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'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is not based on any of Conan Doyle's original stories and, according to Holmes scholars, only nominally adapted from the credited stage play by William Gillette. The film pits Holmes against his arch-nemesis, Professor Moriarty (played with cool cunning and obsessive drive by frequent screen heavy George Zucco), who escapes a murder charge in the opening scene and proceeds to bait Holmes with a challenge. "I'm going to bring off right under your nose the most incredible crime of the century, and you'll never suspect it until it's too late," he taunts the detective. "It'll be the end of you, Sherlock Holmes." Thus he begins a master plan that involves enigmatic letters, a flustered young beauty, a murdered aristocrat, a South American stalker (complete with an eerie wooden flute that haunts the victims) and the priceless (and fictional) Star of Delhi.' TCM