Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon
| Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Roy William Neil |
| Produced by | Howard Benedict |
| Written by | Arthur Conan Doyle (characters) W. Scott Darling (adaptation & screenplay) |
| Starring | Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson Lionel Atwill as Professor Moriarty |
| Distributed by | Universal Studios |
| Release date(s) | February 12, 1943 |
| Running time | 80 min |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror |
| Followed by | Sherlock Holmes in Washington |
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1943) is the fourth in the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce series of Sherlock Holmes films.
Contents |
Plot summary
Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) successfully removes Dr. Franz Tobel {William Post Jr.) and his new invention - the "Tobel Bombsight" (analogous to the real-life Norden Bombsight) - from Switzerland to safety in England under the noses of German agents. However once in England, Tobel secretly visits his wife Charlotte Eberli Tobel (Kaaren Verne}, had a near kidnapping outside her home by Holmes' arch-nemesis, Professor Moriarty (Lionel Atwill}, now in league with the Nazis. However Tobel has left a cryptic message in code behind (taken from the Arthur Conan Doyle story The Adventure of the Dancing Men).
The next day, Franz successfully demonstrates his new bombsight for Sir Reginald Bailey (Holmes Herbert) and the British air ministry. Back at Whitehall, Franz tells Sir Reginald that, while he is willing to allow the British to use his invention, only he will know its secret. Franz then splits his invention into four parts and hires four Swiss scientists living in London to construct separately each part. Soon after, Holmes receives a call from Scotland Yard's Inspector Lestrade (Dennis Hoey) telling him that Franz has disappeared[1].
Holmes cracks the code and tracks Tobel down, in the process utilizing his skill in disguises, appearing as a Swiss inventor, a criminal Lascar, and an elderly German bookseller.
In the climax of the film Holmes is captured by Moriarty and given his choice of deaths. Holmes opines that it would be curious to have the blood drawn from his body and slowly fade away. Moriarty has a fully equipped operating theatre, so Holmes's idea is soon implemented. A large IV needle, a long rubber tube, and a five-gallon bottle are set up to siphon Holmes's blood out of his body. Fortunately for Holmes, it takes over an hour to die this way, which gives his friends time to find and rescue him: Dr. John H. Watson (Nigel Bruce) raises the blood bottle above Holmes and reverses the siphon flow. Colour returns to Holmes's face (barely visible in this black-and-white film), and he wakes up. Moriarty tries to escape, but falls to his death because of a trap door deliberately left open by Holmes.[2]
This is the second Basil Rathbone "Sherlock Holmes" film in which Moriarty appears, and also the second one in which he dies (played by George Zucco, Moriarty was thrown to his death from the top of the Tower of London by Holmes in 1939's The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes). In what would probably be considered a ridiculous suspension of disbelief, Moriarty, as played by Henry Daniell, was to return and die yet again (by falling accidentally this time), in The Woman in Green; although that latter death of Moriarty was seemingly permanent for this movie series as his death is referenced in the context of having been verified in subsequent titles of the series (e.g., During a scene on the train in Terror By Night, when Holmes says to Inspector Lestrade (Dennis Hoey), "...Colonel Sebastian Moran was the most sinister, ruthless, and diabolically clever henchman of our late but unlamented friend, Professor Moriarty.").
Cast
- Basil Rathbone – Sherlock Holmes
- Nigel Bruce – Dr. Watson
- Lionel Atwill – Professor Moriarty
- Kaaren Verne – Charlotte Eberli
- William Post Jr. – Dr. Franz Tobel
- Dennis Hoey – Inspector Lestrade
- Holmes Herbert – Sir Reginald Bailey
- Mary Gordon – Mrs. Hudson
Notes
This film marks the first appearance of Dennis Hoey as Inspector Lestrade - the Scotland Yard detective who, with Watson, provides much of the comic relief in six of the films of the series.
Lionel Atwill appeared previously in the film The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) as Dr. Mortimer.
References
- ^ http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=89911
- ^ Davies, David Stuart, Holmes of the Movies (New English Library, 1976) ISBN 450 03358 9
External links
This article about a Why are we here?
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
This page is cache of Wikipedia. History