didi-5
'The Masks of Death' was Peter Cushing's swansong as Sherlock Holmes, a character he had played opposite Andre Morell in a Hammer 'Hound of the Baskervilles' and then in a television series for the BBC opposite Nigel Stock.Here his Watson is an elderly John Mills, and the two make a charming pair presenting Holmes in his later life as a beekeeper who is tempted out of retirement to help an old friend, policeman McGregor (Gordon Jackson). It soon becomes apparent that more urgent matters require the intervention of the great detective when the Home Secretary (Ray Milland) comes to call with a foreign dignitary (Anton Diffring). And to complicate things, still further, The Woman has returned to London (Irene Adler of course, played by Anne Baxter).As a plot goes, 'The Masks of Death' is rather pedestrian and not that involving. But with a cast like this, who can complain? Cushing is more crotchety than he had been in his previous outings in the role, but Mills proves a fine foil - his Watson is definitely the army man, a man of action. Baxter is luminous, and even when the solution is staring us in the face there's still enough going on in the interplay between the actors to keep us interested.
The_Void
The Masks of Death is a real coming together of classics. First of all, we have the fact that the film is based on the classic Arthur Conan Doyle character of Sherlock Holmes (albeit it an aging version of the character), then we have the fact that the film is directed by the great Roy Ward Baker; a name that fans of classic British horror will recognise instantly, and perhaps most important of all is the presence of one of the finest British actors ever to grace the silver screen - the great Peter Cushing in a reprisal of the iconic role that he last played in 1968. The story is not a Conan Doyle original, but still focuses on his most famous character. Sherlock Holmes has been called in to investigate three bodies that have mysteriously turned up in the Thames. It's not into the investigation before he is called to investigate another case; that being the investigation of a German prince that mysteriously disappeared. However, shortly into his second case; Holmes begins to suspect that something more sinister may be afoot.What sets this film apart from almost every other Sherlock Holmes film ever made is the fact that this one shows the character in his twilight years. Holmes is in retirement and he's not quite his usual sharp self and even shows some failings on a number of occasions. One of the main things that is liked about the character is his sharpness and keen eye for detail; but even so, The Masks of death has to be admired for daring to do something a little different. And who better to portray this aging Holmes than the great Peter Cushing? Cushing would have been seventy years old at the time of filming and still manages to inject his usual verve and screen presence into what would turn out to be his penultimate screen role. Roy Ward Baker certainly knows how to direct and does a good job here as the film moves swiftly and the shots of a dingy London are very well done. Cushing receives good support from the likes of John Mills, Anton Diffring and Ray Milland too, which is nice. It does have to be said that this isn't the most interesting Holmes story ever put on the screen; but its well worked and entertaining and the ending is intriguing and imaginative.
Terrell-4
The year is 1926 and the place is a sitting room in London. An elderly gentleman is preparing to dictate a story to a young stenographer, a story which had until recently been kept a top secret by the British government. It concerned a situation which could have led to the excruciating deaths during The Great War of untold thousands of Londoners. Sitting nearby, smoking his pipe and reading the London Times, is the irascible old man who is the subject of the story. The gentleman getting ready to dictate (arthritis makes it difficult to write nowadays) is, of course, Dr. John Watson. His subject is the man he has known and assisted for nearly half a century, Sherlock Holmes. In 1913 Sherlock Holmes (Peter Cushing) had been long retired. He had spent some time tending his bees in Sussex but eventually returned to 221B Baker Street. There he resumed sharing quarters with his old friend and Boswell, the long-widowed Watson (John Mills). Unexpectedly, he is asked by Scotland Yard Inspector Alan MacDonald (Gordon Jackson) for unofficial assistance on a puzzling case which has stumped the police. A body has been found in the Thames with an excruciating grimace frozen on its face. There is no sign of foul play. Holmes is intrigued and he and Watson go to the morgue to examine the unfortunate man. Before long, another body turns up, another grimace frozen on its face, and this time its throat has been slit. The man was a derelict Holmes had spoken to only hours after he and Watson had left the morgue. Then an even stranger case develops. The Home Secretary himself (Ray Milland) visits 221B Baker Street along with a mysterious foreigner, who almost instantly Holmes identifies as the Graf Udo von Felseck (Anton Differing). von Felseck had been visiting England, along with a young man of high German birth on a secret mission. Now, the young man has been kidnapped from von Felseck's English estate. The Home Secretary pleads with Holmes as a matter of state importance to drop everything and locate the kidnapped victim. The game is now afoot. In the next few days the elderly Holmes with Watson by his side will don disguises, encounter threats, escape attempts on his life and, completely unexpectedly, meet once more Irene Adler (Anne Baxter). She is one of only four people who ever bested Holmes, and the only woman to do so. He holds her in suspicious respect. At one time, it might even have been something more. Of crucial importance, Holmes uncovers a fiendish plot to cripple Britain should war come. This TV movie is nostalgic on many levels. It has its faults -- the plot is a bit too complicated, a major character simply disappears with a smile over the shoulder at us, the production at times seems to lumber along. But, if you're fond of Sherlock Holmes and of a good pastiche, if you enjoy Peter Cushing, if you appreciate other aging but skilled actors, you might like The Masks of Death. I did. Most of us know now that Holmes was born on January 6, 1854 of Siger Holmes and Violet Rutherford. He was 72 when we meet him in 1926 and 59 at the time of this case. The actor who plays him, Peter Cushing, was 69 when this story was finally filmed. John Mills was 76. Cushing looks his age. He is as lean as a stick, with sunken cheeks, thin lips and not an ounce of fat on him. He gives us a Holmes who has aged physically, who uses a walking stick and not just carries it, who becomes impatient quickly and shows it. He still has a brilliant mind and a memory which has not dimmed. Mills gives us a Watson who is spry and brave, who may nearly always be a deduction or two behind his friend and who remains loyal and steadfast. When Holmes turns to Watson after a momentary brusqueness and says, quite sincerely, "You are my only friend, Watson," you know Holmes means it...and that it is true. For another look at how good Cushing can be playing Holmes, check out 1959's The Hound of the Baskervilles. Will there be any more stories of Holmes in retirement? Probably not unless they are fiction. John Watson in 1887 approached a London literary agent to assist in getting the first account published of his friend's unique methods to uncover malefactors. That agent, a man named Conan Doyle, subsequently saw to it that all of Watson's other accounts were published. But Conan Doyle died in 1930. However, for those who enjoy fiction rather than true cases, much still is available.
mightymezzo
The story is a little on the thin side, if decidedly chilling at the climax. But the pleasure of watching a first-rate assortment of mature actors go through their paces makes this a show worth watching again and again. Peter Cushing's Holmes is severe, ascetic and all business, John Mills' Watson cheerful and worth having in a tight spot, and Anne Baxter's Irene Adler a genuinely charming and intelligent lady.
