited-edition of the Sherlock Holmes Vault Collection, available to order now through Nov. 26 on Blu-ray ($69.99) and DVD ($59.99).

This limited offer, open to Sherlock fans in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, won’t last long!

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