Regarding the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes adaptations, The Secret Weapon is an improvement on The Voice of Terror, but entries like Hound of the Baskervilles are superior. The Secret Weapon is quite good and does have some entertainment value. It's not faultless, to me that is, the story is fun, fast paced and engrossing with some good mystery and suspense but felt rushed towards the end and the secret code stuff was confusing. It also had moments where it did feel over-plotted and didn't have enough time to explain it properly. Nigel Bruce does what he can with Watson and is a good partner with Rathbone, but can come across as too blustery and too much of a idiot, the way Watson is written though has a lot to do with it. Purists will find a lot of good things with The Secret Weapon but adaptation-wise, there are parts from The Dancing Men and The Empty House other than that as said already there's not much Conan Doyle here and the inclusion of Nazis may come across as silly to some. To me, the Nazis weren't so much a problem and they were appropriate within the setting though there is the sense that without the characters' names that this could have been any mystery film set during the war.
The Secret Weapon is well made, stylishly and atmospherically shot with fine attention to detail, while the score is appropriately haunting in some others and jaunty in others. The dialogue is intelligent and witty, the banter between Holmes and Watson intrigues and amuses and that with Moriaty even more so. Thankfully also the patriotic stuff is much more toned down than in The Voice of Terror. The direction is solid and skillful, not taking things too seriously nor is anything taken like a farce, suspense and such aren't undermined, even if there are other entries in the series that have a much more suspenseful edge. The acting is strong, the obvious high point is Basil Rathbone who is easily the best of the film incarnations of Holmes and overall either joint first or very close second place to Jeremy Brett. He has a very commanding presence, very intelligent, cunning and not one to miss much, his disguises are very convincing too. Lionel Atwill is a very good nemesis, he gets the malevolence of Moriaty just right if not quite as mysterious as other actors as the character and seems to be enjoying himself thoroughly. Dennis Hoey makes a credible debut as Lestrade, he does come across as an idiot but seeing as Lestrade is an inept character anyway that didn't come across as problematic, though it might do for any first-time viewers who've never read a Sherlock Holmes story before or for who this is their first encounter with this great literary detective. Overall, fun and quite good, but there are better Sherlock Holmes adaptations out there, both with Rathbone and in general as well. 7/10 Bethany Cox
The Secret Weapon is well made, stylishly and atmospherically shot with fine attention to detail, while the score is appropriately haunting in some others and jaunty in others. The dialogue is intelligent and witty, the banter between Holmes and Watson intrigues and amuses and that with Moriaty even more so. Thankfully also the patriotic stuff is much more toned down than in The Voice of Terror. The direction is solid and skillful, not taking things too seriously nor is anything taken like a farce, suspense and such aren't undermined, even if there are other entries in the series that have a much more suspenseful edge. The acting is strong, the obvious high point is Basil Rathbone who is easily the best of the film incarnations of Holmes and overall either joint first or very close second place to Jeremy Brett. He has a very commanding presence, very intelligent, cunning and not one to miss much, his disguises are very convincing too. Lionel Atwill is a very good nemesis, he gets the malevolence of Moriaty just right if not quite as mysterious as other actors as the character and seems to be enjoying himself thoroughly. Dennis Hoey makes a credible debut as Lestrade, he does come across as an idiot but seeing as Lestrade is an inept character anyway that didn't come across as problematic, though it might do for any first-time viewers who've never read a Sherlock Holmes story before or for who this is their first encounter with this great literary detective. Overall, fun and quite good, but there are better Sherlock Holmes adaptations out there, both with Rathbone and in general as well. 7/10 Bethany Cox