Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon

"You would take the Nazis' own car?"

"One must adapt oneself to the tools at hand."

During WWII, Sherlock Holmes (Rathbone) goes undercover to get American scientist Dr. Franz Tobel (Post Jr.) out of Switzerland.  Tobel created a powerful weapon that the many companies want to control, but he has agreed to give it to the British government.  Holmes and Tobel successfully escape Switzerland with the weapon and return to Baker Street.  Holmes warns that Tobel still is not safe, but Tobel sneaks out to see his girlfriend Charlotte Eberli (Verne).  On his way back to Holmes he is nearly murdered.

Tobel presents a demonstration of the weapon to Sir Reginald Bailey (Herbert), who wants to mass produce it for the war.  Tobel insists that only he can make the weapon, and divides the pieces between 4 scientists so that no one else knows the secret, and then Tobel vanishes.  Soon Holmes and Dr. Watson (Bruce) learn that their arch nemesis Professor Moriarty (Atwill) is the culprit.  Can they solve the mystery and outsmart Moriarty?


The fourth film the Sherlock Holmes series starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.  Earlier films in the series maintained the Victorian setting from author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novels, but this film transplanted Holmes and Watson to contemporary England.

The opening credits say the story is based on Doyle's "The Adventures of the Dancing Men", but the only similarity between the two is the coded message comprised of stick figures.  In the film, as they are solving the puzzle, Watson mentions in passing the events of the novel.  The story as a whole is an original by W. Scott Darling and Edward T. Lowe Jr., with a screenplay by Edmund L. Hartmann.  This marked the first time Roy William Neill directed a Sherlock Holmes film, and he directed the remaining 10 films in the series.

This is the second appearance of Holmes nemesis Professor Moriarty in the film series.  He previously appeared in the second film The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, although he was portrayed by a different actor.  This time Lionel Atwill took on the iconic villain.  Atwill appeared in the first Sherlock Holmes film The Hound of the Baskervilles as Dr. Mortimer.  He is calculating and menacing as Moriarty and a good choice for the role.

The cast and script are fine, but it is not a good Holmes story.  Without Atwill's Moriarty, it would be completely forgettable.

Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1942) 68 minutes
Director: Roy William Neill
Starring: Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes
Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson
Lionel Atwill as Professor Moriarty
Kaaren Verne as Charlotte Eberli
William Post Jr. as Dr. Franz Tobel
Dennis Hoey as Inspector Lestrade
Holmes Herbert as Sir Reginald Bailey