Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon

Oh look at that, Moriarty's back. A serviceable propaganda entertainment, but often preposterous (which Holmes, really, should never be regardless of time period). Is it smart that Holmes gives Moriarty the idea for his excruciating and unbelievable torture? Or ridiculously stupid? We'll never know.

A fun retro thriller; not as big on mystery and deduction as some of the others, but a good solid Holmes vs. Moriarty tale, with Moriarty's method of killing Holmes at the end getting a surprisingly guttural "oh, gross!" from me for a 1943 film.

A compact 67-minute flick. Mind you, it's not a great flick, but it is nice to enjoy a short feature these days when it seems like every Hollywood movie surpasses the 2-hour mark.

Boring. At least the preceding wartime Sherlock film had kick. This one plays like a less exciting Cloak and Dagger with the scientist plot, then Moriarty does some mustache-twirling shit with Holmes. Fav scene: Holmes putting on a disguise.

"You'd be watching yourself die scientifically..." That's brutal Mr Holmes, so brutal! Not only is Sherlock Holmes a master code breaker, but also a master of disguise. The banter between Professor Moriarty and Mr Holmes about the most creative ways to kill each other seems most appropriate for the war time setting of this film (although the Nazis themselves seem much less scary than Professor Moriarty, kind of like the Nazis were to Vichy France). The highly propagandist ending is heavy-handed.

Sherlock Holmes' second war effort, this one a little duller, but it did grow on me a little. Still feels weird putting him in the Nazi era, but at least they pushed the rivalry with Moriarty to give it a more Sherlock feel.

story's ok, mostly it's fun for how many disguises rathbone gets to wear in this one.

In a typical WWII propaganda flick, Holmes is brought in to support Britain's war effort. The nationalistic speech at the end is quite cringe-inducing. I also like how the Swiss car has the wheel on the right.

Better than some Rathbone Holmes movies, yet still only tolerable. The story is alright, but I'm not sure if I'm ok with Holmes trying to thwart off Nazi plots around 50 years after the majority of the Holmes novels took place.

Not much of a mystery but still keeps a sense of thrill. Lionel Atwill is perfectly cast but not given the proper script, coming off almost as bumbling as Watson. Basil also sports a decidedly bad haircut throughout.

Can't go wrong with these Sherlock Holmes' movies.

60.500

Silly, but the wartime earnestness gives this a likable sincerity and campy quality.

Relatively action packed but overly simple and rather lacking in its mystery element.

Classic film.