Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942)

When Nazi saboteurs jeeringly predicts to the nation of new depredations via their radio Voice of Terror, the Intellegence Inner Council summons Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone)to help in ... See full summary »

Director:

John Rawlins

Writers:

Lynn Riggs (screenplay), John Bright (screenplay),

Stars:

Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Evelyn Ankers

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Basil Rathbone	...	Sherlock Holmes
Nigel Bruce	...	Doctor Watson
Evelyn Ankers	...	Kitty
Reginald Denny	...	Sir Evan Barham
Thomas Gomez	...	R.F. Meade
Henry Daniell	...	Anthony Lloyd
Montagu Love	...	General Jerome Lawford
Olaf Hytten	...	Fabian Prentiss
Leyland Hodgson	...	Captain Roland Shore

Storyline

When Nazi saboteurs jeeringly predicts to the nation of new depredations via their radio Voice of Terror, the Intellegence Inner Council summons Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone)to help in the crisis. Holmes and his companion, Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce), are visited the first night of their investigation;a man falls dying from a knife wound on their doorstep. His last word leads Holmes into the slums where he encounters Kitty (Evelyn Ankers), the sweetheart of the slain man.

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Plot Keywords:

terror | england | nazi | world war two | knife | 

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Taglines:

THE MASTER MINDS OF MYSTERY! (original print ad - all caps)

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Genres:

Crime | Thriller | Mystery

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 September 1942 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sherlock Holmes Saves London

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

65 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Debut of Thomas Gomez.

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Goofs

No one - not even Sherlock Holmes - would be able to phone the BBC and ask for a specific record to be played on air immediately, in the manner of a jukebox. There were no "BBC request stations."

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Quotes

[first lines]
Voice of Terror: [off-screen] Germany broadcasting. Germany broadcasting. People of Britain, greetings from the Third Reich. This is the voice you have learned to fear. This is the Voice of Terror. Again, we bring you disaster: crushing, humiliating disaster. It is folly to stand against the mighty wrath of the Fuhrer. Do you need more testimony of his invincible might to bring you to your knees? Very well. Are you ready, Operative Number 7? This is the Voice of Terror. A secret airplane factory ...

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Crazy Credits

SHERLOCK HOLMES, the immortal character of fiction created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is ageless, invincible and unchanging. In solving significant problems of the present day he remains - as ever - the supreme master of deductive reasoning.

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Connections

Followed by The Woman in Green (1945)

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Soundtracks

"Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67"
(uncredited)
Music by Ludwig van Beethoven

User Reviews

Good wartime thriller

"Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror" is an entertaining installment in the Rathbone/Bruce series, the first film of the series made for Universal. There's some rubbish at the beginning of the film letting us know that Sherlock Holmes is ageless, etc. to explain why he's fighting the Nazis all of a sudden. I'm not a big fan of Sherlock Holmes in spy mode, not in the films (which are still entertaining enough, but don't quite feel right), and not in the Arthur Conan Doyle stories either, including the one on which this is loosely based and directly quotes for its (superb) final scene, "His Last Bow". That particular story was a World War I story, however. This film runs for only 65 minutes, a good running time for this story, any longer would have stretched things out a bit too much. There's some typically fun sleuthing from Holmes, the performances are all good, and the photography and direction are excellent. All in all a high quality production that isn't fully to my taste but succeeds at what it's doing.