''Sherlock Holmes in Washington'' (1943) is the fifth film in the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce series of

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

movies. The plot is an original story not based on any of

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

's Holmes tales.

Plot

Alfred Pettibone, a British secret agent carrying a vital secret document, is murdered on his way to deliver it in the U.S. The British government turns to

for help. He deduces that Pettibone converted the document to

microfilm A microform is a scaled-down reproduction of a document, typically either photographic film or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the original d ...

. Avoiding an assassination attempt, he hurries to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, with

Dr. Watson Dr. John H. Watson is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson first appeared in the novel ''A Study in Scarlet'' (1887). "The Adventure of Shosc ...

to retrieve it before it falls into the hands of an "international spy ring". Holmes is certain that the spies do not yet possess the document, as people who were in contact with Pettibone on his journey have been harassed. Pettibone's body was then delivered to Holmes by the spies as a means to throw Holmes off the track. Before his death, the agent managed to pass the microfilm, hidden inside a "V for Victory"

matchbook A matchbook is a small paperboard folder (known as a matchcover) enclosing a quantity of matches and having a coarse striking surface on the exterior. The folder is opened to access the matches, which are attached in a comb-like arrangement ...

, into the unwitting hands of Washington

debutante A debutante, also spelled débutante ( ; from , ), or deb is a young woman of aristocratic or upper-class family background who has reached maturity and is presented to society at a formal "debut" ( , ; ) or possibly debutante ball. Origin ...

and bride-to-be Nancy Partridge. The matches get passed from hand to hand at a party, unknowingly, and end up in the inadvertent possession of the chief spy, Heinrich Hinkel (known as the seemingly respectable Richard Stanley in Washington), when he has Partridge kidnapped. Holmes tracks down the ring to an antiques shop, where he confronts Hinkel. During their cat-and-mouse conversation, he even tells the spy that "the man who has it doesn't know he has it", with the matchbook in plain sight. Holmes is taken prisoner, but just as he and Partridge are about to be murdered, the police, summoned by Watson by prior arrangement with Holmes, break in and, after a gunfight, rescue the pair. Hinkel gets away, along with the matchbook, however. Holmes races to the office of Senator Henry Babcock, having led Hinkel to believe the microfilm is under a stamp of a letter in the senator's possession. Holmes arrives first and, as Hinkel eavesdrops, reveals the importance of the letter. Hinkel takes the letter at gunpoint, only to have the police capture him. Holmes then takes the matches and sets fire to the letter, before revealing that the microfilm was in the matchbook all along.

Cast

Basil Rathbone Philip St. John Basil Rathbone MC (13 June 1892 – 21 July 1967) was an Anglo-South African actor. He rose to prominence in the United Kingdom as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in more than 70 films, primarily costume drama ...

Nigel Bruce William Nigel Ernle Bruce (4 February 1895 – 8 October 1953) was an English character actor on stage and screen. He was best known for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in a series of films and in the radio series '' The New Adventures of Sherlo ...

Marjorie Lord Marjorie Lord (née Wollenberg; July 26, 1918 – November 28, 2015) was an American television and film actress. She played Kathy "Clancy" O'Hara Williams, opposite Danny Thomas's character on ''The Danny Thomas Show'' (''Make Room for Dadd ...

as Nancy Partridge *

Henry Daniell Charles Henry Pywell Daniell (5 March 1894 – 31 October 1963) was an English actor who had a long career in the United States on stage and in cinema. He came to prominence for his portrayal of villainous roles in films such as '' Camille'' ( ...

as William Easter *

George Zucco George Zucco (11 January 1886 – 27 May 1960) was a British character actor who appeared in plays and 96 films, mostly American-made, during a career spanning over two decades, from the 1920s to 1951. In his films, he often played a suave vill ...

as Heinrich Hinkel * John Archer as Lt. Pete Merriam * Gavin Muir as Mr. Lang, government agent * Edmund MacDonald as Detective Lt. Grogan *

Don Terry Don Terry (born Donald Prescott Loker, August 8, 1902 – October 6, 1988) was an American film actor, best known for his lead appearances in B films and serials in the 1930s and early 1940s. Perhaps his best-known role is Naval Commander Do ...

as Howe *

Bradley Page Bradley Page (September 8, 1901 – December 8, 1985) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films from 1931 to 1943. Selected filmography * '' Sporting Blood'' (1931) - Eddie Frazier (uncredited) * '' X Marks the Spot'' ...

as Cady *

Holmes Herbert Holmes Herbert (born Horace Edward Jenner; 30 July 1882 – 26 December 1956) was an English character actor who appeared in Hollywood films from 1915 to 1952, often as a British gentleman. Early life Born Horace Edward Jenner, (some sour ...

as Mr. Ahrens *

Thurston Hall Ernest Thurston Hall (May 10, 1882 – February 20, 1958) was an American film, stage and television actor.Aylesworth, Thomas G. and Bowman, John S. (1987). ''The World Almanac Who's Who of Film''. World Almanac. . Pp. 186-187. Career Stag ...

as Senator Henry Babcock *

Gerald Hamer Gerald Hamer (16 November 1886 – 6 July 1972)Profile
ftvdb.bfi.org.uk; accesse ...

as Alfred Pettibone or "John Grayson" (uncredited) *

Clarence Muse Clarence Muse (October 14, 1889 – October 13, 1979) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, singer, and composer. He was the first African American to appear in a starring role in a major studio film, 1929's '' Hearts in Dixie''. ...

as George, porter (uncredited) *

Ian Wolfe Ian Marcus Wolfe (November 4, 1896 – January 23, 1992) was an American character actor with around 400 film and television credits. Until 1934, he worked in the theatre. That year, he appeared in his first film role and later television, as ...

as Antiques Shop Clerk (uncredited) * Mary Gordon as Mrs. Hudson (uncredited)

Production

Cast notes

Despite moving the film to the contemporary World War II period, the roles of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson were retained by Rathbone and Bruce, respectively. John Archer and Marjorie Lord, who play an engaged couple in this film, were actually married when it was made. The two main villains played Holmes' nemesis

Professor Moriarty Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character and criminal mastermind created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to be a formidable enemy for the author's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. He was created primarily as a device by which Doyle could ...

in other films,

in ''

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' is a collection of short stories by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle, first published on 14 October 1892. It contains the earliest short stories featuring the consulting detective Sherlock Holmes, which h ...

'' (1939), and

in ''

The Woman in Green ''The Woman in Green'' is a 1945 American horror film, horror mystery film, the eleventh of the fourteen Basil Rathbone-Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes (1939 film series), ''Sherlock Holmes'' films based on the characters created by Arthur Conan Doy ...

'' (1945). Gerald Hamer, who was in four more of Rathbone's Holmes movies, briefly appears in this one, in an uncredited but pivotal role.

Development

As in the previous two films, ''

Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror ''Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror'' is a 1942 American mystery thriller film based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes detective stories. The film combines elements of Doyle's short story " His Last Bow", to which it is credited ...

'' (1942) and ''

Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon ''Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon'' (1942) is the fourth in the Sherlock Holmes (1939 film series), Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce series of 14 Sherlock Holmes films which updated the characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to the then p ...

'' (1943), Universal Pictures transplanted the Holmes characters from Victorian London to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. This was done to use the war as a topical background for the films' stories and themes. The film also serves as the first of the series to be wholly original and not based on any previously written material. The film's writing duo,

Lynn Riggs Rollie Lynn Riggs (August 31, 1899 – June 30, 1954) was an American author, poet, playwright and screenwriter. His 1931 play '' Green Grow the Lilacs'' was adapted into the musical ''Oklahoma!''. Early life Riggs was born on a farm near Cl ...

and

Bertram Millhauser Bertram Millhauser (March 25, 1892 – December 1, 1958) was an American screenwriter. He wrote for more than 60 films produced between 1911 and 1960. He was born in New York City, New York and died in Hollywood, California from a heart atta ...

, would collaborate on a Holmes picture for the first and only time. Riggs had written ''Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror'', while Millhauser would go on to write ''

Sherlock Holmes Faces Death ''Sherlock Holmes Faces Death'' is the sixth film in the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce series of Sherlock Holmes films. Made in 1943, it is a loose adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 1893 Holmes short story " The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritua ...

'' (1943) and ''

'' (1945).

References

External links

* * * {{Roy William Neill 1943 films 1943 mystery films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films 1940s spy films English-language mystery films American detective films American mystery films American spy films American black-and-white films Films set in Washington, D.C. Films set in London Films set on trains World War II films made in wartime British spy films Sherlock Holmes films Films directed by Roy William Neill Films scored by Frank Skinner Universal Pictures films