From the beginning to the end, this is an absolutely enjoyable film.
Not only thrilling and offering more than one good mystery to solve, and full of surprises from the first sequences to the very end, but also played by both Albers and Rühman with a good-humored touch that suits them perfectly and adds to this new look upon Holmes and Watson. Albers had been a comedian before his detective role in
Der Greifer (1930) brought him movie fame, and was also a good singer with an easy style; and Rühman was known for these kind of roles and was an established comedian. Yet this is not strictly a comedy, but a merry detective mystery story.
The story begins at night, when two men with a strange resemblance to Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson stop a train and board it in a hurry. Word quickly spreads amongst the staff and passengers, to a couple of crook´s despair. Their two compartment neighbours, orphaned sisters in their way to receive an inheritance, are to be met again by our not so disinterested heroes, adding a romantinc touch. And if Marieluise Claudius and Hansi Knoteck appear at first as simple charming young girls, their importance in the development of the events to come is more than it seems. When our heroes reach Brussels they soon get involved in trying to solve the robbery of the valuable Mauritius stamps at the World Exhibition. So don´t miss a detail and enjoy what´s coming.
Only a couple of weak points : even if the Sidney Paget drawings decorating the opening credits become amazingly tuned into Albers´ image in the train magazine, Holmes is lean and angled, by no means that rugby-built type of man; and Watson is not at all a secondary reticent man but a true companion that has his own mind and intelligence, something that at least can be occasionally noticed in this film (so Rühman was luckier than Nigel Bruce). But that, of course, is part of the originality of this story. Conan Doyle, on his side, had nothing to do with the gaudy tipsy innkeeper type, being a serious-looking Scottish who instilled his characters with intelligence and subtle irony. Lacking this introverted sharpness both Arthur Wontner and Jeremy Brett amply displayed, Albers has his own strong personality that brings the character into his own without loosing his principles, nor the ones of his role for that matter.
This is a film made in pre-war Germany, when things were getting difficult for a man (Albers) líving with the daughter of a Jewish actor and playwright and Rühman about to divorce his Jewish wife. It is a goal of the entire film crew that this is not noticed at all, offering us a highly entertaining, witty and impeccably timed story that has retained its qualities through the years.
