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Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon
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Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1943) More at IMDbPro »

Videos
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1943) -- Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce team up as Holmes and Watson to investigate a code left by a shifty bomb-sight inventor.  The errant scientist seems to have a coded message for Holmes's arch-nemesis, Dr. Moriarity.

Overview

User Rating:
6.8/10   2,113 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 6% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Edward T. Lowe Jr. (screenplay) &
Scott Darling (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
12 February 1943 (USA) more
Plot:
Starting in Switzerland, Sherlock Holmes rescues the inventor of a bomb-sight which the allies want to keep from the Nazis... more | full synopsis
NewsDesk:
A Fistful of News - 5 More Stories From Us to You
 (From Collider.com. 16 November 2009, 11:15 PM, PST)

User Comments:
Enjoyable Holmes outing more (50 total)

Cast

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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Secret Weapon (USA) (short title)
Sherlock Holmes Fights Back (USA) (working title)
The Secret Weapon (Australia)
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Runtime:
UK:80 min | USA:68 min
Country:
Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Recording)
Certification:
Australia:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:PG (video rating) (1990) | UK:U (original rating) (cut) | USA:Approved (PCA #8660)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The set used for Professor Moriarty's hide out was used as a pub/bar in Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942). more
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. more
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... more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in The Great Mouse Detective (1986) more
Soundtrack:
Sobre las Olas (Over the Waves) more

FAQ

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16 out of 18 people found the following comment useful.
Enjoyable Holmes outing, 25 December 2003
Author: bob the moo from Birmingham, UK

In the midst of WWII, Holmes is involved in the protection of a scientist working on a secret weapon that may prove to be a turning point against the Nazi's. When the scientist and his formulae goes missing, Holmes becomes involved in a rush to rescue the man and prevent nemesis Professor Moriarty getting hold of the rest of the formulae.

Although I'm not a major fan of the Holmes films where he finds himself in the modern day world, this is one of the better ones I have seen thus far. The plot is a little thick at the start but really gets going when the scientist goes missing. The investigation by Holmes is very engaging and the climax has a nice couple of scenes where Holmes and Moriarty match wits.

Rathbone makes a good Holmes as always and here he happily hasn't as bad a haircut as he did in some of the modern films. Bruce is much better than usual - he is less of a mug and is made less fun of by Holmes, he actually shows a bit of sense about him. Indeed so does Lestrade (Hoey), so often a comedy figure, it's nice to see him involved a bit more than usual! Atwill's Moriarty is good but I always saw him as a leaner, meaner man - Atwill looks more like Watson than Sherlock, even though their battle of wits is good I never felt that he was any match for Holmes, never mind being a nemesis.

Overall I enjoyed this film. It does have a small bit of propaganda at the very end but, unlike some of the other films, doesn't ram it down your throat - by making it about Moriarty rather than Nazi goons, the film works better. It has a slow start but it opens up to be very enjoyable.

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Holmes fighting the nazis!!! arbesudecon
Did Moriarty...? jessicahjoy87
Did Dr. Tobel Feel Any Remorse After His Colleagues' Murders? Attillio
Colorized versions mustangp51b
Rathbone's voice davidnsmall
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