Experiment #7 - "The Spider Woman" (1944)

In which we make our triumphant return to the Internet and then promptly kill off Sherlock Holmes!

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Nick: Hello Internet we have returned! You could say that - not unlike the great detective himself - we have returned from our Great Hiatus. But, rest assured the Experiment is not completed. In fact, we are about to enter what many believe to be the Golden Age of the Rathbone/Bruce films.

Cat: I almost laughed at that; this thing is HARDLY over. But yay for more Basil Rathbone! I’d honestly be content with just watching 70 more years of Basil Rathbone, I’m not going to lie. Am I going to get as hooked on every era that we go through…?

Nick: I certainly hope that you do. Well, considering it’s been quite a while since we have posted anything, so I say that we jump right in and get down to business with The Spider Woman!

Vital Statistics

The Spider Woman (1944)

Major motion picture

Starring Basil Rathbone (Sherlock Holmes), Nigel Bruce (Dr. Watson), Gale Sondergaard (Adrea Spedding), Dennis Hoey (Inspector Lestrade)

62 minutes, black-and-white

Thoughts:

Nick: Well, I suppose the best place to begin is the beginning: The death of Sherlock Holmes.

Cat: That is not a very good place to start, if I may say so. To give some context, I had gone over to Nick’s house, thinking I was going to enjoy an afternoon with my friend and a couple of good movies and then BAM, emotional sucker punch. I was not a happy camper. I never want to see Nigel Bruce look so sad and unhappy ever, ever, ever, ever, EVER again. Never ever. (I was actually starting to tear up over this!) So, Nick, since you ENTIRELY knew this was coming and totally let this catch me by surprise, what are YOUR thoughts on this fun development in the beginning of the movie?

Holmes and Watson in Switzerland? Never good

Nick: Well, I think that this beginning is one of those incidents like Sherlock Holmes Face Death where you sort of know that Holmes isn’t really dead, but it’s still hard to watch. What I think makes this beginning so powerful though is Nigel Bruce, Mary Gordon, and Dennis Hoey. Seeing the usually blustering Watson and Lestrade actually getting sad and contemplative is really moving, and Mary Gordon’s Mrs. Hudson on the brink of tears is incredibly sad. To anyone who claims that Nigel Bruce’s Watson never displayed any serious moments, the few opening scenes of The Spider Woman are prime examples to the contrary.

Cat: Yes, very hard to watch. I think what really made the scene work is how quickly the tone turned and everything got serious; moments before, Holmes and Watson were having fun on a fishing trip and then, whoops, all of a sudden we have a dead detective on our hands. It was really sudden, and I think that starting with the bumbling, cheerful Nigel Bruce was very important in establishing that side of his character before switching to having a rare moment of entirely serious sadness. I never would have expected it, but he (as well as Dennis Hoey and Mary Gordon) were very good at playing it serious. It made me upset, at least.

Nick: Well, your point about the tone is, I think, one which applies to the movie on a whole. The interesting thing about The Spider Woman is that it is arguably one of the darkest films in the Rathbone/Bruce series, but it also features some of the series’ lightest and funniest moments. I mean, the same movie which features the brooding Dr. Watson also finds him playing the tuba and nearly ripping the beard off a man who he believes to be Sherlock Holmes. While some could argue that this makes the film’s tone inconsistent, the balance of the humor and seriousness works, I think, to the film’s advantage. And, the comedic moments come at just a point when you need some relief from all the seriousness.

Hate to burst your bubble, but that isn't Holmes...

Cat: I agree, I never really felt like it was inconsistent or anything. I liked it, at least. The funny points in this movie were definitely hilarious (though I firmly believe that nothing will truly top “Hey there, buddy, what’s cooking?”).

Nick: Ah yes, that immortal line shall live forever. However, that scene where Watson mistakes Adam Gilflower for Holmes is very funny and would be parodied (to great effect) in Sherlock: The Empty Hearse; one of the many neat little references to the Rathbone/Bruce films which Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat love so much. Also, I don’t think that I will ever be able to forget Bruce’s Watson admitting to the fact that he used to be known as “Twinkletoes” as a child. (Holmes’ deadpan reply of “I’m sure you were a beautiful baby Watson” is one of my absolute favorite moments in the series.)

Cat: That was a strange, but beautiful moment. Except when I picture the scene that Watson was describing of him running across dewy grass as a child, I can’t help but imagine a little kid with Nigel Bruce’s face on it. That’s what makes the scene truly amusing for me.

Nick: Well,let’s go from the light and amusing to the dark and serious. Any discussion of The Spider Woman would not be complete without a discussion of the Spider Woman, Adrea Spedding, herself. Catharine, any thoughts?

Cat: I totally LOVED her. She was totally creepy but so good about being so slyly creepy. It also felt like she gave off this air of “Look at me the wrong way and I will make your life miserable” most of the time. I mean, she kills people with SPIDERS. That’s just plain devious.

Nick: She truly is the first femme fatale of the series (there will be a few more coming soon) and she is surely one of the most memorable. The actress, Gale Sondergaard, is wonderfully cast in the role. Her cold, devious line-readings are brilliant and she makes for an excellent foil for Rathbone’s Holmes. The two of them really play up the game of cat and mouse element to the story which makes this particular movie so exciting to watch. (Interestingly - here’s the inner movie history nerd coming out in me - Rathbone and Sondergaard had previously starred in a fairly dire 1941 film version of The Black Cat for Universal. The movie doesn’t resemble the Poe story in the slightest and is more of a bad murder mystery than anything else. Rathbone plays the chief suspect while Sondergaard is the creepy housekeeper of the old dark house where the film is set. A good indicator of the film’s level of wit: After trying to play detective, someone snidely remarks of Rathbone’s character: “He thinks that he’s Sherlock Holmes.”)

Cat: Hah, that’s funny. I understood that reference. (And, Nick, be honest - your movie history nerd is in no way only on the inside) But yes, I totally think that she holds her own against the Great Detective very well. It takes a lot of creativity (and a certain degree of twistedness) to come up with death by spiders, after all.  

Nick: It is very true, my inner movie nerd is hardly a secret any more. And, going back to your point about the spiders...I can hardly watch the part of the movie where the spider crawls through the ventilator and down the wall. Suffering as I do from intense arachnophobia, it makes portions of this movie hard to watch. (Death by spider would also turn up in a version of The Hound of the Baskervilles, however I won’t tell you which one as I am still trying to keep elements of this experiment a surprise.)

Cat: Oh no, I do agree with you there. Spiders are not friends of mine, so my skin was crawling as well. (And yaaay, I look forward to that scene in the future…)

Nick: Well, if we’re talking about things which make our skin crawl and hair stand on end than I think we have to mention this movie’s climax: The shooting gallery. It is - I think - one of the film’s most memorable scenes and one of the most brilliantly executed. It is incredibly suspenseful.

Sherlock Holmes faces death (again)

Cat: Oh my GOD, I was legitimately on the end of my seat for that ending. I thought it was really brilliant. It brought about so much anxiety but it was SO GOOD! I thought it was perfectly paced and I have never been so thankful for Watson being as bumbling and absent-minded as ever, truly. There was going to be something very poetic about Watson being the one to shoot Holmes though, even though that would have been unbelievably painful to witness. I think the Spider Woman herself deserves some props for coming up with said method of execution, because that was almost fool-proof. Except she forgot that she was dealing with Sherlock Holmes, so she was a bit out of her league there.

Nick: Just whose side are you on Catharine? I mean, the Spider Woman is a good adversary, but she tried to kill Sherlock Holmes...twice in one movie. (Three times if you count the one time he was in disguise.)

Cat: Hey, hey, hey - I’m JUST saying. It deserves recognition! You SAW me freaking out every second the little shooting gallery wheel went around. Unbelievable. Accused of treason on my own blog! (Well, I say “my”...)

Nick: Didn’t mean to offend. Haha! Anyway, a word on the literary origins of this particular movie as it plays as a “greatest hits” version of the dark and grisly of the original stories. So, there are elements of The Speckled Band to be found in this movie (perhaps more directly the Adrian Conan Doyle penned pastiche, The Deptford Horror even though that came out after The Spider Woman). The use of a pygmy as a method of murder is lifted from The Sign of Four. Holmes faking his death is taken from The Final Problem (the fact that he pretends to plunge from a waterfall in Switzerland only emphasizes the point further). Lastly, Spedding uses the deadly root The Devil’s Foot (from the short story of the same name) in an empty to kill Holmes and Watson. Looking back on it, the Rathbone/Bruce series more-or-less created the “insert fun nod to the Canon here” trend which has persisted in Sherlockian media for so long.

Cat: It’s a wonderful trend, and I’m so glad that it exists. I feel like it’d almost be morally wrong to not do so. It’d be like doing a Peter Pan related movie and NOT at least making a donation to the Great Ormond Street Hospital. (It is here that Cat’s secret Peter Pan obsession makes an appearance). And, on the note of the Final Problem, my grandfather caught wind of our project not too long ago and magically gifted me with some complete set of all the stories (with all the original illustrations). He apparently had this lying around somewhere and decided to give it to me, since it seemed relevant to my life. I already have a complete compilation, except it’s this huge coffee table size book and this is a much more respectable size book. Anyway, to get to the point (and perhaps shed some further light on my reaction to the beginning of our movie), as I was finding a place for it on my (crammed) bookshelves, I decided to read the end of The Final Problem for the hell of it and found myself tearing up over the ending of it. So whenever this theme appears, expect me to be emotional. I feel like it’s something that a lot of people sort of “take for granted” in the Sherlock Holmes world, but it manages to make me emotional every time. A bit off an off-topic note, but there you have it.

Tissues are recommended

Nick: Catharine, that’s one of the biggest no no’s in the Sherlockian world: Do not just read the end of The Final Problem (for the hell of it or no) without tissues close at hand. And, rest assured, Sherlockians take that incident very seriously. As we write this piece, May 4 has only just passed which we collectively learned was the day that Holmes confronted Moriarty atop the Reichenbach Falls. Who knew that Star Wars Day was so sad?!

Cat: I like to live dangerously and stupidly apparently. I didn’t know any better! And yeah, how in the world is THAT fair! I can’t be miserable and enjoy Star Wars at the same time! I have a bone to pick with ACD over this.

Before we cry ourselves silly, it’s time for Final Thoughts:

Nick: I shall give you the floor Catharine. A verdict on The Spider Woman?

Cat: Oh boy. I really, really liked this one a lot. I liked the mystery of this movie (though I do have mixed feelings about the actual spider-related scenes) and especially liked the adversary of the movie. And her title. I made a Spider Man joke before the movie even started, because I’m just that childish. This was just really fun, I thought. I think that, as the Sherlockian Novice here, I’m growing to like this branch of Sherlock Holmes movies: the cat-and-mouse stuff is just really, really fun. This one was really good. Your thoughts, Nick?

Nick: Though they’re completely different, I don’t think it is entirely wrong to liken this movie to Sherlock Holmes in Washington. They’re both fast-paced, very modern-feeling adventures (well, modern for the 1940s), however The Spider Woman is the better film. I love the suspense and the darkness which surrounds this entire film but it also boasts some wonderful comedy. I agree that it is a very fun entry in the series and surely one of the best. So, what would your official deerstalker rating be?

Cat: Honestly? I think I’ve got to give this one a 4.5 out of 5. I don’t know if I’ve really properly explained my feelings about The Spider Woman, but there was something about this that really appealed to me, and I think it might be that similar(ish) element that is found in Sherlock Holmes in Washington. This is definitely one I’d rewatch. It was emotional, it was funny, it was clever and creepy. Two thumbs up from me!

Nick: I’d agree and you summed it very well by calling it emotional, funny, clever, and creepy. I’d give this one 4 out of 5. It’s a great entry in the series.

Another historical sidenote:

Nick: Two years after The Spider Woman was released, Universal tried to recapture the success of the film by casting Gale Sondergaard in a movie called The Spider Woman Strikes Back. It has NOTHING whatsoever to do with the Holmes movie and it is generally considered to be one of Universal’s least memorable horror films of the ‘40s. Just thought that warranted a mention.

Cat: Well, that is certainly a shame, because I thought that she was really quite good in this. She always pulled those really freaky smiles where you can feel that she’s plotting your death, but you have no idea how or when. But that is a very cool little sidenote!

Nick's Rating

Catharine's Rating

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We would just like to take a moment to express our profound thanks to all of the wonderful people we met at the open house hosted by Sherlockian Denny Dobry, who has wonderfully recreated Holmes and Watson’s sitting room at 221b Baker Street. The Sherlockians that we met were incredibly nice to us and really made us feel a part of the Sherlock Holmes Community. As we try to make our way in the Sherlockian world, their positive encouragement was greatly appreciated.

Next Time: Holmes and Watson journey to Canada, but their trip is hardly as sweet as maple syrup.