Terror by Night (1946)

Absolutely Fantastic

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Blistering performances.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Following on from the success of his cruise-liner thriller PURSUIT TO ALGIERS, genre director Roy William Neill relocates elements of a Conan Doyle story to a train and the result is another solid and dependable adventure yarn for Rathbone and Bruce. Reaching the end of their long tenure as the super-sleuth and his unlikely assistant, Rathbone and Bruce still manage to put in endearing performances despite the familiarity of the situations and the clichés by now appearing in the tale.This conventional film takes the form of a murder mystery and presents the audience with a number of likely suspects, half of whom turn out to be red herrings whilst the other half are a sinister and murderous bunch. The film is pretty entertaining as it makes out everyone on board the train has a sinister side. Even Watson himself comes under suspicion at one point. Detective fans will not be stretched by the material as the culprit is easy to guess from the beginning – this coming from somebody who usually misses all the clues as it is.Although the film is low on action and spectacle it still manages to grip the audience thanks to a fast pacing and lots of intrigue set on board the train. There are some exciting moments to break up the dialogue, including Holmes hanging on the outside of a train for dear life and the climatic free-for-all which is rather amusing. There are the usual genre trappings which are great, including an air gun that shoots poisoned darts, an occupied coffin with a secret compartment in it, evil policemen, a replica jewel and plenty more. Skelton Knaggs is the epitome of twisted evil as the sadistic killer. There are even a couple of mild surprises and twists along the way.The characters and their interaction is what makes this film work. This is a dialogue heavy movie with plenty of comedy so that it never becomes boring. Rathbone is excellent as Holmes but his character is rather subdued and introspective here. To be honest he doesn't get much to do, as there are many other characters taking centre stage at numerous intervals. Bruce is once more the dumb, alcoholic comic relief. We have Dennis Hoey shining in his largest performance as Inspector Lestrade. Hoey is actually the leading investigator for a lot of this film which makes up for all his supporting roles in the previous entries in the series. Hoey is on top form and a delight to watch as he reads his lines uniquely. The rest of the cast is more than adequate and the actors frequently shine. This is an atmospheric and highly interesting, not to mention worthy, addition to the Holmes canon.

Along with "Rome Express" (1932) and "The Lady Vanishes" (1938), this late entry in the famous Rathbone/Bruce Sherlock Holmes series is a remarkable achievement, given its tiny budget and short running time.A classic example of 'less is more', director Roy William Neill keeps the tension cranked high and the pace taut, with a splendid cast of character actors and an admirable special effects team that creates the illusion of the action really being on a British express train of the mid 1940s.The use of back projection, especially in the brilliantly staged sequence where Holmes is kicked outside of the speeding train by the killer, is truly admirable. Bravo!Moreover the adroit borrowing of clips of speeding trains and staff loading goods from "Rome Express" a British thriller from 1932, add to the illusion, especially in the early scenes of the train departing London Euston.We British love this film particularly, because compartment trains like this were still in use well into the 1990s, on regional routes, long after the Pullmman express trains on intercity routes had been replaced by the soulless, modern Pendolino coaches. Rathbone is, as ever, superb in this iconic role. I love the moment in the dining car when, shown the menu, he ponders the choices as Nigel Bruce suggests he try the curry; "Steak and Kidney Pudding" he snaps, preferring a typically British dish. Dining cars? Ha! Nowadays, you'd be lucky to get a toasted sandwich!The film last barely an hour but it never flags or disappoints. I must have seen this little movie about 100 times in my life and I always find something new to admire. I recommend it unreservedly.

TERROR BY NIGHT (Universal, 1946), produced and directed by Roy William Neil, is not another "wolf man" thriller starring Lon Chaney Jr., nor a horror film featuring any one of the Universal monsters for that matter. It's only the eleventh installment to the studio's own "Sherlock Holmes" popular series starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. With the previous effort, PURSUIT TO ALGIERS (1945), set mostly on an ocean liner, this next in line entry places the suave London detective on board a train where he encounters more than just conductors, ticket takers or another train of thought for his effort in another baffling mystery.Adapted from an untitled story by its creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the epilogue focuses on an open book on the "Star of Rhodesia" where an off-screen narrator talks about this priceless diamond: "Star of Rhodesia is one of the most famous of the earth's treasures. ... It would have been better had it not been found. To all those who possess it come to sudden and violent deaths." With all that said, the story gets underway as Vivian Wedder (Renee Godfrey - resembling that of forties actress Patricia Morison) in a carpenter shop, Mock (Harry Cording) and son (Bobby Wissler), where she arranges for the coffin of her late mother be sent to the undertakers and delivered onto the next train leaving London to Edinburgh. At the Euston Train Station, Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) awaits for his friend and associate, Doctor John H. Watson (Nigel Bruce) as he observes the passing crowd around him. He is then greeted by Ronald Carstairs (Geoffrey Steele), a young man who has engaged Holmes to watch over his mother, Lady Margaret Carstairs (Mary Forbes), who now possesses the Star of Rhodesia she's acquired by her late husband for their fifth wedding anniversary. Having already attended a reception at Buckingham Palace, and earlier met with near robbery experience, it is Holmes' job to safeguard her against possible thieves. Watson, accompanied by his scholarly friend, Major Bleek (Alan Mowbray, in excellent support), narrowly miss the train as it slowly departs the station. Also on board happens to be Holmes' friend, Inspector Lestrade (Dennis Hoey) of Scotland Yard, taking a fishing holiday for himself. During the trip, situations occur as young Carstairs is found dead inside his locked stateroom, Compartment E. With no murderous signs evident, and the priceless diamond missing, Lady Carstairs feels Holmes has failed in his duties. Regardless of a threatening note and life threatening experience, Holmes resumes with his theory, "Find the murderer, you'll find the diamond." Other members of the cast include Billy Bevan (The Train Attendant); Leyland Hodgson (The Train Conductor); and Boyd Davis (Inspector MacDonald).An improvement over PURSUIT TO ALGIERS, TERROR BY NIGHT shows at times how train mysteries are more exciting than shipboard ones. With screenplay by Frank Gruber, the film contains every ingredient necessary for a tightly-knitted 60 minute suspense thriller. Gerald Hamer, who seems to have appeared in practically all the "Sherlock Holmes" entries, is seen, once again, this time as one of the unusual assortment of passengers, Alfred Shallcross, a teapot collector, accompanied by his mother (Janet Murdoch). Skelton Knaggs, a creepy character notable for Universal's "House of Dracula" (1945), resumes his nightmarish creepiness in his Peter Lorre-type mannerism in the role of Sands. Frederick Worlock (Professor William Kilbane) has the film's brightest moment in a sort of Abbott and Costello twist and turn routine as fellow passenger who's supposed to be subject to questioning by Doctor Watson, only to have situations happening in reverse, and quite amusingly in fact. Another highlight comes as Holmes gets pushed out of the train with door slamming shut behind him, holding on to his very life as train goes in high speed, especially through the curves. Another great moment is its conclusion, almost reminiscent to how author Agatha Christie ("Murder on the Orient Express") or famed movie director Alfred Hitchcock ("The Lady Vanishes") might have handled a train mystery such as this.Being another Holmes entry to have fallen into public domain, TERROR BY NIGHT, available on video cassette and DVD formats from various distributors, presented on numerous public broadcast or cable television stations over the years, should not disappoint any devotees of the series, especially when shown from time to time on Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: March 8, 2004) or anywhere else. Next installment: DRESSED TO KILL (1946). (***)

Terror by Night is the thirteenth of the Sherlock Holmes film series to star Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce and was directed by Roy William Neill. It is based on the characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and the although the movie's story is an original, it borrowed plot elements from some of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes mystery writings, which are The Adventure of the Empty House, The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax, and The Sign of the Four.The movie has more twist and turns than a door knob, when you think things are going this way, the writer (Frank Gruber) takes you on another turn. Shot mostly on a train set, I have to give kudos to the cinematography, as at no point in the movie do you feel any form of cramps in the shots. Then the screenplay also, the twists are so much that the writer has to be at the top of his game not to live too much loose ends that we the viewers don't get lost.Then there is the obvious switch that Sherlock did when he was shown the diamond, you will notice the switch, which at first I wondered why they made it noticeable, not knowing that it was all part of a big plot.The movie's plot is about a diamond, the diamond is so valuable that the owner's son hired Sherlock Holmes to guard it while it is been taking to Scotland on a train ride.While on the train, the diamond gets stolen and a murder is committed, since the train is still in motion it is obvious that the murderer is still on board the train. Now Holmes and Watson have to find the murderer before the train makes its final stop.The movie did show a sort of lack of emotion in the character of Lady Margaret, although it was part of the plot, as it is commented by the other characters in the movie, it didn't go well with me the viewer, although death is expected at some time, the death of Roland was a turn off for me as it was not expected at all.The movie's twist and turns are worth seeing although the movie is not as captivating or as fun as Pursuit to Algiers, it did show good writing and direction in the part of Frank Gruber and William Neill.It is a nice DVD to get.www.lagsreviews.com