Sherlock Holmes And The Secret Weapon [DVD] [1942]

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........

There is a propaganda element to Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon, as the plot pits Holmes in a race against time to keep a military secret from falling into the hands of the Germans. Holmes' final speech, I might add, surely did an effective job of rallying British audiences amidst the dark days of 1942. A Swiss scientist has invented a new bombsight capable of greatly increasing the accuracy of bombs, and Holmes is sent to Switzerland to safeguard Doctor Franz Tobel and conduct him and his innovative bombsight to London - before he and his discovery fall into the hands of the Gestapo. Once safely ensconced in the British capitol, though, Tobel refuses to part with his secret, insisting that he alone oversee the production of his nifty bombsight. Naturally, he soon disappears - courtesy of Professor Moriarty. The only solid clue Holmes has to work with is a piece of paper bearing the faintest of imprints of a coded message the scientist left behind (here's where your dancing men come in). Normally, a renewal of the struggle between Holmes and Moriarty lifts a Holmesian story to great heights, but neither great man really impressed me - especially Moriarty, who came across as a sad amateur rather than the greatest criminal mastermind in England. Furthermore, no matter what you might think of Professor Moriarty, I for one do not believe he would betray his own country.

Rathbone makes for an interesting and, by and large, successful portrayer of the great detective (even though it looks as if he and Shemp Howard shared the same barber). Dr. Watson (played by Nigel Bruce) is almost buffoon-like at times and barely manages to shine even in the presence of Inspector Lestrade (Dennis Hoey). Personally, I was not very impressed by Lionel Atwill's portrayal of Professor Moriarty, but the weakness of his character here would naturally preclude any actor from excelling in the role.

This is still an interesting film with some enjoyable moments, and the atmosphere is, at times, noticeably Sherlockian, but Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon is very much in the pastiche vein and, as such, delivers only the palest of incarnations of the great detective - although I must admit the World War II propaganda aspect of the film makes it a little more interesting than it would otherwise be.