Dressed to Kill (1946)

Director:

Roy William Neill

Writers:

Arthur Conan Doyle (story) and
Frank Gruber (adaptation)

Release Date:

7 June 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Queen . . . of a Crime Cult !

Plot:

A set of cheap music boxes that people are willing to kill for puts Sherlock Holmes on the case.

Plot Keywords:

Sherlock Holmes | Thief | Prison | Counterfeiter | Knife

Cast

Basil Rathbone	...	Sherlock Holmes
Nigel Bruce	...	Dr. John H. Watson
Patricia Morison	...	Mrs. Hilda Courtney
Edmund Breon	...	'Stinky' Emery (as Edmond Breon)
Frederick Worlock	...	Colonel Cavanaugh (as Frederic Worlock)
Carl Harbord	...	Inspector Hopkins
Patricia Cameron	...	Evelyn Clifford
Holmes Herbert	...	Ebenezer Crabtree
Harry Cording	...	Hamid
Leyland Hodgson	...	Tour guide
Mary Gordon	...	Mrs. Hudson
Ian Wolfe	...	Commissioner of Scotland Yard

Also Known As:

Prelude to Murder (USA) (working title) (USA) (DVD title)
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Code (UK)
Sherlock Holmes in Dressed to Kill

Runtime:

72 min (video version) | 76 min (copyright length)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (video rating) (1992) | USA:Approved (PCA #11512, General Audience)

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The last of fourteen films based on Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional consulting detective Sherlock Holmes starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Doctor Watson.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: One of the scenes depicts a "General" omnibus carrying passengers on a normal route. The movie is set post-WWII London (1946). The London General Omnibus Company went out of service in 1933.

Quotes:

Hamid: [angrily, after Cavanaugh has grabbed a book of poems from him inscribed by Mrs. Courtney] Some day you'll go too far!
Colonel Cavanaugh: Reaching for a star, you fool!
Hamid: Yet a fool may touch a star, Colonel Cavanaugh, if he reaches high enough!
Colonel Cavanaugh: And not possess it as you would!

Movie Connections:

Follows The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)

Soundtrack:

The Swagman

Solid Entry in the Rathbone/Bruce Series

This is a solid Sherlock Holmes mystery in the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce series, with an interesting story, a good villainess, and a good pace once it gets going. Although, as with many movies in the series, the plot is not found in any of the original Holmes books, a number of the story elements were drawn or adapted from various Doyle stories. A number of times Watson also makes reference to one of the 'canonical' cases.

The setup is good, and it produces some interesting possibilities. Holmes must not only figure out a peculiar puzzle involving music boxes, but must do so in a race with a criminal gang that is trying to accomplish the same thing. Patricia Morison makes an elegant adversary for Holmes, and Rathbone and Bruce work well together as always.

Although these later movies in the series do not hold closely to the Victorian atmosphere of the originals, most of them are pretty good in their own right, and while this one mostly follows the usual formula, it is an enjoyable entry in the series.