A Study In Terror (1965)

Starring John Neville, Donald Houston, John Fraser, Anthony Quayle, Barbara Windsor
Directed by James Hill
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson try to deduce the identity of Jack The Ripper, whose Whitechapel murders are terrorizing London.

Handsomely mounted with fine art direction and photography, this attempt to pit fiction's most famous detective against one of history's most notorious murderers certainly looks attractive, and I had little trouble allowing myself to be transported back to Victorian London.  I was a little disappointed that the story didn't allow for more mental sparring between these two legendary characters, framed more as a whodunit trying to hide the Ripper's true identity until the film's final moments.  I thought Neville and Houston were okay as Holmes and Watson although they certainly didn't impress me enough to stand out among the duo's great screen portrayers, and the supporting cast members that best stood out had but brief moments in the picture: Adrienne Corri as the hard to find Angela Osborne, and Robert Morley, in an inspired bit of casting as Holmes' equally clever brother Mycroft.  Still, I was entertained by this sumptuous looking if flawed production.

Captain Nemo And The Underwater City (1969)

Starring Robert Ryan, Chuck Connors, Nanette Newman, Luciana Paluzzi, John Turner
Directed by James Hill
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A group of passengers cast overboard during a storm are rescued by the famed Captain Nemo and taken to the incredible underwater city he's created, but he warns them they can never leave.

Wonderful sets and special effects highlight this sci-fi adventure, based on Jules Verne's classic character Captain Nemo, who was featured in his 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and The Mysterious Island.  Not based on either novel, this film has an original story, imagining an underwater city as Nemo's greatest triumph and haven from the inhumanity of man, jeopardized by the desperate people he's brought there who view it as a prison.  Although star Robert Ryan is not the first performer I'd think of as Nemo, he's very true to the character, and is joined by a fine supporting cast, although a pair of greedy brothers seem to be patterned a bit too closely after comedians Laurel and Hardy.  I enjoyed this film and it's a fitting companion piece to the previous Nemo film adaptations, Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and Ray Harryhausen's Mysterious Island.