A Scandal in Bohemia

CinemaSerf

Now I appreciate that this was one of the shorter stories submitted by 'Dr. Watson' to the 'Strand' magazine, but even so - trying to condense it into twenty minutes was still going to be quite an ask. It all starts when the gentlemen receive a visitor at their Baker Street lodgings. Judging by his entrance, he could have come straight from a performance of 'Phantom of the Opera' but after a few seconds of deduction, 'Holmes' (Eille Norwood) informs his colleague (Hubert Willis) that this is none other than King Wilhelm. To what did they owe the honour? Well HM is about to get married, but he is aware that one of his former dalliances - an actress called 'Irene' (Joan Beverley) is in possession of what could prove to be a very compromising photograph. Try as he has, he simply can't find a way to retrieve it, so at his wits end he has decided to ask our intrepid detective duo. Ever honourable, they agree to try to track down the picture, after all she's only a theatrical gal. Or is she? In many ways this isn't a film at all, but episode one in a serial that fans of Sir Arthur's creations will know sees him face an antagonist of skill and guile, and not for the only time either. That said, some of the photography - especially of Norwood, can readily be seen as the inspiration for so many of the characterisations of 'Holmes' and I also found it relatively easy to do a bit of basic lip reading, which helped a lot too as we race through the investigation. On that visual note, there is a reliance on one or two hand-written notes to help us along that I did struggle to read, and that maybe the sparing inter-titles could have recapped, but dark and dingy as it is, this is an enjoyable outing for the sleuths with just an hint of good old Edwardian scandal, too.