Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon

Infobox Film
name = Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon
image_size = 183px
caption = Movie Poster
director = Roy William Neil
producer = Howard Benedict
writer = Arthur Conan Doyle (characters)
W. Scott Darling (adaptation & screenplay)
narrator =
starring = Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes
Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson
Lionel Atwill as Professor Moriarty
music =
cinematography =
editing =
distributor = Universal Studios
released = February 12, 1943
runtime = 80 min
country = USA
language = English
budget =
gross =
preceded_by = "Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror"
followed_by = "Sherlock Holmes in Washington"
website =
amg_id = 1:44291
imdb_id = 0035317

"Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon" (1943) is the fourth in the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce series of Sherlock Holmes films.

Plot summary

Holmes successfully removes Professor Tobel 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 disappears, kidnapped by Holmes' arch-nemesis, Professor Moriarty, 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").

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 Watson 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. [Davies, David Stuart, "Holmes of the Movies" (New English Library, 1976) ISBN 450 03358 9]

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, "...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

External links

*google video|2671463631838051578|Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon
* [http://www.archive.org/details/secret_weapon This film at archive.org]