Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1942)

☆ ☆ ½

Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1942) -- R. W. Neill


Possibly I've just seen Secret Weapon one too many times (or it could be the jet lag) but this rendition of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce attempting to outfox the Nazis seems just a cut below their usual high standard (for genre pics). The plot, freely adapted from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "Adventure of the Dancing Men", utilizes an alphabet substitution code that admittedly fits well into the wartime (not Victorian) milieu. Holmes dons not one, not two, but three different disguises to confuse and perturb the enemy (but not, of course, the audience). However, the insertion of Moriarty into the action creates a mishmash of story threads that don't really cohere, even if his dastardly tricks do provide some competition for our master sleuth. (2009 review)