If you got a chance to listen to the episode of "The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" from December 25, 1945, I'm sure you'll agree that was a pleasant "Night Before Christmas" for radio audiences!
As a side note, Terry Kilburn, who portrayed Tiny Tim in MGM's "A Christmas Carol" (1938), has a good part in "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" (1939), the second and final Holmes film produced by 20th Century Fox before the franchise moved over to Universal in 1942 for a dozen lower-budgeted, but entertaining B-pictures.
Nigel Bruce played Dr. Watson opposite Rathbone's Holmes and it would not be a stretch that Watson was his best-known role. He also has good parts in "Rebecca" (1940) and "Suspicion" (1941) two classic Alfred Hitchcock movies.
Basil Rathbone had a much more varied career and has roles in many classic movies of different genres. I tend to mostly associate him with swashbuckling films, engaging in especially awesome swordfights with Errol Flynn in "Captain Blood" (1935) and "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938) and Tyrone Power in "The Mark of Zorro." He later turned in a brilliant comic performance as the villain in the Danny Kaye spoof "The Court Jester" from 1956.
Throw in good roles in the MGM 1935 Dickens adaptations of "David Copperfield" and "A Tale of Two Cities," as well as the 1939 Universal pictures "Tower of London" and "Son of Frankenstein" (Baron Wolf von Frankenstein? Awesome!) and you have just a few films on a great resumé that still resonates with classic film buffs!
Plus, for our purposes, he portrayed Ebenezer Scrooge on records and radio, as well as two separate TV productions, not to mention Marley's Ghost.
Still, if you're going to be mainly remembered for one role, you could do much worse than Sherlock Holmes!
Just for fun, here's a clip from the 1943 movie "Crazy House" showing the comic reactions of Universal Studios when stars Olsen & Johnson arrive on the lot to make a picture:
That's just brilliant!
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