Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1943)

Director:

Roy William Neill

Writers:

Edward T. Lowe Jr. (screenplay) &
Scott Darling (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

12 February 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

Starting in Switzerland, Sherlock Holmes rescues the inventor of a bomb-sight which the allies want to keep from the Nazis...

Plot Keywords:

Switzerland | Sherlock Holmes | Inventor | Nazi | Rescue

Cast

Basil Rathbone	...	Sherlock Holmes
Nigel Bruce	...	Doctor John H. Watson
Lionel Atwill	...	Professor James Moriarty
Kaaren Verne	...	Charlotte Eberli
William Post Jr.	...	Dr. Franz Tobel
Dennis Hoey	...	Inspector Beth Lestrade
Holmes Herbert	...	Sir Reginald Bailey
Mary Gordon	...	Mrs. Martha Hudson

Also Known As:

Secret Weapon (USA) (short title)
Sherlock Holmes Fights Back (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

UK:80 min | USA:68 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Sweden:15 | UK:PG (video rating) (1990) | UK:U (original rating) (cut) | USA:Approved (PCA #8660)

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

A modern source lists Philip Van Zandt as Kurt and includes Henry Daniell in the cast as well. However, the role of Kurt is played by Harry Woods and neither Van Zandt nor Daniell appear in the film at all. The unidentified actor mistaken for Daniell plays a Scotland Yard detective slowly driving the police vehicle following the trail of paint, toward the climax of the film. First seen in 3/4 profile leaning out the car window, he does seem to resemble Daniell. However, when he speaks the accompanying line "they fade out again sir" to Dennis Hoey (Insp. Lestrade), and subsequent lines, he clearly has a rather heavy *Brooklyn* accent, and seen in other shots during the scene does not in any way resemble Daniell, and the momentary appearance to the contrary is clearly an optical illusion.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Sherlock in his lascar disguise goes on his pub/bar crawl: in the second pub, the Golden Hawk, the darts board he stands in front of is hung wrongly, with #20 at 1-o-clock instead of 12-o-clock.

Quotes:

Sherlock Holmes: Christmas boxes! Watson, I'm beginning to see the plan. Dr. Tobell divided his bombsight into four parts. He's given one of these four parts to each of these scientists. What a fascinating plan! You see, each of these parts is useless without the other three...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

Soundtrack:

Rule Britannia

Not A Lot Of Credibility But A Whole Lot Of Entertainment

Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) begins this story in disguise, helping to smuggle famous physicist "Dr. Franz Tobel" (William Post) out of Switzeralnad and under the watchful eye of the Nazis, who want his bomb sight plans. The Allies obviously want it, too, and Sherlock is there to help. Dr. Tobel has invented an instrument which greatly aids in the accuracy of aerial bombardment.

Holmes and Dr. Tobel arrive safely back at Baker Street but the scientist would rather be alone, for some mysterious reason, although he had promised the English to help them, not the Germans. He stays true to that promise but there are some desperate moments for Holmes and the English along the way.

It's an entertaining film and one in which our famous detective uses not one but three different disguises. He needs all the help he can get when he goes up against his arch-rival, "Professor Moriarity." One complaint: if Moriarity was that evil, he would have dispensed with Holmes without batting an eyelash, instead of giving him openings to escape. It's pretty sad, too, when the usual dim-witted Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) has to rescue his boss from certain death a couple of times!

Yes, there are some credibility issues in this story but if you can put your brain on hold a few times, it's a fun film to watch....and it looks beautiful, thanks to the great restoration job done on this DVD. It makes the old print come alive with some wonderful visuals, particularly the night-time shots.

One other note: whoever did the English subtitles in here misspelled or misinterpreted at least a half dozen words. It's very sloppy work, and not the first time I've encountered this watching the entire series on the restored DVD set.