An outing that seems hugely removed from anything that could have possibly been penned by Conan Doyle, the film sees Holmes and Watson accompany a handsome played by Leslie Vincent, who's heading to Algiers to replace his assassinated father on the throne.The film boasts a clever bit of deception, and some interesting concepts, the beginning is really intriguing and full of mystery. Sadly once the voyage begins it becomes a little silly, funny hats, mutual smugness and a world almost unimaginable pre globalisation.Rathbone and Bruce as excellent value as always, but some of the other performances are a little on the shaky side, no names.It doesn't boast the suspense and intrigue that most of the Universal movies have, but it's well worth watching. 6/10

Stolen emeralds, an endangered prince, a fog-bound steamship, a plane crash, a revolver hidden in a purse. Through a clever series of encounters, which Sherlock Holmes deciphers with his usual sharp intellect, Holmes and his dear friend, Doctor Watson, are directed to a specific address at a specific time in a foggy London back alley; there, Holmes is engaged by a group of foreign gentlemen to escort an important personage from England back to his home country. While Holmes and Watson do not battle spies in "Pursuit to Algiers," the sleuths do return to matters of foreign intrigue. Leonard Lee wrote the first of two Holmes screenplays for this, the tenth in Universal's Sherlock Holmes series. Lee's screenplay is light on suspense, and, despite the assured direction of veteran Holmes' director Roy William Neill, the film can only be rated better than average among the Rathbone-Bruce movies.Despite some sinister fog-shrouded scenes in London's back streets, cinematographer Paul Ivano shoots most of the film aboard the S.S. Friesland, a steamer bound for Algiers. While interior shots are crisp black-and-white images, the deck scenes are murky and layered with obviously fake fog. Although the producer-director and the two above-the-title stars are back, not only the writer and cinematographer, but most of the supporting cast are fresh faces in the series. Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce are in good form, and Watson is given a bit more to do than usual, including a song entitled "The Bonnie Banks o'Loch Lomond" that spotlights Nigel Bruce's own fine voice; the retelling over dinner of a Holmes adventure, "The Giant Rat of Sumatra;" and a few solo errands of responsibility at Holmes's direction. None of the supporting players stand out, although lovely Marjorie Riordon as a young singer from Brooklyn has a nice voice, and the cold sexually ambiguous Martin Kosleck is appropriately sinister as the knife thrower.Perhaps after ten episodes the Universal Holmes series had become routine and perfunctory to the participants. The proceedings play out almost entirely aboard a ship, and the plot lacks a single diabolical villain of the caliber of Professor Moriarty or Adrea Spedding, the Spider Woman. However, most Holmes fans should be pleased, and even the sharpest viewers may not guess Holmes's final revelation. While not the best of the series, "Pursuit to Algiers" is good fun and definitely entertaining.

While this is contrived and silly at times, the best part of it, for me, was the fact that everyone knows what Holmes is up to and he still manages to come out on top. There are two plots at work here. One has to do with the transporting of stolen emeralds and the other the transporting of royalty. On numerous occasions, Holmes turns the tables on his adversaries. The dangers are everywhere and his head spins like an owls as he peers over his shoulder, through the fog, and through portholes. He sets up a wonderful ruse. The men who are out to squelch his efforts are really interesting: a mute thug who uses sign language, a wiry Peter Lorre type with a foreign accent, and a sort of Sydney Greenstreet wannabe. Watson becomes enamored with a pretty young singer who is carrying around secrets. He even belts out his own version of "Loch Lomond" and he proves to have quite a beautiful voice. Without giving anything away, Holmes keeps his cards close to his vest until the denouement. He suspects no one; he suspects everyone. I think this is a lesser effort, but still a lot of fun.

Pursuit To Algiers involves Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson in a job of security more than detective work. Both are looking to get away to Scotland for a little rest and relaxation, but they get a curious call for help from the Prime Minister of some Balkan country where the king has died. Not by accident as reported, but was assassinated.The Holmes mission is to get the Crown Prince to Algiers where presumably the state security people will take over. Why Algiers is never mentioned.As Basil Rathbone so wisely puts it he dislikes plans made by other people as they have a habit of blowing up in their faces. Rathbone makes his own security arrangements and part of it is making poor Nigel Bruce a decoy in more ways than one. How he succeeds in his mission is quite a good tale.Favorite scenes in this is Nigel Bruce singing Loch Lomond after singer Marjorie Riordan obliges him with a rendition of Flow Gently Sweet Afton. Nigel Bruce does not do bad with it either. The second scene is Rathbone outsmarting one of the three villains on a ship to Algeria. Martin Kosleck who is best known for playing Joseph Goebbels in several wartime films of varying quality plays an assassin skilled with the use of a thrown knife. I love how Rathbone not only foils him, but decommissions Kosleck for the rest of the film.Pursuit To Algiers is not pure Holmes in terms of a faithful recreation of an Arthur Conan Doyle, but Rathbone and Bruce are in good form and back from wartime propaganda films and now doing good mysteries.