The Secret Weapon is one my all time favorite Rathbone and Bruce films. It's wonderful to have it on DVD! The Universal Holmes series continues to be a great source of fun and I've always enjoyed seeing Holmes and Watson transplanted into the 1940's and dealing with W.W.II intrigue and Nazi spies. The Secret Weapon adds the nefarious Moriarty to the mix! I won't argue that the Universal Holmes movies had the most logical elements, but they always highly entertained me. The Secret Weapon is no exception. I found this one to be a blast. Great stuff!

Most of the reviews shown underneath this colorized-b/w combo disc of "Secret Weapon" seem to be discussing discs issued by other companies. I am (normally) a total believer that discs from "no name" issuers are to be avoided like the plague, as the print quality will almost always be inferior; one of the best lessons I ever learned about buying DVD's was that if it isn't issued by a major studio (Paramont, Fox, Universal, etc.), and that if that info isn't clearly listed on the outer packaging, then it isn't worth buying. Over the years, I've learned that there are a few exceptions; Artisan normally puts out nice prints, and one of the old "villians" of VHS, GoodTimes, seems to have changed it's spots and has issued some very nice prints (some of the "Airport" films); but in general, the "major studio or don't buy it" rule still applies.
This issue was inexpensive, so I decided to take a chance. I can't recall the name of the issuer that's shown on the outside of the case, but once it starts to play, the 20th Century Fox logo makes it very clear that this is at least a co-effort, and why they don't show Fox's name on the cover is beyond me. The picture quality/sound is really very good (as I say, many or all of the reviews shown under this particular issuance were apparently written for other companies' editions of this same title)...so, bottom line is: the colorzied option is fun, not garish or saturated, and the print is very clear. Also offers the film in b/w for you purists, and that's just another reason to get these versions.

First of all, this is not quite a Sherlock Holmes film. It has Holmes, but no deerstalker cap. no calabash pipe, and no magnifying glass. It does have Holmes keep observations, and it is loosely based (14% of the film at least) is based on the canonical story "The Dancing Men." Furthermore, it is not set in Victorian England, but during the Blitz of WWII. If you can get past all of this, it is quite an enjoyable film.

It is essentially a B spy film. Since it does not focus on Bond's gadgets, or any heroes super alien powers, you actually get a story that has a Bourn Identity fell to it. This is what saves the film--you see normal people with keen minds solving a riddle and trying to get the targeting equipment.

As a Sherlock film, it falls flat on it's face. It is a vague, pale ditto-copy of "The Dancing Men," and is barley a Holmes film As a spy film, it is fairly good, and is a good family film. The only objectionable material is there is a torture scene, which, by 1940's standard, is a bit graphic--about 10 years old and over. However, Kids see this type of thing all the time while playing HALO.

Most other reviews have blasted this film, primarily for the continuity jump from 1890's to 1940's. I would remind these people that Holmes is a timeless charter, as the Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century cartoon shows.

Moreover, the Nazi blitz was a real thing. Think of the scene where Holmes and Dr. Tobel were walking to 221-B Baker street, and cross over the rubble and bombed-out buildings. The Brits needed this film for the moral. That is why they had that corny speech at the end of the film. This was not a bleached-teethed marketing monkey or airhead exec, but a soul-surge of a people on the brink of a very real and present disaster.

For the die-hard Sherlockinas, I would also ask them to reread "His Last Bow": He was at odds with the Kaiser. Having him fight Hitler is by no means a stretch of the imagination.

This is a good Saturday afternoon or rainy day film.

As a Holmesian traditionalist truly spoiled by the unsurpassed performances of Jeremy Brett as the great detective, I find it difficult to fully embrace the old 1940s Sherlock Holmes films starring Basil Rathbone. If for no other reason, it's just odd to see Holmes, Watson, and Lestrade transported to the World War II era. Obviously, this film is not a product of any of the writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (although it is extremely loosely based on his story The Dancing Men), a fact made manifest to even the most casual of observers by the overall weaknesses of this plot. While Holmes displays some of the remarkable talents of observation he is famous for, he can't hold a mental candle to Doyle's Holmes, and his archenemy, Professor Moriarty, displays none of the mental acumen that made him Holmes' intellectual equal in the stories of the canon.

There is a propaganda element to Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon, as the plot pits Holmes in a race against time to keep a military secret from falling into the hands of the Germans. Holmes' final speech, I might add, surely did an effective job of rallying British audiences amidst the dark days of 1942. A Swiss scientist has invented a new bombsight capable of greatly increasing the accuracy of bombs, and Holmes is sent to Switzerland to safeguard Doctor Franz Tobel and conduct him and his innovative bombsight to London - before he and his discovery fall into the hands of the Gestapo. Once safely ensconced in the British capitol, though, Tobel refuses to part with his secret, insisting that he alone oversee the production of his nifty bombsight. Naturally, he soon disappears - courtesy of Professor Moriarty. The only solid clue Holmes has to work with is a piece of paper bearing the faintest of imprints of a coded message the scientist left behind (here's where your dancing men come in). Normally, a renewal of the struggle between Holmes and Moriarty lifts a Holmesian story to great heights, but neither great man really impressed me - especially Moriarty, who came across as a sad amateur rather than the greatest criminal mastermind in England. Furthermore, no matter what you might think of Professor Moriarty, I for one do not believe he would betray his own country.

Rathbone makes for an interesting and, by and large, successful portrayer of the great detective (even though it looks as if he and Shemp Howard shared the same barber). Dr. Watson (played by Nigel Bruce) is almost buffoon-like at times and barely manages to shine even in the presence of Inspector Lestrade (Dennis Hoey). Personally, I was not very impressed by Lionel Atwill's portrayal of Professor Moriarty, but the weakness of his character here would naturally preclude any actor from excelling in the role.

This is still an interesting film with some enjoyable moments, and the atmosphere is, at times, noticeably Sherlockian, but Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon is very much in the pastiche vein and, as such, delivers only the palest of incarnations of the great detective - although I must admit the World War II propaganda aspect of the film makes it a little more interesting than it would otherwise be.

SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SECRET WEAPON is one of the Basil Rathbone "Sherlock Holmes" films that I watched many, many times while a youngster and adored completely. Thanks to this DVD featuring a newly restored print, I'm watching the film in much better condition today that has probably been seen in decades. And I'm overjoyed that the film is as delightful to the adult-me as it was to the mini-me.

"Thousands are finding strength in Guinness!" proclaims the side of a double-decker bus in a stock footage establishing shot. This is the second film which pits Sherlock Holmes directly against the Germans during World War II. Holmes had previously fought for the Allies in THE VOICE OF TERROR, and would do so again in SHERLOCK HOLMES IN WASHINGTON. After these three films, Universal would keep Holmes and Watson in their contemporary setting, but would limit them to more conventional crime-fighting. For my money, this is the best of the three. The plot is a variation on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Adventure of the Dancing Men", and the code-breaking storyline is quite apt for a WWII-era escapade.

The storyline concerns a new invention which we're told could single-handedly turn the tide of the war -- a new bomb sight, the creation of Doctor Tobel, a brilliant Swiss scientist, who has decided to hand over his device to the British Government. And just as the Allies were fighting the Axis Powers, Holmes finds himself struggling against his greatest enemy, Professor Moriarty. Moriarty is, of course, working for Germany, for no immediately obvious reason other than the fact that they're the film's dual bad guys.

I love the interaction between Holmes and Watson. Yes, it's a huge exaggeration of the characters as originally written, but I can't fault its entertainment value. Right from the very beginning, they're bouncing fun lines off each other (almost entirely at Watson's expense). Holmes patiently explaining the plot to Watson, or neglecting to explain his disguise until Watson's makes a fool of himself to Scotland Yard, or the pair of them independently complaining about the other's untidiness. Utterly ticklish material and performed superbly by the actors.

And, of course, there's the great intangible that this film possesses in spades -- atmosphere. It's rare to see a Sherlock Holmes adaptation without a good menacing sense of atmosphere (it almost seems inherent in the format), but when you put that together with that certain mood of a good thriller which films of the 1940s seemed to produce effortlessly and you really have something.

Yes, there's something very iconic about seeing London's most famous address, "221B Baker Street", standing amid bomb wreckage, smashed buildings and piles of heavy sandbags. The humorous sequences I mentioned earlier are perfectly balanced with some strong noir-like set pieces: the smuggling of Dr. Tobel out of Zurich under the nose of the Gestapo, Holmes' disguised jaunt through Soho, the tracking of Moriarty to his lair. The dialog is delightfully smooth as well. You can see Basil Rathbone and Lionel Atwill (Prof. Moriarty) drinking in their lines like wine of the finest vintage, practically purring their "my dear Holmes" and "my dear Professor" to each other.

There are no DVD extras to speak of, although the digitally restored picture and sound go a long way towards making up for that. I did watch a few of the scenes with the closed captioning on and was shocked by how poor the transcription was. A lot of phrases seemed to be dropped from the captioning completely, which is unfortunately not unusual, but seemed particularly bad in this case. Numerous mistakes ("conceded" instead of "conceited", "We don't need your confounded submarine" rather than "We'll meet your...", etc) were very obvious, in many cases completely altering the meaning of sentences. It wrecks one of the films cleverest lines: "[It] was so simple that it fooled us. I was looking for something ingenious; this is ingenuous" is rendered as "[It] was so simple that it fooled us. I was looking for something ingenious; this is ingenious." Yes, I realize it's only one transposed letter, but it's sort of an important one.

I'm very glad this film still holds up for me, as it's always a huge disappointment when you revisit something you enjoyed as a child only to discover that you had absolutely no taste or discretion when you were eight. I'll be slowly working my way through the rest of the Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce films now that they're all released on DVD, taking in both movies that I've seen before and ones that I'm ignorant of. I can only hope that the ones I'm not experiencing for the first time are as fun for the adult as they were for the child.