Directed by Roy William Neill
Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce had already done two Sherlock Holmes films for 20th Century-Fox when Universal picked them up and decided to try something bold by turning the franchise into part of the Hollywood war effort. This meant transplanting the sleuth of Baker Street from his late 19th-century setting to the war-torn London of the '40s. For the studio's second Holmes installment Universal brought to the helm Roy William Neill, a veteran Hollywood director who'd go on to become the main force behind the series.
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon was supposedly based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic story "The Adventure of the Dancing Men," but as so often in the series there appears to be little connection between the finished film and its ostensible literary source. The film's story line involves the kidnapping of an inventor, Nazi spies, and the first appearance in the series of the most infamous of Holmes' adversaries, Professor Moriarty.
One connection that Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon does share with its source material is in the very first scene where Holmes, a master of disguise, enters as an old bookseller in order to smuggle a scientist away from the Nazis. It is a bravura sequence that shows Holmes perfectly capable of handling himself in a modern world of war, desperation and intrigue.
–Mike Brosnan
Universal Screenwriters: Edward T. Lowe, W. Scott Darling, Edmund L. Hartmann Cinematographer: Les White Editor: Otto Ludwig Cast: Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Lionel Atwill, Kaaren Verne, William Post Jr.
35mm, 68 min.
Preserved in cooperation with King World Productions from the 35mm nitrate original picture and soundtrack negatives and from 35mm nitrate composite fine grain elements. Laboratory services by YCM Laboratories. Todd-AD/Glen Glenn. Special thanks to: Tony Cook. Anne Fleming, Peter Glassberg, Leo Gutman. Clyde Jeavons. Michael King, Meredith Miller. The National Film and Television Archive (U.K.).
