MARIO GAUCI This original Sherlock Holmes case (from a story by Anthony Hinds under his John Elder alias) also marks Peter Cushing's last starring role – he had first played the fastidious Baker Street detective in Hammer's 1959 version of THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, reprised in two TV series in 1964 and 1968 (during the course of which he eventually relinquished the part to Douglas Wilmer). His inseparable sidekick, Dr. John Watson, was interpreted by the likes of Andre' Morell, Nigel Stock and, here, Sir John Mills. Incidentally, given the actors' age, the film starts off with Holmes (typically and, in spite of Cushing's frail look, he is made to don a couple of disguises throughout) in retirement, his adventures being recounted to reporter Susan Penhaligon – whose appearance is relegated to this brief prologue, never subsequently picked up! Seeing the cast at work, one gets the feeling he is visiting a veterans' retirement home: supporting the leads, among others, are Ray Milland and Anne Baxter (both of whom would be dead within 2 years), Anton Diffring and Gordon Jackson! Anyway, the main narrative – set on the eve of WWI – seems to incorporate two unrelated mysteries (mildly thrilling but not really horrific, as I had been led to believe!) but which, unsurprisingly, are found to be connected: the first involves a number of corpses discovered bearing the titular countenance, the second the alleged kidnapping of the young heir to the German throne. The main setting, then, is Diffring's county manor – where Holmes runs into an old nemesis, Baxter, one of the very few who had ever managed to outwit him! – but the climax takes place in an underground lair, with our heroes incongruously resorting to shooting their way out of trouble! All in all, the film is an adequate (and pleasingly old-fashioned) time-passer, its biggest reward undoubtedly emerging Cushing's always delightful turn as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's master sleuth. Even so, the sheer fact that so many of its participants – Cushing, Diffring, Milland, Penhaligon, Ward Baker and Elder – had previously excelled in the horror genre makes the surprising lack of it here seem doubly disappointing.

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.

Prof-Hieronymos-Grost 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.

DPMay Above all else, this TV movie was most welcome for giving Peter Cushing a chance to end his acting career on a high note and in one of his most celebrated roles (he appeared in one more film after this one but this was to be the last lead role of his long career). He'd first played Sherlock Holmes twenty-five years previously in a Hammer movie, and then in a 1968 BBC television series. Here, he revisits the character in a later stage of life and, accordingly, this time his rendition of the great detective is less agile and prone to moments of impatience and tetchiness. Cushing is just one of a number of senior actors in the cast, many of them sadly fast-approaching the end of their careers... Anne Baxter, Gordon Jackson, Anton Diffring... Ray Milland also sadly was not in great health at the time and it shows. Nevertheless, all give very good performances as one would expect from such distinguished names. The piece is nicely filmed with good location work and the music is okay too but unfortunately everything is let down by the plot. Much of the narrative involves Holmes and Watson investigating a supposed kidnapping which ultimately proves to be nothing more than a red-herring, conceived to keep Holmes distracted from another more important matter. One can't help wondering if it would have been easier for the villains to have simply assassinated Holmes if they were so worried about him bringing them to justice. And once this duplicity is discovered, the characters involved just vanish from the action and the story suddenly shifts to a climax that is, in itself rather unsatisfying. Why do Holmes and Watson, two ageing men, risk their lives in flushing the villains out of their lair when the police apparently have the whole place surrounded anyway?It was a nice idea to see a more elderly Holmes in action for once and even better to have Peter Cushing playing him once again, and it's a shame that plans for a proposed follow-up never came to fruition, because a better story might have worked wonders. A good attempt that just doesnt quite come off.