Sherlock Holmes and the Masks of Death

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.

A now retired Holmes (Peter Cushing) is called on one last time to assist Scotland Yard with a strange case, that they can shed no light on. Three bodies have been found, one in the Thames and two others in Whitechapel, all bearing a hideous look of fear on their faces, but all showing no signs of cause of death. Holmes is intrigued enough to take the case and with Watson (John Mills) in tow he sets out to solve it. However before he can, he is called on by the Home Secretary (Ray Milland) and a stranger who wants to keep his identity to himself, their plea is for assistance in the case of a missing German envoy, his disappearance, they claim could cause the outbreak of War between England and Germany. The stranger is Graf Udo Von Felseck (Anton Diffring) a German diplomat close to the Kaiser, Holmes impresses Von Felseck as he deduces both his name and his political affiliation. Holmes takes the case and soon finds himself mixed up with a plot to kill millions, he also gets involved with "That Woman" again, one Irene Adler.(Anne Baxter) Pretty decent TV movie from Tyburn films, with a good intricate plot and a fantastic cast, Cushing even this late in his career shows he still had the mental and physical agility to take on the role.

'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.

A request by Scotland Yard inspector Gordon Jackson for help from the now retired Sherlock Holmes about some very mysterious deaths of men being found in the Thames River brings the famous detective back to Baker Street. The celebrated detective and his companion Dr. John Watson now spend a lot of their time in the countryside just gathering their notes together for the ultimate Holmes memoir.

The Masks Of Death brings Peter Cushing to his second portrayal of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous sleuth. He had previously played him in the Hammer Film production of The Hound Of The Baskervilles. In this film John Mills is Doctor Watson who also narrates.

The Masks Of Death is not based on any Conan Doyle story and the reason is pretty clear. After Holmes and Watson go to work on this case, the Home Secretary played by Ray Milland asks for Holmes's help in a case of national importance. Accompanying Milland is German gentleman Anton Diffring. They allege that a prince of the royal Hohenzollern blood has been kidnapped while traveling incognito in Great Britain. We've got to find him before anything else period. Milland plays a member of the cabinet who wants to stop an impending German/British war at all costs.

In fact in the cabinet of Herbert Asquith back in the day, the Minister for War, Lord Haldane was a man doing just that and his pro-German views were the basis for his dismissal. I doubt Arthur Conan Doyle would have been libeling Lord Haldane back in those days. And it would have been libel for what eventually Holmes uncovers.

Baker Street purists will scoff at this one. It wasn't however a bad film for Peter Cushing. Anne Baxter is on hand as well in one of her last roles as a mysterious German/American woman who Holmes can't quite trust. He suspects, heaven forfend, she's a suffragist.

What the two cases have in common might surprise the viewer. If carried out it would have been the crime of the last century.

SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE MASKS OF DEATH (1984) a final TV outing for Peter Cushing, is one of those films that's been sat on by Tyburn's Kevin Francis for decades due to his rumoured greed. While it's not a classic on par with THE GHOUL or LEGEND OF THE WEREWOLF, it is a shame that such a star-studded production, directed by Roy Ward Baker no less, no languishes in obscurity. The story isn't based on Conan Doyle's efforts but instead sees an aged Sherlock coming out of retirement to investigate the kidnapping of a German prince.

There are some big holes and inconsistencies in the plotting but it just about keeps you watching, although a great amount of it seems to be a wild goose chase. The outset-of-WW1 setting is a good one and the cast is excellent. Cushing always delights as Holmes while Watson couldn't be more dependable in the form of John Mills. Then you get Anton Diffring, Anne Baxter, Susan Penhaligon, Ray Milland and plenty of others besides harking back to the golden age of cinema in a kind of last-gasp sayonara which tugs at the heartstrings a little. Lots of incident, some mystery, even a few action scenes take place here, so it's hard to dislike it too much.