Sherlock Holmes in Washington

Moviecut—Sherlock Holmes in Washington

Film can be the most fun. One of the most interesting things about film is how we use them to work out who we are. I'm interested in certain notions of complex abstract reasoning, but the simpler, more obvious stuff is fun too. One of those "simple" things is national identity. And there is hardly a better case than how the British defined themselves during the great war. While France rolled over and most Europeans were left to define themselves as humans instead of citizens, the English really turned to film as a nation. One of the most interesting appropriations was Sherlock Holmes. He has a singular importance in the history of literature, both in terms of placing a discoverer of story in the story, and in terms of being a representative of the (then) new notion that people are motivated and act rationally. So any movie with Holmes in it, no matter how casual, is loaded, and this one is loaded by bulldozers. Holmes is transported from Victorian times to then modern times. His nemesis here is the guy who played his old opponent: Moriarty. And there are other transpositions as well. Holmes' interest in science is transformed to a focus on technology, here microfilm, high tech for the time. And the action — after some homeland establishing shots (including a loving mother) — is transported from the UK to the US. And that's the interesting part, because when you are defining your nature, you have the choice by defining it against others. In this case, we have a parade of American stereotypes. Since it was absolutely clear that the Americans were saving the Brits from extinction, this is done with less edge than usual. But we still have the bullmoose loud senator, the dippy but earnest girlie, the solid naval officer and such. These are woven around landmarks of Washington. But one stereotype is particularly of interest. In the 40's in the US, black men were railroad porters. By a lucky accident, it was a way to earn decent money, be relatively cosmopolitan but still stay in a role of servitude. These were Jim Crow days in the US, a bad time, a time of canker. So depicting the necessary black man in this film was handled with some sensitivity. The British filmmakers followed the form of polite deference, but with less bowing and scraping than in an America movie of the era. But check out who plays the black porter. He's George Muse, perhaps the least servile black man in the business at the time, someone who would go on to earn a doctorate. Someone who refused to give an inch on basic respect. I think the Brits in charge of production, who did the US portions in California with DC projected on screens behind, would have been amused. The savior of the world, with this huge blot. Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

Searching for an invaluable microfilm, SHERLOCK HOLMES IN WASHINGTON encounters as much danger as ever he did in old London. Basil Rathbone & Nigel Bruce return as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's beloved characters Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in this unpretentious but enjoyable film. Although not based on any particular tale from the Canon, there is still enough mystery and intrigue to keep detective fans well satisfied. Of course, with Rathbone all cerebral intellect and Bruce ever the good-natured bumbler, the viewer knows that God's in His Heaven and all's right with the world. Henry Daniell & George Zucco, two of the series' finest villains, appear in this entry. They both specialized in making menace delightfully subtle and sophisticated. This time they portray German agents intent on retrieving an enormously important British document. Others in the cast include the lovely Marjorie Lord (who's quite grotesque with a cigarette dangling from her lips) as a young socialite pulled into the nefarious scheme; Holmes Herbert as a senior civil servant in London; and Thurston Hall as a blustery United Stated senator. Movie mavens will spot several fine actors in uncredited roles: Gerald Hamer as a hapless British agent; elderly Margaret Seddon as a train traveler with mice; dear Mary Gordon as Holmes' landlady, Mrs. Hudson; Mary Forbes as a spy's loving mother; and Ian Wolfe as a slightly sinister antiques store clerk. Especially notable is the always entertaining Clarence Muse, appearing as a club car porter, who does the almost impossible by stealing a scene from Rathbone. This film followed SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SECRET WEAPON (1942) and preceded SHERLOCK HOLMES FACES DEATH (1943).

Third in the Universal series of Sherlock Holmes films is another strong one with a WWII plot. A British secret agent carrying important documents is kidnapped en route to Washington, D.C. The British government turns to Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) to find the agent and the documents. Together with Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce), Holmes journeys to America to investigate. Rathbone and Bruce are terrific, as usual. This is the last entry in the series where Rathbone sports that silly hairstyle. George Zucco and Henry Daniell are great villains, which should surprise no one. They both played Holmes' nemesis Prof. Moriarty in other films. Holmes Herbert, Thurston Hall, Gavin Muir, and Edmund Macdonald are among the fine actors in the wonderful supporting cast. Marjorie Lord provides the pretty. Strong direction from Roy William Neill. It's a very entertaining movie. No backhanded compliments here. No "best of the propaganda Holmes films" or "thankfully not as much flag-waving as the previous two films" or any of that stuff. Unlike some other reviewers I don't respond to patriotism (especially during WWII) like the Wicked Witch responds to water. After this entry, Holmes would return to murder mysteries although still taking place in the (then) present day rather than the Victorian era, much to the consternation of Holmes purists. I have my thoughts on that but I'll just quote John Archer, the actor who played Lt. Pete Merriam in this film: "Those Sherlock Holmes fans -- by God, they are rabid. They want everything to be just the way it was."

Purist fans of Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary detective Sherlock Holmes usually heap scorn and derision on Sherlock Holmes In Washington as it is not based in any way on one of Conan Doyle's stories. It is clearly an inferior product and I'm by no means a Holmes purist. But this was wartime and it would only be natural that world's most famous detective be called on to lend his services overseas when a British agent carrying a vital document disappears, but not before he passes it on to an unsuspecting Marjorie Lord on a train. Holmes and Watson go to America at the behest of British Intelligence to find out just what happened. Holmes and Watson dressed in their Victorian/Edwardian attire seem dreadfully out of place in wartime Washington, DC. Still with the keen intelligence that Holmes has and Basil Rathbone brings to the role, those enemies of democracy had no idea what they were dealing with. As a bow to current radio favorites, Thurston Hall plays a bloviating southern senator very much along the lines of Senator Claghorn from the Fred Allen radio show. Might have been even more interesting if Kenny Delmar who originated that character had been in Sherlock Holmes In Washington. Still Thurston Hall was quite good, possibly the best thing from this film. After some wartime propaganda films, the Basil Rathbone-Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes movies got back to some of Conan Doyle's stories as the material for the films. Good thing too.

I've seen Sherlock Holmes In Washington a couple of times and although not the best of the series, I found it enjoyable. During the Second World War, Holmes and Dr Watson head to Washington to investigate a missing document on a microfilm which is hidden in a matchbox. After getting the clues, they retrieve it at the end and head back to London. As always, Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce play Holmes and Watson brilliantly and are joined in this one by George Zucco (The Flying Serpent, House of Frankenstein), Marjorie Lord, Holmes Herbert (The Pearl of Death, Ghost of Frankenstein) and Henry Daniell. Though not the best of the Rathbone/Bruce movies, Sherlock Holmes in Washington is certainly worth a look. Enjoyable. Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

Once again Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce deliver the goods in "Sherlock Holmes in Washington." I like this film from 1943.... A great cast that includes Henry Daniell, George Zucco and some other fine actors of note...... If I have any gripe at all about the series of 'Holmes' films that Rathbone and Bruce made is, they are all between 60 to 75 minutes long.... To me, that means rather short... I'd prefer longer scripts and films that run at least 80 to 90 minutes long.... For the 1940s, that is a normal run...... I love these old-time co-stars like "Henry Daniell, George Zucco, Lionel Atwill & Dennis Hoey." All them guys were pluses for the series of 'Holmes' films produced from 1939 to 1946...... Good quality there... MR.BILL

It is neat to share in Holmes' American adventure and Watson's observations of American life. A historic view of Washington buildings is also interesting. Can watch several times. I particularly enjoy the scenes on the train in the US where Holmes determines the location of the various people while Watson acts out who they are. I also enjoy the way the story deals with the aspects of the British courier/ secret agent, Alfred Pettibone, of Parlow, Nash, Parlow. The scenes at his apartment where Holmes figures out why they need to go to America, the scene where Pettibone is getting on the plane and when abducted on the train are well done and entertaining. I thought the story moves along better than most of the others in this series.

It seems to me that which ever Sherlock Holmes {Rathbone} film I watch there is always comments on the site stating it's one of the weaker in the series !!, it really just goes to show how we are all different as regards our love of the series because to me this entry is far from being weak. It has a very tidy plot that takes our delightful duo to America and contains one of my favourite sequences as we watch a (critical to the plot) book of matches go from person to person at a social gathering. Holmes gets to act up as an eccentric art collector and Watson does what he does best, comedy relief. The ending perhaps could of packed a bigger punch for me personally, but all in all it's yer above average detective drama acted out with the usual style from the regulars, 7/10.

Shortly before the full outbreak of World War Two, a British Agent is travelling incognito with information vital to the war effort. On a train to Washington he vanishes – abducted by the enemy. Holmes is contacted by the Home Office to help find the information before it falls into the wrong hands and he and Watson set out for America, where the Nazi's are also still searching for the information. This particular series of Holmes movies are rarely fantastic but this is surely one of the weakest I have seen thus far. In updating Holmes to modern (as was) times the film really loses touch with the strengths of the series based in the original time. This film has too many jokes about Holmes and Watson noticing the oddities of `modern' life, a tougher `gangster' edge with Holmes brandishing a gun with Cagney-esque menace etc. This significantly takes away from the enjoyment of seeing Holmes work out the logic of a good case. This isn't helped by a very weak plot. At heart it is nothing more than a flag-waving exercise with a chance for a very English hero to put one over on the enemy of the day. I don't mind propaganda and understand why these were important at the time but I do mind bad films! The plot is OK at the start but there is no logic to it and the main plot device (the match-book) floats around with random abandon and all just happens to come together far too neatly with big leaps that are out of a script writers head and not from the logic of Holmes. My personal favourite jump of the film was Holmes drawing a splinter out of a rug and identifying that it came from a chair, what type of chair, the year of the chair and therefore the shop in Washington it came from – all in a few lines of dialogue! The conclusion is poor despite some nice touches and is further marred by a heavy handed message of America and the UK coming together to face a common foe. Rathbone is a less impressive Holmes than usual. His condescending streak is still evident but his logic is less impressive and more wartime thriller. Also his hairstyle appears to have gone mad and looks silly – I'm sure I could see Bruce occasionally staring at it when delivering his lines! Bruce is good as always and adds good comic relief and the only weakness is my usual complain that I don't see Watson being just a buffoon with a pistol. The bad guys all lacked character for me with only the head standing out briefly. I missed Inspector Lestrade as he is often a comic foil for Holmes! Overall this is a very poor entry in a generally enjoyable series of films. I enjoy them usually but here the weaknesses just piled on top of one another and the basic strengths were lost in the flag-waving update.