Sherlock Holmes/Racket Squad

Rating:
Summary: Another good 1950s TV release from Nostalgia Ventures
Review: Nostalgia Ventures is a small, independent DVD releasing company that specializes in classic television shows from, mostly, the 1950s. While their material is from the public domain, generally, I have found it to be of better quality than some of the other DVD releasing companies that specialize in public domain material. This release is no exception.

The Sherlock Holmes series was produced in 1954 by an American, Sheldon Reynolds, in France, with a largely British cast that included Ronald (son of Leslie) Howard as Holmes, H. Marion Crawford as Dr. Watson and Archie Duncan as Inspector Lestrade. The series was syndicated in the United States during the 1954-1955 season and had a run of 39 episodes. The episodes included here include "The Case of the Belligerent Ghost," "The Case of the Careless Suffragette," and "The Case of the Unlucky Gambler." Because of the short running time (under 30 minutes), the episodes move along at a quick pace and the acting is enjoyable. After having viewed Sherlock Holmes compilations from both Alpha Video and Madacy, I have to say that these episodes are the best of the bunch, particularly as the video portion is concerned. The episodes are not problem free . . . there are occasional scratches and specks . . . but they certainly are clearer looking than the soft, fuzzy looking prints used by Alpha and Madacy. The downside is that there are only 3 episodes in this set, compared with Alpha (4 episodes on each of two separate volumes) and Madacy (10 episodes on a two-disc set).

Racket Squad appeared in the early 1950s and starred Reed Hadley as Captain Braddock. The series explored the criminal world of fraud, confidence men and scams in all shapes and sizes. While not quite as gritty as the 1950s landmark crime series Dragnet, the show was still very popular. The episodes included here are "One More Dream, "The Raccoon Hunt," and "Blessed Expense." In comparison with a four episode release of Racket Squad episodes from Alpha Video, Nostalgia Ventures' release once again comes out ahead in terms of audio/visual quality, though by not as wide a margin as the Sherlock Holmes episodes.

My only complaint on the releases from Nostalgia Ventures are that they only include three episodes per disc when they could easily include four episodes and still retain a single layer DVD format as other DVD releasing companies have done. Hence my rating of four stars versus five.