Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

JohnHowardReid Director: ROY WILLIAM NEILL. Screenplay: Bertram Millhauser and Lynn Riggs. Based on characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Original story: Bertram Millhauser. Director of photography: Lester White. Film editor: Otto Ludwig. Art director: Jack Otterson. Music director: Charles Previn. Music score: Frank Skinner. Associate producer: Howard Benedict.Copyright 24 September 1942 by Universal Pictures Co., Inc. No recorded New York opening. U.S. release: 30 April 1943. U.K. release: 8 February 1944. Australian release: 17 June 1943. 6,490 feet. 72 minutes.SYNOPSIS: This was the first Rathbone/Holmes film not based at least in part on a Doyle story. Holmes is trying to recover a document microfilmed and hidden in a matchbook by a British agent in the United States. The agent is killed, and the matchbook has been passed to another passenger on the train without her knowing what she is now carrying. Holmes is competing with Nazi agents also eager to recover the document.NOTES: Number 5 of the Rathbone-Bruce series.COMMENT: The Washington setting lent itself very well to Holmes' pro-Allies, anti-Axis, "hands-across-the-sea" patriotism propaganda messages, whilst the script was equally hackneyed.However, Rathbone and Bruce received excellent support in this episode from both a former (Zucco) and a future (Daniell) Moriarty. Although the screenplay had interesting moments, its story was somewhat similar to "Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon". Unfortunately, the script was nowhere near as involving or as adroitly and colorfully characterized as that previous film. This picture must, therefore, be classified as only an average series entry.

ShootingShark When a British agent carrying vital war plans to Washington D.C. is kidnapped, the ace detective Sherlock Holmes flies in to investigate. Can he recover the missing document and apprehend the dastardly culprits ?This fifth film in the Rathbone-Bruce series is a strong entry with an excellent script by Lynn Riggs and Bertram Millhauser, featuring a perfect example of the MacGuffin as we follow the vital matchbook from person to person, cringing as it falls into the hands of the uncomprehending villains. Whilst the movie is padded a little with some pleasant stock footage of the US Capitol, the action moves swiftly along from some early machinations in London to a high-society party to a final showdown in an antiques shop. Rathbone is as effervescent as ever, Zucco and Daniell (both of whom played Moriarty in other films in this series) are suitably creepy as the heavies, and the whole enchilada is laden with thrills, laughs and scares. Trivia - Archer and Lord, who play the young couple, were real life husband and wife, and the parents of noted actress Anne Archer.

Michael_Elliott Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943) *** (out of 4) Third in Universal's series has a British secret agent killed and robbed of an important document but the bad guys (led by George Zucco) aren't quite sure what the document is. Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Watson (Nigel Bruce) are called in to track down a kidnapped victim (Marjorie Lord) as well as the book at matches that the document (a microchip) are hidden in. A fun story, nice laughs, a strong supporting cast and a tense ending make this the best of the first three films in the series with Neill's strong direction putting everything into place. Rathbone turns in another great performance, which is to be expected but it's Bruce's comic timing that really steals the film. His obsession with American bubble gum is among the highlights of the film. The greatest sequence of the movie is a scene where the match book is being passed around at a party without anyone knowing what's inside it. The way Neill handles this scene makes for a charming sequence. Zucco seems to be forgotten today but he was also great at playing the bad guys and his performance here is no exception. It was nice seeing Henry Daniell in a supporting role (again) and Lord does a very good job as the woman caught up in the whole mess. The film's one big negative is a lot of in your face propaganda, which was probably needed at the time but today it sticks out like a sore thumb.

JoeKarlosi Serviceable third entry in the Universal series takes Sherlock (Basil Rathbone) and Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) to America where Holmes attempts to secure valuable documents being kept on microfilm after the man carrying them is murdered. Among the bad guys who'd like to get their hands on it are the reliable George Zucco (sporting an unusual head of hair for a change) and Henry Daniell. One rather tedious element involves the coincidental passing around of a mysterious matchbook, which always rather conveniently just manages to change hands. This film reportedly did not fare very well at the time and so from the next feature onward it was decided to drop the early formula Universal had employed; instead of featuring Sherlock Holmes as some sort of superhero who battles Nazi spies, they got him down to more traditional sleuthing. This approach was deemed more preferable by most fans of the legendary detective. **1/2 out of ****