Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942)

Director:

John Rawlins

Writers:

Lynn Riggs (screenplay) &
John Bright (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

18 September 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller | Mystery

Tagline:

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

Plot:

When Nazi saboteurs jeeringly predicts to the nation of new depredations via their radio Voice of Terror...

Plot Keywords:

Terror | England | Nazi | World War Two | Knife

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rudolph Anders	...	Schieler - Nazi at Church (uncredited)
Edgar Barrier	...	Voice of Terror (voice) (uncredited)
Robert Barron	...	Gavin (uncredited)
Ted Billings	...	Basement Dive Bartender (uncredited)
Arthur Blake	...	Crosbie (uncredited)
Hillary Brooke	...	Jill Grandis - Driver (uncredited)
Harry Cording	...	Camberwell - Basement Dive Patron (uncredited)
Leslie Denison	...	Air Raid Warden Dobson (uncredited)
Herbert Evans	...	Smithson - Barham's Butler (uncredited)
Mary Gordon	...	Mrs. Hudson (uncredited)
Fred Graham	...	Meade's Henchman (uncredited)
Alec Harford	...	Grimes - Basement Dive Patron (uncredited)
Charles Jordan	...	Duggan - Basement Dive Patron (uncredited)
Gavin Muir	...	BBC Radio Announcer (voice) (uncredited)
John Rogers	...	Basement Dive Patron (uncredited)
George Sherwood	...	London Cab Driver (uncredited)
Arthur Stenning	...	British Officer (uncredited)
Donald Stuart	...	Grady - Basement Dive Doorkeeper (unconfirmed) (uncredited)
Harry Stubbs	...	Taxi Driver 3016 (uncredited)
John Wilde	...	Heinrich - Nazi at Church (uncredited)

Directed by
John Rawlins

Writing credits
Lynn Riggs		(screenplay) &
John Bright		(screenplay)
Arthur Conan Doyle		(story "His Last Bow")
Robert Hardy Andrews		(adaptation) (as Robert D. Andrews)

Produced by
Howard Benedict	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Frank Skinner

Cinematography by
Elwood Bredell		(as Woody Bredell)

Film Editing by
Russell F. Schoengarth		(as Russell Schoengarth)

Art Direction by
Jack Otterson

Set Decoration by
Russell A. Gausman		(as R.A. Gausman)

Costume Design by
Vera West		(gowns)

Art Department
Martin Obzina	....	associate art director
Edward R. Robinson	....	associate set decorator

Sound Department
Bernard B. Brown	....	sound director
Robert Pritchard	....	technician

Music Department
Charles Previn	....	musical director
Richard Hageman	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
Tom McKnight	....	technical advisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1942) (USA) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures Proprietary (1942) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures Proprietary (1942) (New Zealand) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures Corporation of Chile (1942) (Chile) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures Corporation of Peru (1942) (Peru) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures Corporation of Peru (1942) (Bolivia) (theatrical)
• Motion Pictures for Television (MPTV) (1952) (USA) (TV)
• CBS/Fox (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• CBS/Fox (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• MPI Home Video (2003) (USA) (VHS)
• MPI Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• MPI Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

65 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

UK:U | USA:Approved | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

This is the third of fourteen films based on Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional consulting detective Sherlock Holmes starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Doctor Watson. It is the first in the series to be taken out of the Victorian age and set in modern times. It is also the first to be produced at Universal Studios. (The previous two films were made at 20th Century Fox.)

Goofs:

Factual errors: 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."

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...

Movie Connections:

Features The Invisible Man (1933)

Soundtrack:

Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67

A Classic Wartime Movie

Any criticism today of the plot's credibility has to be put in the context of the reason the film was made in the first place. Simply it was a jingoistic, morale boosting piece of theatre for the film going public, by 1942 ravaged by the blitz in London, rationing and the fear of Lord Haw Haw broadcasts.

Sure the plot is thin, Evelyn Ankers plays an East End waif with more than a touch of Southern American drawl and the red herrings are obvious.

That said Rathbone remains the pinnacle Sherlock Holmes and Bruce the lovable bumbling side kick. Great entertainment.