If you are looking for a cartoon that is both a parody and 100% unfunny, have I got a film for you! I recently downloaded a copy of "The Case of the Screaming Bishop" because I not only enjoy Sherlock Holmes but because I like a good laugh. And, while it was a mocking adaptation of Sherlock Holmes, it just wasn't funny or necessary in the first place.This film begins with a crazy looking guy somehow sneaking a huge dinosaur from the local museum. Watson and Holmes give chase and it all culminates with a confrontation at the symphony hall where the maniac is using the skeleton as a xylophone. If this doesn't sound funny, join the club. Despite adequate black & white animation, there just isn't much to recommend this one.

Columbia's animation department at this point was turning out animated shorts pretty much because they had a contract to do them. Occasionally, they might do something halfway decent, often they were entertaining, but not much more than that. This is one of the halfway decent efforts. It's nothing special, but there are a few laughs and it's visually nice in spots. Here there be spoilers: The short opens with a crime in progress and the viewer can probably see where the short is going within about 45 seconds. A rather more bumbling sidekick named "Gotson" makes his way to a certain address on Baker Street to tell the eminent "Hairlock Combs" about the mystery robbery of a complete dinosaur skeleton. Even after having been spoon-fed the solution, Combs and Gotson go through all sorts of gyrations involving a wooden replica of the dinosaur until they add two plus two to finally reach four, catch the culprit and save the day.I wonder if Basil Rathbone or Nigel Bruce ever saw this one? Well worth seeing if you get the chance.

Case of the Screaming Bishop, The (1944) ** 1/2 (out of 4) This Columbia animated short is a spoof of the Sherlock Holmes movies, which were being made over at rival studio Universal at the time. In this film, a dinosaur skeleton goes missing so Hairlock Combs and Dr. Gotsome set out to try and find it as well as the thief. At first the mystery seems to great but they finally get a major clue when it turns out the thief just happens to be a musician. THE CASE OF THE SCREAMING BISHOP isn't a complete success and I'm sure most will find it rather bland but fans of Holmes will probably want to check it out. I was a little surprised to see this was from Columbia because the relationship between Combs and Gotsome is clearly inspired by the banter of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. The two have a very similar relationship, although the Gotsome character is certainly a tad bit dumber than what we saw Dr. Watson do in the Universal movies. I was impressed with the B&W animation including the terrific looking opening scene when the villain is introduced and the darkness really reminded me of the various noir titles that were starting to be released around this time. The story itself is rather weak and doesn't add up to much in the end but fans of the character will want to check it out.