Pursuit to Algiers
| Pursuit to Algiers | |
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1946 US Theatrical Poster
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| Directed by | Roy William Neill |
| Produced by | Howard Benedict |
| Written by | Screenplay: Leonard Lee Based on: characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle |
| Starring | Basil Rathbone Nigel Bruce |
| Music by | Edgar Fairchild |
| Cinematography | Paul Ivano |
| Edited by | Saul A. Goodkind |
| Distributed by | Universal Studios |
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Release dates
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Running time
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65 min |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Pursuit to Algiers (1945) is the twelfth entry in the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes film series. The film takes some characters and events from The Adventure of the Red Circle. Elements in the story pay homage to an otherwise unrecorded affair mentioned by Watson at the beginning of The Adventure of the Norwood Builder, notably the steamship Friesland.
Contents
Plot
About to leave London for a much-needed vacation, Holmes and Watson receive a cryptic invitation. Intrigued, Holmes accepts and is met by the prime minister of the fictional country of Rovinia, who begs him to escort Prince Nikolas home. It turns out that his father has been assassinated, and Nikolas is the heir. Holmes agrees.
Arrangements have already been made for an airplane. When it develops problems, a smaller replacement only has room for the prince and Holmes, leaving Watson behind. When Watson protests, Holmes suggests he follow on a passenger ship bound for Algiers.
On the voyage, Watson reads that the airplane has crashed in the Pyrenees and that it is unlikely that there are any survivors. Fortunately, Holmes has an aversion of plans made by others and is aboard the ship with Nikolas. He instructs Watson to introduce the prince to the other passengers as his nephew. Though Watson suspects everyone, from American singer Sheila Woodbury to exercise fanatic Agatha Dunham to a secretive pair who later turn out to be archeologists, of being killers, it is not until the ship makes an unscheduled stop at Lisbon that the real Russian agents come aboard: Gregor, circus knife thrower Mirko, and a hulking mute named Gubec.
First, Mirko tries to kill Holmes with a knife thrown through a porthole, then Gregor substitutes an explosive party favor, but Holmes foils both attempts. Finally, the villains succeed in kidnapping the prince when they dock at Algiers, only for Holmes to reveal that the "prince" was a decoy; the real prince had been posing as a steward, hidden in plain sight the whole time.[1]
Cast
- Basil Rathbone – Sherlock Holmes
- Nigel Bruce – Dr. Watson
- Marjorie Riordan – Sheila Woodbury
- Rosalind Ivan – Agatha Dunham
- Morton Lowry – Steward
- Leslie Vincent – Prince Nikolas, aka "Nikolas Watson"
- Martin Kosleck – Mirko
- Rex Evans – Gregor
- John Abbott – Jodri
- Gerald Hamer – Kingston
- William 'Wee Willie' Davis – Gubec
- Tom Dillon – Restaurant Owner
- Frederick Worlock – Prime Minister
- Sven Hugo Borg – Johansson
References
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<references />, or <references group="..." />External links
- Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). Pursuit to Algiers at IMDb
- Pursuit to Algiers at AllMovie
- Pursuit to Algiers at the TCM Movie Database
- ↑ Davies, David Stuart, Holmes of the Movies (New English Library, 1976) ISBN 0-450-03358-9
