Verhängnisvolle Reise

Although none of the Rathbone/Holmes films are what I would call great film making, I find them to be quite enjoyable, due mostly to Rathbone's performance as Holmes. I found this one in particular to be one of the more enjoyable movies in the series. The plot is intriguing enough to hold the viewers attention and I found the scene with Holmes in the antique store to be immensely entertaining. While not a great and thought-provoking film, Sherlock Holmes in Washington is definitely worth watching if you're looking for something that merely entertains.

This is one of the most tense and exciting of the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes movies, quickly establishing an atmosphere of danger and uncertainty, and maintaining it to the end. There is more than enough suspense and action to make up for a couple of minor holes in the story, and the setting in Washington generally works rather well as a change of pace from the usual British settings.

The story follows the fate of a secret courier and the vital documents that he is carrying, with a gang of villains that targets several innocent bystanders in their desperate desire to get hold of the documents. It's an interesting story that is developed at an effective pace by Roy William Neill, and in particular, the way that the matchbook is used is almost worthy of Hitchcock.

George Zucco has only a few scenes, but he does a fine job as Holmes's adversary. Rathbone and Bruce work smoothly together as usual, and Bruce gets several good moments with his reactions to American culture. It's not the kind of Watson that Arthur Conan Doyle would have recognized, but it works well in its own right, and it makes good use of Bruce's talents. Overall, it's one of the better movies in the enjoyable series.

Third in the Universal series of Sherlock Holmes films is another strong one with a WWII plot. A British secret agent carrying important documents is kidnapped en route to Washington, D.C. The British government turns to Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) to find the agent and the documents. Together with Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce), Holmes journeys to America to investigate.

Rathbone and Bruce are terrific, as usual. This is the last entry in the series where Rathbone sports that silly hairstyle. George Zucco and Henry Daniell are great villains, which should surprise no one. They both played Holmes' nemesis Prof. Moriarty in other films. Holmes Herbert, Thurston Hall, Gavin Muir, and Edmund Macdonald are among the fine actors in the wonderful supporting cast. Marjorie Lord provides the pretty. Strong direction from Roy William Neill.

It's a very entertaining movie. No backhanded compliments here. No "best of the propaganda Holmes films" or "thankfully not as much flag-waving as the previous two films" or any of that stuff. Unlike some other reviewers I don't respond to patriotism (especially during WWII) like the Wicked Witch responds to water. After this entry, Holmes would return to murder mysteries although still taking place in the (then) present day rather than the Victorian era, much to the consternation of Holmes purists. I have my thoughts on that but I'll just quote John Archer, the actor who played Lt. Pete Merriam in this film: "Those Sherlock Holmes fans -- by God, they are rabid. They want everything to be just the way it was."

It seems to me that which ever Sherlock Holmes {Rathbone} film I watch there is always comments on the site stating it's one of the weaker in the series !!, it really just goes to show how we are all different as regards our love of the series because to me this entry is far from being weak. It has a very tidy plot that takes our delightful duo to America and contains one of my favourite sequences as we watch a (critical to the plot) book of matches go from person to person at a social gathering. Holmes gets to act up as an eccentric art collector and Watson does what he does best, comedy relief. The ending perhaps could of packed a bigger punch for me personally, but all in all it's yer above average detective drama acted out with the usual style from the regulars, 7/10.

An entertaining film about Holmes going to the USA, to recover an important diplomatic document. Reflects the wartime need to stress the democratic desires that were shared by the UK and the USA. Also needed by the increasing US involvement in the war against Germany. Serves as a good example of the attitudes of the day, together with an interesting plot.