Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1943)

Director:

Roy William Neill

Writers:

Arthur Conan Doyle (short story "Dancing Men" from volume "The Return of Sherlock Holmes")
Scott Darling (adaptation) ...

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:

Super Villain | Good Versus Evil | Detective | Sequel | Private Detective

Cast

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

French | English

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 #8657)

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 was 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. But when he speaks the accompanying line "they fade out again sir" to Dennis Hoey as "Lestrade", and subsequent lines, he clearly has a rather crude *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: The secret weapon bomb sight is a standard photographic enlarger with the bellows and lens set upside down. If it were turned on as it is set up in the movie, the light would shine brightly upwards into the bombardier's eye.

Quotes:

Dr. John H. Watson: Things are looking up, Holmes. This little Island's still on the map.
Sherlock Holmes: Yes. "This fortress - built by nature for herself; This blessed plot, this Earth, this realm, this England."

Movie Connections:

Follows The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)

Soundtrack:

Sobre las Olas (Over the Waves)

I'm relived to see the others thoughts mirror my own.

My lowest ranked Holmes film so far as I work my way thru the super remastered box set I purchased not long ago. Although the previous effort The Voice Of Terror had its limitations and annoyances I still felt that the transition from Fox to Universal Studios, and Victorian in to modern day, was still a success of sorts, yet this film (The Secret Weapon) takes two steps back and feels like it was wrote in two minutes flat.

What should be a flag waving trumpet blowing return of Moriarty, is something of a damp squib, we are fed the anti nazi propaganda for so long we barely have time to enjoy the return of the principal rotter of the series, this is unforgivable since up to the point of Moriarty appearing we have been subjected to boorish dialogue, preposterous plot strands, and a sense of going thru the motions from all involved.

The final 15 minutes saves the film with Holmes & Moriarty going at each other like vipers, but it still doesn't quite get the bad taste out of the mouth, I'm dusting off my copy of Baskervilles to remind me that good work exsists in the series.

5/10.