User Reviews

The last Rathbone Holmes (14/14) is again a slightly weaker affair than most of the preceding entries, another variant of The Pearl of Death this time involving music boxes. Music boxes whose tunes play out the location of the stolen and hidden Bank of England £5 plates no less. Holmes proves he has an inbuilt police whistle and a photographic(?) memory for music, whilst Watson says that he likes brass bands but is tone deaf. The woman here, although a thoroughly bad hat is not The Woman, the one and only Irene Adler who had bested Holmes in 1891, but for most of the film she has the upper hand.

By now the steam had left Rathbone, and although Bruce wanted to carry on and Universal held the copyright until 1949 the series had reached its natural conclusion. Director Roy William Neill had less than a year left to live too. Some lovely bits: Holmes consoling Mrs Hudson, distraught at letting 2 people into 221b who turned it over; Holmes' biscuit jar was seen to good advantage. And yes, the bullet holes in the wall from Faces Death were still there at the end! No matter how bad, mawkish or daft this marvellous series got I've always loved every entry. Watching a clean Definitive DVD of this with a lump in my throat I think of Brian Wilson's line "It's so sad to watch a sweet thing die", without even the dignity of end credits (they're lost).

All things must pass.

The last in a wonderful cycle of 14 movies that got launched by a different major production company but always kept the brilliant duo of lead actors Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Sherlock Holmes and his loyal assistant Dr. Watson. Some say this is a much weaker entry in the series but, quite frankly, I have no idea on what arguments those opinions are based, as this is another marvelously scripted and professionally directed detective adventure! When an old school friend of Dr. Watson is found murdered, Sherlock Holmes immediately suspects that this has something to do with his latest collector's item purchase, namely a wooden musical box. Two other identical boxes were made by a convicted burglar in prison and the altered melody hides a secret code that leads his accomplices to the location of two stolen Bank of England printing plates! True, the valuable-objects-hidden-at-different-locations premise is somewhat similar to the previous Holmes film "The Pearl of Death" and may therefore come across as unoriginal, but the screenplay contains more than enough variety to make "The Secret Code" another very compelling mystery film. Holmes female opponent, for example, is a truly clever woman who nearly succeeds in setting a trap for our brilliant detective during a very well-mounted sequence. Furthermore, "The Secret Code" (I refuse to use the completely irrelevant title "Dressed to Kill") is fast-paced and contains loads of terrific dialogues. As usual, Bruce's character Dr. Watson provides the story with a couple of neat comical moments, most notably the scene in which he tries to comfort a little girl who just got traumatized by imitating the sound of a duck...impressively, I may add.

"Dressed to Kill" puts Sherlock Holmes and the devoted but bumbling Dr. Watson on the trail of a ruthless gang intent on securing - by hook, crook or thrown dagger - three seemingly innocuous music boxes. The boxes come from a workshop in one of England's famous prisons. Perhaps vocational rehabilitation of cons has its downside.

The conspirators - a suave gentleman-type, a thuggish chauffeur and a beautiful woman - come close to writing finis to Holmes's career and his life. Of course they can not succeed where Dr. Moriarty has failed.

Set in a London past the time of Conan Doyle, the film features a never to be overused "follow that cab" episode. The usually exclusively cerebral Holmes here actually does some strenuous exercise and proves handy with a revolver.

Fun to watch, this isn't the best Rathbone/Bruce Holmes film but it's pleasant enough for a late, cold winter night's entertainment.

7/10.

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.

I have to agree with about everyone here on two things: 1 - it's sad to see this great combination of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce end its run of Sherlock Holmes films, and 2 - it's too bad it ended with a mediocre film.

The story involves several music boxes which are made in prison and sold at an auction. Whoever buys them, gets killed. (I was sorry to see Dr. Watson's friend "Stinky" bite the dust so early, as he was one of the more interesting characters.)

The main culprit is a deadly female who reminds Holmes of an ex-foe he has great respect for: "Irene Adler." This character is "Hilda Courtney" (Patricia Morrison).

Actually, if I was grading this, I'd give it a C for "average." It's not the worst one in the series, as some people think, but it's not riveting, either, and I can see why the guys decided to "pack it in" after this one. The end of World War II also signaled the end of this series as a number of them were WWII stories.

It was a wonderful ride. I own all of them in the series and have a high regard for everyone connected with the set. I still think Rathbone is THE Sherlock Holmes and always will be.

Dressed To Kill was the last of the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes movies. I rather enjoyed this.

Music boxes are sold at an auction and the buyers of these seem to get killed. Holmes and Watson are called to investigate these killings and learn that a young women, who is the leader of a criminal gang has something to do with them. After attempting to kill Holmes, she is caught at the end.

Joining Basil and Nigel in the cast are Patricia Morison as the gang leader and Holmes Herbert.

Dressed To Kill is a good way to spend just over an hour one evening. Great stuff.

Rating: 3 and a half stars out of 5.

In their last on-screen outing as Holmes and Watson (they still did radio plays with each other after this movie) Rathbone and Bruce find themselves involved in a music box mystery. It seems that anyone who bought one of three matching boxes from a recent auction ends up either dead or with a nasty bump on the head. Assuming that there must be a weird connection Holmes takes the case.

The story rivals even The Voice of Terror in terms of sheer implausibility. When the purpose of the music box is reveal you have to wonder why anyone would go to all that effort. But it's still entertaining and Patricia Morrison makes for a brilliant villainess.

Producer and Director Roy William Neill died not long after this film was released, which is probably why it ended up being the last. They could have went on a lot longer, especially if they started using some of Conan Doyle's original works (something that they very rarely did, opting for original screenplays instead), although this one does reference two of stories as past cases.

A fine, if unspectacular end of a definitive era.

The Master minds -Holmes and Watson- tackle the master crimes . While Holmes and Watson encounter at 221 Baker Street talking about the publication of the story 'Scandal in Bohemia with Irene Adler' in the Strand Review , are visited by an old friend , a collector of music-boxes , explaining the robbing a special box manufactured by an inmate from Dartmoor prison . Holmes aware about a series of music boxes holds the key to plates stolen from the Bank of England . As always , Sherlock goes into the action dressed in tweed suit , tweed coat and Fedor , as in his twelve Holmes films produced by 20th Century Fox and Universal and mostly directed by Roy William Neill . Then he sets out in pursuit the baddies and in this episode Holmes confronts an uncanny enemy (Patricia Morrison) with malignant purports . This entry , as usual , finds Mrs Hudson , but doesn't appear Inspector Lestrade , substituting a commissioner of Scotland Yard (the eternal secondary Ian Wolfe) . At the ending is resolved the case in an exciting conclusion into library of Samuel Johnson who was a XVIII century poet and author of a notorious dictionary of English language .

Once terminated the movie , Rathbone dreary on Holmes character decided killing him , such as Arthur Conan Doyle made dropping Holmes into Falls of Reichenbach . This decision along with cancellation the radio-broadcasting proceeded long time ago , originated the followers were deeply annoyed and Nigel Bruce got anger , but he early died . After that , Rathbone only played as Holmes a parody in ¨Milton Berle show¨ and on Broadway stage about a play written by his wife Ouida and with Thomas Gomez as Moriaty . In spite of various historical and important roles performed by Rathbone such as ¨Disraeli¨ and ¨Svengali¨, none surpassed his immortal character , the ideal role for Rathbone and gave him fame and money .

DRESSED TO KILL (Universal, 1946), produced and directed by Roy William Neil, comes to a close with the studio's twelfth and final "Sherlock Holmes" installment (1942-46) starring Basil Rathbone (Sherlock Holmes) and Nigel Bruce (Doctor Watson). Acquiring a title already used for the 1941 "Michael Shayne" entry for 20th Century-Fox starring Lloyd Nolan, this DRESSED TO KILL, not an unofficial remake, is nothing more than an adaptation from an untitled story by its creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, this time involving inexpensive music boxes.

Opening with an overview of what an off-screen narrator describes as, "Dartmoor Prison, isolated from the outside world by walls of granite," introduces one of two prisoners (later revealed as John Davidson, played by Cyril Delevanti), working on music boxes that gets shipped out monthly to the Gaylord Auction Room. Its auctioneer, Mr. Crabtree (Holmes Herbert), sells three identical music boxes to three individual buyers, Julian Emery (Edmund Breon), Evelyn Clifford (Patricia Cameron), proprietress of the Clifford Toy Store; and William Kilgour for his little girl (Topsy Glyn). An hour after the auction closes, Colonel Cavanaugh (Frederick Worlock), arriving too late for purchase the boxes in question, acquires the names and addresses of its buyers. Julian Emery (Edmund Breon), a collector, affectionately called "Stinky" by his former school chum, Doctor Watson (Nigel Bruce), interests his friend and colleague, Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) after being told by Emery of how his apartment was burglarized with only a music box stolen in the middle of the night. Later, Emery is found stabbed to death followed by Kilgour's daughter found bound and gagged inside a closet of her home by Holmes. With Holmes now on the case, assisted by Inspector Hopkins (Carl Harbord - filling in for Dennis Hoey as Inspector Lestrade), the ace detective realizes these are not just ordinary music boxes for that the tunes are identical, yet different. Narrowing down Hilda Courtney (Patricia Morison) to be the ring leader responsible for the murder of Sergeant Thompson (Tom P. DIllon) of Scotland Yard for tailing her, it's now up to Holmes to decoding the music box and motive behind all this.

With Patricia Morison as the co-starring villainous, DRESSED TO KILL might have been a great opportunity for a return guest appearance of Gale Sondergaard matching wits with Sherlock Holmes as she did in THE SPIDER WOMAN (Universal, 1943). There's even a song ditty, "You Never Know Who You're Going to Meet" which clues in on Holmes getting to meet with another deadly female, Hilda Courtney, her associates, Colonel Cavanaugh (Worlock) and dagger throwing chauffeur, Hymie (Harry Cording). As in most, but not all Holmes escapades, Holmes faces a near death experience. In this instance, Holmes with mouth taped, gets lifted onto a suspended hook above, hanging by his handcuffed wrists, left inside by villains in a locked parking garage with the turned-on motor from an automobile exhausting poisonous fumes. Had this been a weekly chaptered serial, this particular scene would most definitely close with the title card, "To be continued next week." For this 72 minute feature, everything is presented in one seating for its viewers munching on popcorn or treating themselves with a basket of fish and chips.

Though not quite a high note conclusion, at least the series itself didn't resume long enough to produce some really inferior products. For DRESSED TO KILL, it did indicate Watson to be Arthur Conan Doyle or being the writer of exploits to past Holmes cases submitted to Strand Magazine. It is also Watson who unwittingly helps Holmes with his case through some meaningless suggestions/ self verbal thoughts that prove valuable. Of the supporting players, including Ian Wolfe as The Commissioner, only series regular, Mary Gordon as Mrs. Hudson, appears very briefly. As much as Holmes happens to be the master of many disguises, only Patricia Morison shows how she's really dressed to kill (figuratively speaking) for one memorable scene.

Whether intentional or not, regardless of how popular, everything must come to an end, including a film series such as this classic partnership of Holmes and Watson. Yet, for this final theatrical episode, it might have been quite elementary having Holmes announcing his retirement from crime solving for its fadeout. Though Holmes' retirement never take place on screen, Rathbone's retirement from the role actually did, but didn't end all possibilities for future Holmes theatrical mysteries in later years enacted by other notable British actors as Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.

Having fallen to public domain, DRESSED TO KILL, available on video cassette and later DVD from various distributors, in black and white or colorized formats, as well as presented on numerous public television and/or cable channels, especially on Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: March 8, 2004), is a satisfactory conclusion to a popular series that shows there's no place like Holmes. (**1/2)

An exceedingly cunning female is DRESSED TO KILL as she challenges Sherlock Holmes for the possession of three nondescript music boxes from Dartmoor Prison.

Basil Rathbone & Nigel Bruce step in front of the movie cameras one last time as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary characters in this intriguing murder mystery. While it's fun to see the plot get solved the real enjoyment comes from simply being in the company of two very fine actors as they breathe life into their roles. As Sherlock Holmes, Rathbone gives us the great detective in all his cerebral glory, putting his whole intellect into breaking an exceptionally difficult code. Bruce, as Dr. Watson, is all bumbling geniality, quietly loyal to his friend, and, for one delightful moment, even quacking like a duck while trying to soothe a distraught child. Rathbone & Bruce gave us one of cinema's iconic partnerships, forever influencing how we cast Doyle's stories in the theater of our minds.

As in all the previous Holmes films a sturdy supporting cast keeps the intricate plot moving along: Patricia Morison as the exceptionally clever woman in search of the music boxes; Holmes Herbert as a punctilious auctioneer; Edmund Breon as an eccentric collector; Frederick Worlock as a crooked colonel; Henry Cording as a sinister chauffeur; Patricia Cameron as a pretty toy shop owner; Ian Wolfe as the Commissioner of Scotland Yard; and dear Mary Gordon back for her final turn as Mrs. Hudson.

Movie mavens will recognize Olaf Hytten as the auction house bookkeeper; Marjorie Bennett as the top shop clerk; comic Charles Hall as a curious taxi driver; and Wally Scott as the busker in the pub whose encyclopedic knowledge of tunes comes in very handy for Holmes. All are uncredited.

This film, which borrowed the merest wisp of an idea from Sir Arthur's A Scandal in Bohemia, followed TERROR BY NIGHT (1946) and was the last in the cinematic series, although Rathbone & Bruce also played Holmes & Watson many scores of times on the radio.

this wasn't the greatest of the 14 main sherlock holmes videos, but it has a very interesting plot behind it. this movie has it all, secret codes, espionage, disguises, a beautiful woman, and a huge reward. this is the last of the 14 and it was my second least favorite. still, you might as well see it since its sherlock holmes with rathbone.

Well Known for being the Last Time Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce would Suit Up as Holmes and Watson, and for being left to the Public Domain so there are a Myriad of Inferior Releases on VHS and DVD so Buyer Beware. There are good Prints now in Circulation (Blu-Ray).

The Film is in the Top Tier although not the Top of the Top. It is, as are all the Teams Fourteen Films, Entertaining. This One is more Self-Referential than Most. The First Shot at Baker Street has Watson Reading the New Issue of the Strand Magazine for Example.

There is a Femme Fatale with a Cool Demeanor and by Film's End She has Earned the Respect of the World's Greatest Consulting Detective. The Supporting Cast is Excellent and the Atmosphere is Shady and Elegant. It is a Fine Final Bow for the Two Actors that gave Moviegoers so much Fun.

Note: While there hasn't been a Scientific Study, one wonders just how many Youngsters, and Oldsters for that matter, that never read Arthur Conan Doyle and were off to bookstores after being enchanted by one or more of these delightful films.

This movie is rather an anomaly. Made after WWII in 1946, but when was the action set? The transport is of the 1930's, especially the "General" London omnibus. As I said in the Goofs section, one of the scenes depicts a "General" omnibus carrying passengers on a normal route, but the "London General Omnibus Company" went out of service in 1933. Yet the ladies fashions depicted in the movie are of the 1940's.

As another viewer remarked (also in the "Goofs" section)...

"Watson refers to the events in his story 'A Scandal in Bohemia' taking place two years earlier. In the story Bohemia was a independent kingdom, but in 1943 it was obviously part of Hitler's Third Reich."

...but of course the original story by Conan Doyle was written and set before WWI.

So exactly in which period was this movie intended to be set? Although there is no mention of either WWI or WWII, I suspect it's supposed to be set in the 1930's, and before Holmes' wartime (WWII) exploits. But who knows?

The movie is nowhere near as good as others in this Rathbone/Bruce series of movies. However it has its amusing moments, but the only one to come out of it with any real credit is Patricia Morison, and there's very little else to shout about.

A suspenseful Holmes and Watson feature about a group of killers out to find three music boxes sold at an auction. The boxes contain something in them that will help lead the crooks to loads of money. Only problem is that Sherlock Holmes is on their trail. Typical good acting and tight direction help this one rise above its somewhat implausible story. The chemistry between Rathbone and Bruce is as ever the binding of the film. Some other good performances are given by Patricia Morrison as a wicked woman and Edmund Breon as "Stinky," a school chum of Watson's. The verbal banter between Morrison and Holmes is for me the most memorable aspect of the film. As I watched the film, the lines slowly crept back into my head. "Praise from you is indeed gratifying Mr. Holmes," and then a line about respecting his memory. Great stuff!

Basil Rathbone stars in his fourteenth and final movie as Arthur Conan Doyle's super detective Sherlock Holmes. An interesting plot and mystery for Holmes and his faithful assistant Dr. Watson(Nigel Bruce)to solve. The title I assume must be referring to the winsome antagonist(Patricia Morison)that tries to find three music boxes before Holmes. Three identical music boxes were made by a prison inmate and sold at auction to three different collectors in London. One of the boxes was traced to one of Watson's old schoolmates(Edmund Breon), who is murdered and robbed of the newly purchased music box. The plot thickens as Holmes and Watson discover that the musical boxes contain more than just playing an old Australian folk song. Also in the cast are: Fredrick Worlock, Patricia Cameron and Carl Harbord.

This was the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes movies swan song. It's another excellent adventure in this great Holmes series that featured 14 films in all. After the excellent murder mystery on a train in the previous adventure Terror By Night, our hero's are back where they belong. In London on 221 B Baker Street solving complicated crimes against another assortment of cleaver criminals. This time Holmes and Watson, well actually Holmes with a little help from the blunder Watson, look into cheap music boxes that people are getting killed for that contain some secret code from the tune that plays in the box. The whole plot of figuring out what the tune is trying to say and the criminals engaging in a cat and mouse chase with Holmes for the boxes is deliciously cleaver and a pure Holmes mystery. The biggest surprise in this films though, is Patricia Morrison's role as Hilda Courtney. Her role is excellently written and she is a female Sherlock Holmes who is as cleaver and cunning. She dons disguises, to fool people, just like Holmes, and even fools him. She toys with people, flirts with them, and sees every detail just like Holmes. She even uses a cigarette bud as a way to lure Holmes into a trap. The master himself also falls for it. She's just too damn cleaver. Even Holmes throughout the film, complements her on her skills of cleverness and see's her more than a worthy adversary. If Holmes was attracted to woman sexually, such as that you don't see in the movies or stories, Hilda Courtney would of made a perfect mate for Holmes. She's also a very attractive woman who deceives people with her looks. She also makes a fool out of Watson. But then again who doesn't. I thought this was an excellent film and a nice, but sad way to go out in style. These Sherlock Holmes films are too good, and I wish they made more with Rathbone/Bruce. Don't miss this film, you won't be disappointed. *** out of ****

The final film of the Basil Rathbone-Nigel Bruce series of Sherlock Holmes stories ends the series on a high note. Holmes is battling a most ruthless foe in skirts in Dressed To Kill.

That foe is Patricia Morison two years away from her career role on stage as Lilly Vanessi in Kiss Me Kate. Dressed To Kill is not a whodunit, we know that she and her cohorts do at least two murders to achieve their objective. They nearly do in Holmes as well. The question is will Holmes and Scotland Yard get to the objective before the bad guys do.

Holmes and Watson get innocently involved enough when an old friend of Watson's reports an unusual crime to them. Edmund Breon is a collector of music boxes and a rather cheap ordinary one is taken from him, one that looks like something he recently purchased. Later on he's killed and the box they wanted stolen, but not until after Holmes as memorized the tune.

Among Sherlock Holmes's avocations is playing the violin and among his other gifts is an uncanny musical ear. That is of enormous importance in solving this case and why Patricia Morison and her henchmen are after the boxes.

I'm glad Holmes and Watson after World War II ended got back to just doing their crime thing. I always thought they were misused as propaganda symbols. Rathbone and Bruce go out on a high note in this series in Dressed To Kill.

The results of a search engine search were that 45 actors have played Sherlock Holmes in movies. Holmes is the character that has been portrayed most often in acting productions. There is no doubt in my mind that Basil Rathbone is the best to ever play the role on screen. Nigel Bruce also captures the relatively slow witted Doctor Watson. Both men simply exude the man of London persona of the late nineteenth century. In this adventure, a man has been convicted of stealing plates that can be used to print money that would be indistinguishable from the genuine items, throwing the entire British economy into chaos. He managed to hide the plates before being captured and he is now making simple music boxes in prison. Since the stolen plates have never been recovered, there is a great deal of interest in the criminal's actions. Being a clever man very good with his hands, the criminal manages to construct a complex code describing the location of the plates for his confederates on the outside and it is up to Holmes to decipher the code and track down the criminals as well as recover the plates. The code is embedded in a set of simple music boxes. Of course, he succeeds in the brilliant way of Holmes, managing to connect the appropriate dots in constructing a path to the solution. Although Edgar Allan Poe is credited with the creation of the detective story, it was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of the Sherlock Holmes character, that truly made it the literary staple that it has become. No character is more popular than Holmes and, in this movie, Rathbone makes him real, albeit placed in the proper time frame.

Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) must figure out the mystery behind three musical boxes and why some criminals want them bad enough to kill for them. The final Rathbone Holmes film. Unlike most of the other popular detective series at the time, most notably Charlie Chan, the Holmes series never ran out of steam. Even this final entry is still a quality movie with a good mystery and interesting characters. Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce are excellent as always. No Inspector Lastrade this time, sadly.

One minor quibble is that the method the bad guys use to try and dispose of Sherlock seemed unnecessarily risky when they had guns and could've just shot him. But this sort of logic flaw is not exclusive to this film or series. Movies in general have always had this problem. The James Bond series has thrived on it for fifty years. The Rathbone films are all good and I would recommend everybody try them out. If you're a fan of the Doyle stories and consider yourself a purist, however, you will probably be disappointed. But if you enjoy good suspenseful old school mystery films, this series is as good as it gets.

This was a pretty good showing for the piped one. Nothing spectacular but it'll keep you awake at 5 am. Three ordinary music boxes are sold at an auction and soon after the new owners are dropping like flies. No one really knows what's going on except you know who. Coulda been better but no real complaints.