Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon [DVD]

 

 

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Basil Rathbone, wild quiff and impecable logic abounding, plays the diffinative Holmes and Nigel Bruce his loveable blustering and dosey companion is the only Watson. Based on Conan Doyle's "The dancing men" this rip roaring stomp around war torn London takes the breath away. His best disuises, worst enemies, secret codes, femme fatals, incompetent police and favorite side kick all set in a foggy black and white world. Join Holmes as he pits his wits against the agents of the Nazi war machine. An open fire, slippers and a milky drink with some chocolate will enhance this blast from the past. This series of films are not for Holmes purists as they are only losely based on Conan Doyles original stories. But of the 14 this is one of my favorites, it loses a star for some hammy flag flying.

Made in 1942 this was the fourth Basil Rathbone 'Sherlock Holmes' film.

As the credits roll you get the familiar warm 'safe' feeling that 'HE' is on the case. I love the music and dramatic effects; the crooked shots of Holmes in misty shadow with the 'in-your-face' fanfare and titles.

The film centres around a revolutionary 'bomb-sight' developed by a Swiss scientist. Holmes saves his life by posing as a Fascist 'Bookseller' "I sell you book by the famous German author Wilhelm Shakespeare" and decoys the Nazi agents. He then spirits the scientist to London where he wanders off stupidly and is kidnapped and tortured by none other than Professor Moriarty.

This is 221B with sandbags and it's more 'politically correct' than some of the other films. It's a propaganda film really.

The story skates over a lot of ground and ends abruptly (though not before England is saved) but of course the best bits are when Moriarty (Lionel Atwill) appears. In fact the rest of the film is a prelude leading up to the bit where they first lock horns. Atwill is immensely evil- he's brilliant!

Everything about this film is as good as I remember........

20th Century Fox present "SECRET WEAPON" (Released: 12 February 1943/68 mins) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) --- now in COLOR and Glorious Black and White --- Under Roy William Neill (Director), W. Scott Darling (Screenwriter), Edmund L. Hartmann (Screenwriter), Edward T. Lowe (Screenwriter), Lester White (Cinematographer), Charles Previn (Musical Direction/Supervision), Hans Salter (Composer (Music Score) ,Frank Skinner (Composer (Music Score), Otto Ludwig (Editor), Martin Obzina (Art Director), Jack Otterson (Art Director), Howard Benedict (Associate Producer), Russell A. Gausman (Set Designer), Edward Ray Robinson (Set Designer), Vera West (Costume Designer), Bernard B. Brown (Sound/Sound Designer), Paul Neal (Sound/Sound Designer) - - - - - - the story line and plot, In the midst of World War II, Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Watson (Nigel Bruce) are 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 formula goes missing, Holmes becomes involved in a rush to rescue the man and prevent nemesis Professor Moriarty (Lionel Atwill) getting hold of the rest of the formula --- Dennis Hoey makes his first appearance as the dogged Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard; teamed with Bruce, these two good-hearted but pedantic fellows actually get to save the intellectually superior Holmes' life twice --- Lionel Atwill, a master of the sinister who deserves more recognition for his talent, does a fine job as Moriarty, making the wicked rascal a foe worthy of Holmes' steel, relishing the scenes in which he gets to inflict torture & pain --- Rathbone spices up his already classic interpretation of Holmes by getting to appear in disguise three times during the film, thereby revealing to the viewer that the great sleuth was a bit of a ham actor at heart --- This film--which is based very loosely on elements in Sir Arthur's short stories 'The Dancing Men' and 'The Empty House" --- this was the first Holmes film Roy William Neill directed, he directed all of the rest and produced all but one, thus establishing a marvellous ambient continuity.

the cast includes:
Basil Rathbone - Sherlock Holmes
Nigel Bruce - Dr. John H. Watson
Kaaren Verne - Charlotte Eberli
Lionel Atwill - Prof. Moriarty
William Post, Jr. - Dr. Franz Tobel
Dennis Hoey - Inspector Lestrade
Holmes Herbert - Sir Reginald Dailey
Mary Gordon - Mrs. Hudson
Guy Kingsford - London Bobby
Henry Victor - Frederick Hoffner
Philip Van Zandt - Kurt
George Burr McAnnan - Gottfried
Harry Woods - Kurt
Harold de Becker - Peg Leg
Harry Cording - Jack Brady
Paul Bryar - Waiter
Rudolph Anders - Braun
Leyland Hodgson - R.A.F. Air Officer
Paul Fix - Mueller
James Craven - Bit
George Eldredge - Policeman

BIOS
1. Basil Rathbone (aka: Philip St. John Basil Rathbone)
Date of Birth: 13 June 1892 - Johannesburg, South Africa
Date of Death: 21 July 1967 - New York, New York

2. Nigel Bruce (aka: William Nigel Ernle Bruce)
Date of Birth: 4 February 1895 - Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
Date of Death: 8 October 1953 - Santa Monica, California

3. Roy William Neill (aka: Roland de Gostrie) (Director)
Date of Birth: 4 September 1887, (ship off Ireland)
Date of Death: 14 December 1946 - London, England, UK

Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who first appeared in publication in 1887 --- He is the creation of Scottish born author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle --- A brilliant London-based detective, Holmes is famous for his intellectual prowess, and is renowned for his skillful use of deductive reasoning and astute observation to solve difficult cases --- He is arguably the most famous fictional detective ever created, and is one of the best known and most universally recognisable literary characters in any genre.

Conan Doyle wrote four novels and fifty-six short stories that featured Holmes --- All but four stories are narrated by Holmes' friend and biographer, Dr. John H. Watson, two are narrated by Holmes himself, and two others are written in the third person --- The first two stories, short novels, appeared in Beeton's Christmas Annual for 1887 and Lippincott's Monthly Magazine in 1890 --- The character grew tremendously in popularity with the beginning of the first series of short stories in The Strand Magazine in 1891; further series of short stories and two serialised novels appeared almost right up to Conan Doyle's death in 1930 --- The stories cover a period from around 1878 up to 1903, with a final case in 1914. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Rathbone is most widely recognized for his starring role as Sherlock Holmes in fourteen movies between 1939 and 1946, all of which co-starred Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson --- The first two films, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (both 1939) were set in the late-Victorian times of the original stories --- Both of these were made by Twentieth Century Fox, later installments, made at Universal Studios, beginning with Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942), were set in contemporary times, and some had World War II-related plots --- Rathbone and Bruce also reprised their film roles in a radio series, The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939 - 1946) --- (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Legend Films can restore, colorize and release many of the classic earliest black and white films --- a patented coloring and remastering process makes each film picture perfect plus more vivd than ever --- no one can resist collecting every title that Legend Films releases.

Hats off and thanks to Barry B. Sandrew Ph.D. (Founder, COO & CTO) and his Legend Films Staff --- looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage era of the '20s, '30s & '40s --- order your copy now from Amazon where there are plenty of copies available on DVD --- if you enjoyed this title, why not check out Legend Films where they are experts in releasing long forgotten films and treasures to the collector.

Total Time: 68 mins on DVD ~ 20th Century Fox. ~ (4/19/2005)

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3.0 out of 5 stars A weak plot does a great disservice to Professor Moriarty
As a Holmesian traditionalist truly spoiled by the unsurpassed performances of Jeremy Brett as the great detective, I find it difficult to fully embrace the old 1940s Sherlock... Read more

Published on 20 Nov 2004 by Daniel Jolley

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