DVD: SHERLOCK HOLMES ARCHIVE COLLECTION AVAILABLE OCTOBER 20, 2009

Coming to Region 1 (North America) DVD on October 20, 2009  is a 3-disc boxed set from Synergy Entertainment called SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE ARCHIVE COLLECTION. While a number of the pieces collected here will be familiar to folks who picked up a couple compilation videos by Video Yesteryear in the 1980s or a later retread called Sherlock Holmes: The Early Years, this does contain a few rarities first seeing the light of day in this package. Most noteworthy is Sting of Death with Boris Karloff. This was an adaptation of H.F. Heard's novel A TASTE FOR HONEY which aired on February 22, 1955 on ABC-TV as part of "The Elgin Hour" and hasn't been available for viewing ever since - except for prints in film museums. While I don't expect much in the way of decent film quality from Synergy Entertainment, it should be better than the old vhs packages I mentioned previously. The full contents are listed below.

DISC ONE
Sherlock Holmes' Fatal Hour - Arthur Wontner, 1931.
Lost in Limehouse - Olaf Hytten as Sheerluck Jones, 1933.
Limejuice Mystery - Herlock Sholmes marionettes, 1930.

DISC TWO
Sting of Death - Boris Karloff as the mysterious Mycroft, 1955.
The Man Who Disappeared - John Longden as Sherlock, 1951.
A Case of Hypnosis - Prof. Lightskull the chimpanzee! 1952.
Strange Case of Hennessy - Cliff Edwards as Silo Dance, 1933.

DISC THREE
The Speckled Band - Alan Napier as Sherlock, 1949.
The Copper Beeches - Georges Treville, 1912, with special musical score.
Man With The Twisted Lip - Eille Norwood, 1921, with special musical score.
The Screaming Bishop - Hairlock Combs cartoon, 1944.
Bonus Film starring Basil Rathbone as an army officer in The General's Boots from 1954.

The DVD collection is available from your favourite DVD dealers or can be ordered from Amazon USA