La clef

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.

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 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.

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!

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.