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Post by ant-mac on Nov 6, 2018 16:16:49 GMT
SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SECRET WEAPON (1943) 4/5.
SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SECRET WEAPON is the fourth in the SHERLOCK HOLMES film series to star Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. It is written by Edmund L Hartmann, W Scott Darling and Edward T Lowe Junior and is based on the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle short story, THE ADVENTURE OF THE DANCING MEN. The music is provided by Frank Skinner, the film is produced by Howard Benedict and it’s directed by Roy William Neill
It stars Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes, Nigel Bruce as Doctor Watson, Lionel Atwill as Professor James Moriarty, Dennis Hoey as Inspector Lestrade and Mary Gordon as Mrs Hudson. It also features Kaaren Verne, William Post Junior, Holmes Herbert and Henry Victor.
The film is credited as an adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's short story THE ADVENTURE OF THE DANCING MEN. However, the only element from the source material is the dancing men code. It is in fact an original spy story, taking place during the Second World War. Moriarty has kidnapped a Swiss scientist and plans to steal a new bomb sight and sell it to Nazi Germany. Holmes and Watson have to crack a secret code in order to save the country. An enjoyable bit of fun.
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Post by Nalkarj on Nov 6, 2018 18:35:41 GMT
This one’s OK, but I don’t think it’s as good as Voice of Terror, let alone The Scarlet Claw and The Pearl of Death. Moriarty’s plan spooked me as a kid—drain his blood drop-by-drop!—but Atwill’s Moriarty isn’t quite at the same level of grinning EVILness as George Zucco’s or Eric Porter’s.
The best scene is probably the one in which they decode the dancing men.
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Post by ant-mac on Nov 6, 2018 20:25:20 GMT
This one’s OK, but I don’t think it’s as good as Voice of Terror, let alone The Scarlet Claw and The Pearl of Death. Moriarty’s plan spooked me as a kid—drain his blood drop-by-drop!—but Atwill’s Moriarty isn’t quite at the same level of grinning EVILness as George Zucco’s or Eric Porter’s. The best scene is probably the one in which they decode the dancing men. Personally, I put SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SECRET WEAPON ahead of SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE VOICE OF TERROR.
Mainly due to the contribution made by Lionel Atwill as Professor James Moriarty.
However, the other films you mentioned are far ahead of them both. in my opinion.
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