Dressed to Kill (1946)

Director:

Roy William Neill

Writers:

Arthur Conan Doyle (story) and
Frank Gruber (adaptation)

Release Date:

7 June 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Queen . . . of a Crime Cult !

Plot:

A set of cheap music boxes that people are willing to kill for puts Sherlock Holmes on the case.

Plot Keywords:

Sherlock Holmes | Thief | Prison | Counterfeiter | Knife

Cast

Basil Rathbone	...	Sherlock Holmes
Nigel Bruce	...	Dr. John H. Watson
Patricia Morison	...	Mrs. Hilda Courtney
Edmund Breon	...	'Stinky' Emery (as Edmond Breon)
Frederick Worlock	...	Colonel Cavanaugh (as Frederic Worlock)
Carl Harbord	...	Inspector Hopkins
Patricia Cameron	...	Evelyn Clifford
Holmes Herbert	...	Ebenezer Crabtree
Harry Cording	...	Hamid
Leyland Hodgson	...	Tour guide
Mary Gordon	...	Mrs. Hudson
Ian Wolfe	...	Commissioner of Scotland Yard

Also Known As:

Prelude to Murder (USA) (working title) (USA) (DVD title)
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Code (UK)
Sherlock Holmes in Dressed to Kill
Sherlock Holmes: Dressed to Kill (USA) (DVD title)

Runtime:

72 min (video version) | 76 min (copyright length)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (video rating) (1992) | USA:Approved (PCA #11512, General Audience)

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

One of several titles in the Sherlock Holmes series whose original copyrights were apparently not renewed and have thereby fallen into public domain; as a result, seriously inferior copies are presently being offered by a number of VHS and DVD dealers who do not have access to original studio masters.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: "Dressed to Kill" takes place in contemporary times at the end of World War II. Watson refers to the events in his story "A Scandal in Bohemia" taking place two years earlier. In the story Bohemia was a independent kingdom, but in 1943 it was obviously part of Hitler's Third Reich.

Quotes:

'Stinky' Emery: [remarking on one of his music boxes] Charming, isn't it?
Holmes: Quite!
Watson: [bored] They all sound to me like a lot of mice running about a tin roof.

Movie Connections:

Follows Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942)

Soundtrack:

London Bridge is Falling Down

The Last Of The Wonderful Rathbone-Bruce Holmes Movies

I have to agree with about everyone here on two things: 1 - it's sad to see this great combination of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce end its run of Sherlock Holmes films, and 2 - it's too bad it ended with a mediocre film.

The story involves several music boxes which are made in prison and sold at an auction. Whoever buys them, gets killed. (I was sorry to see Dr. Watson's friend "Stinky" bite the dust so early, as he was one of the more interesting characters.)

The main culprit is a deadly female who reminds Holmes of an ex-foe he has great respect for: "Irene Adler." This character is "Hilda Courtney" (Patricia Morrison).

Actually, if I was grading this, I'd give it a C for "average." It's not the worst one in the series, as some people think, but it's not riveting, either, and I can see why the guys decided to "pack it in" after this one. The end of World War II also signaled the end of this series as a number of them were WWII stories.

It was a wonderful ride. I own all of them in the series and have a high regard for everyone connected with the set. I still think Rathbone is THE Sherlock Holmes and always will be.