Sherlock Holmes And The Secret Weapon / The Many Faces Of Sherlock Holmes

Starring: Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce Director: Roy William Neill Original UK Premiere: 1942 Dvd Release: 9th October, 2000 Number Of Discs: 1 Format: Black & White, Colour, PAL, Region 0 Encoding

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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 Holmes films starring Basil Rathbone. If for no other reason, its just odd to see Holmes, Watson, & Lestrade transported to the World War II era. Obviously, this film is not a product of any of the writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle , a fact made manifest to even the most casual of observers by the overall weaknesses of this plot. While Holmes displays some of the remarkable talents of observation he is famous for, he cant hold a mental candle to Doyles Holmes, & his archenemy, Professor Moriarty, displays none of the mental acumen that made him Holmes intellectual equal in the stories of the canon.

There is a propaganda element to Sherlock Holmes & 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, & Holmes is sent to Switzerland to safeguard Doctor Franz Tobel & conduct him & his innovative bombsight to London - before he & 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 . Normally, a renewal of the struggle between Holmes & 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 & large, successful portrayer of the great detective . Dr. Watson is almost buffoon-like at times & barely manages to shine even in the presence of Inspector Lestrade . Personally, I was not very impressed by Lionel Atwills 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, & the atmosphere is, at times, noticeably Sherlockian, but Sherlock Holmes & 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.

Basil Rathbone was an English actor. He was born Philip St. John Basil Rathbone in Johannesburg, South Africa, a son of Edgar Philip Rathbone & Anna Barbara George. His younger sister & brother were Beatrice Rathbone & John Rathbone. Rathbone was married to actress Marion Foreman & writer Ouida Bergere. He & Foreman had one son, Rodion Rathbone & he & Bergere had one adopted daughter, Cynthia Rathbone. He died of a heart attack at his home in New York City. He is interred in the Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale, New York. During the 1920s, Rathbone appeared in Shakespearean roles on the British stage. He was in a few silent movies & played detective Philo Vance in the 1929 movie The Bishop Murder Case. Rathbone became famous for playing suave villains in many swashbucklers of the 1930s, including David Copperfield, Anna Karenina, The Last Days of Pompeii, Captain Blood, A Tale of Two Cities, The Adventures of Robin Hood & The Mark of Zorro. He was most notable for his starring roles in fifteen Sherlock Holmes movies. Posters Of Basil Rathbone

Editors Choice: Terror By Night, The Adventures Of Ichabod And Mr Toad, Dressed To Kill, Sherlock Holmes And The House Of Fear, Sherlock Holmes And The Spiderwoman, The Pearl Of Death, The Scarlet Claw, Sherlock Holmes And The Secret Weapon, View DVDology

William Nigel Bruce, usually credited as Nigel Bruce, was a British character actor, best known as Dr Watson in a series of films starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes. The son of a baronet, he was born in Ensenada, Mexico, where his parents were on vacation. He was severely wounded in World War I & spent most of the war in a wheelchair. In 1920 he began his career on stage & eight years later started working in silent films. In 1934 he moved to Hollywood. During his career he worked on 77 movies, including Treasure Island, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Lassie Come Home, The Corn is Green & Bwana Devil. He played buffoonish, fuzzy-minded gentlemen & his signature role was that of Dr Watson in the Sherlock Holmes series beginning in 1939 with his good friend Basil Rathbone. Holmes purists objected that Watson in the books was an intelligent & capable person, just not a super detective & that the Bruce portrayal made him seem dimmer & more bumbling than he was. But for millions of fans, Bruce was the definitive Watson. There were 14 films made & he also played Watson on the radio. Posters Of The Scarlet Claw

Editors Choice: Dressed To Kill, Terror By Night, Sherlock Holmes And The House Of Fear, Sherlock Holmes And The Spiderwoman, The Pearl Of Death, The Scarlet Claw, Sherlock Holmes And The Secret Weapon, Sherlock Holmes In Washington, View DVDology

Roy William Neill was a film director known for directing several of the Sherlock Holmes films starring Basil Rathbone & Nigel Bruce. With his father captaining, Neill was born on a ship off the coast of Ireland September 4, 1887 & named Roland de Gostrie. He began directing silent movies in 1917 & went on to helm 107 films, 40 of them silent. Although most of Neills films were low-budget B-movies, he was known for directing films with meticulously lit scenes with carefully layered shadows that would become the style of film noir in the late 1940s. In fact, his last film, 1946s Black Angel, is considered film noir. Also credited as R William Neill, Roy W Neill & Roy Neill. Neill died in 1946. Posters Of Sherlock Holmes And The Secret Weapon

Editors Choice: Dressed To Kill, Sherlock Holmes And The Secret Weapon, Sherlock Holmes And The House Of Fear, Sherlock Holmes And The Spiderwoman, The Pearl Of Death, The Scarlet Claw, Sherlock Holmes In Washington, Terror By Night, View DVDology

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