SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE VOICE OF TERROR (1942)

…I like this one quite a bit, though it’s clearly not up to the level (or production values) of Hound and Adventures. As you wrote, the voice of terror itself was freaky (with that train crash he “predicts” borrowed from The Invisible Man), and I just love that last speech borrowed from “His Last Bow” (unfortunately apropos for another world war). And it’s always great to see Evie Ankers—and Henry Daniell not as the villain.

The mystery ruse is a bit obvious, and very ridiculous (a similar ridiculousness later appearing in Terror by Night), but there’s one rather neat clue that I don’t recall seeing anywhere else:

The atmosphere is appropriately moody, with lots of film noir shadows, especially around the docks. (This is the only one of the Unis not directed by Neill, right?) Not as good as some of the later flicks, but still good entertainment.

One more mystery: Watson shouts something like “Holmes, you promised!”—promised not to wear the Deerstalker, that is. I’ve never understood why we needed to modernize Holmes’s headgear.