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The Sleeping Cardinal – 1931
aka Sherlock Holmes' Fatal Hour
 
Year : 1931
Country : UK
Genre : Mystery
Time duration : 84 min.
Language : English
Color : Black and White
Director : Leslie S Hiscott
Cast : Arthur Wontner, Ian Fleming, Philip Hewland, Jane Welsh
Video :
Codec: XviD
Resolution: 720x480
Aspect Ratio: 3:2
Frame Rate: 25 fps
Audio
Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 128 kbps
Channel(s): 2
Sample Rate: 44.1 kHz
Plot
Opening with a silent sequence in silhouette within the Bank of England, we’re whisked to a London home where Foreign Office bureaucrat Ronnie Adair (Leslie Perrins) is once again winning handsomely whilst gambling at bridge. Adair is called to a meeting with The Sleeping Cardinal, a picture disguising the identity of Professor Moriarty (Norman McKinnel), and blackmailed into taking counterfeit money to Paris in his diplomatic pouch. Adair’s concerned sister calls for the assistance of Sherlock Holmes (Arthur Wontner) and Dr. Watson (Ian Fleming) to investigate the reasons for her brothers gambling excesses and depressed moods. After Adair succumbs to an apparent suicide; Holmes derives from a trail of clues Moriarty's involvement.
Information about picture :
This rare Sherlock Holmes film was released at the same time as the Raymond Massey picture "The Speckled Band". The story is partly based on two Conan Doyle short stories: "The Final Problem" and "The Empty House".
Sceptical about the potential success of the film, the producers sold the rights to the film to "First Division Pictures" for 800 pounds. The film was released in July 1931 under the title "Sherlock Holmes' Fatal Hour". It was very successful, running for over a month on Broadway, which was unprecidented for a British produced programmer.
Reviews hailed the film for "bringing the real Sherlock Holmes to the screen." This prompted 4 more movies in the series The Missing Rembrandt (still considered lost), The Sign of Four,The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes and The Silver Blaze/Murder at the Baskervilles.
This film was deemed lost when the only known print went missing after being shown at a Sherlock Holmes Society reception for Arthur Wontner in 1955. The version presented here is pieced together from two separate prints to create the longest and best quality version of the film. There are noticable differences between the two prints. The lesser quality print is only used to fill in minor sections that were missing or incomplete in the better quality version. It has the US title "Sherlock Holmes' Fatal Hour" on screen. The quality is still not optimal, but it is a major improvement from the versions previously available.
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