Sherlock Holmes’ Fatal Hour (1931)

Also known at The Sleeping Cardinal, Sherlock Holmes’ Fatal Hour (1931) is the first Sherlock Holmes film starring Arthur Wontner in the title role. The film concerns a young man, who has been cheating at bridge to regain his lost wealth. Professor Moriarty uses the information in an attempt to blackmail the young man Ronald Adair, portrayed by Leslie Perrins.

Unfortunately for Moriarty, Adair’s sister Kathleen is friends with Dr. John Watson. Dr. Watson will ensure that his friend Sherlock Holmes intervenes in the case to help the Adairs. Ronald is traveling on a diplomatic mission to Hampstead as a member of Britain’s diplomatic corp. It is on this mission that Moriarty wants Ronald Adair to drop a briefcase for one of Moriarty’s confederates.

Moriarty tries to warn Holmes off the case with no luck of course. When Ronald Adair is murdered and Kathleen is suspected, Holmes and Watson, played by Ian Fleming (not the James Bond creator), throw their energies into identifying Moriarty and his henchman including Colonel Sebastian Moran.

Arthur Wontner played in five Sherlock Holmes films of which four survive. This film was the first of the five films released between 1931 and 1937. According to Wikipedia, Arthur Wontner was born January 21, 1875. He lived until July 10, 1960, when he passed away at 85 years of age. He was 56 years old at the time of this film. Wontner’s IMDB Page lists 53 movies and television shows between 1916 and 1955.

This series is extremely well done particularly for 1931. Wontner is my favorite film Sherlock Holmes. My only criticism of this series is the same as the Basil Rathbone series. Professor Moriarty was a character in one Sherlock Holmes story, The Adventure of the Final Problem. Same for Colonel Moran. He was a character in The Adventure of the Empty House.

Yet when you watch these series, you would think Moriarty and Moran were in every Strand Magazine story. I guess the producers felt that without an arch criminal the arch detective would not be as interesting.

This film (affiliate link) runs approximately 81 minutes. It is definitely a feature film. It can be viewed for free on YouTube or other Public Domain sites.

Which film Sherlock Holmes do you prefer, Arthur Wontner or Basil Rathbone? Why do you like one more than the other?

You can leave a comment or ask a question about this or any post on my Facebook page and Twitter profile.

Pin It