Dressed to Kill (1946)

Powerful

People are voting emotionally.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

As this Sherlock Holmes mystery opens we see a prisoner in Dartmoor prison who is making music boxes; we then see the boxes being sold at a London auction house. Shortly after the sale a man turns up saying he intended to buy the boxes for 'sentimental reasons' and a five pound bride gets him the addresses of two of the buyers. The identity of the third isn't known but she is a regular buyer so the man says he will return at the next sale to see her. Shortly afterwards a friend of Doctor Watson mentions a strange robbery; a thief ambushed him and stole a plain music box from his collection of more valuable ones. The stolen box resembles the one he'd just bought at the auction. Holmes hears the tune once and memorises it. Not long afterwards he is murdered and the box stolen. Holmes visits the auction house and learns about the maker of the boxes… a man who stole printing plates for Bank of England five pound notes. The boxes must have something to do with the plates but what is a mystery. The race is on to get the three boxes and crack the code.This was a rather fun Sherlock Holmes mystery, the last to star Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Holmes and Watson. The is no real question as to who the villains are but what is so special about the music boxes isn't immediately obvious as is just how the information is hidden in each of them. Patricia Morison steals the show somewhat as femme fatale Mrs. Hilda Courtney; an intelligent antagonist who manages to get the better of Holmes. Rathbone is solid as Holmes and Bruce is entertaining as Watson, even if his character is a bit dim for a qualified doctor. There are plenty of good aspects to the mystery but also an ending that involves quite a coincidence. Overall an enjoyable story that was well worth watching if you are a Holmes fan or just like a decent mystery.

The Basil Rathbone "Sherlock Holmes" films have finally come to a conclusion. I admit that this wasn't a very epic one, but a good one nonetheless. The best parts of this movie involve the villains. It's simply great to see these colorful characters with so much personality. It's a shame they fade away in the second half, but they luckily show up again. Rathbone is as good as ever as Sherlock. There's no sense of finality with this installment. They may have tried to make further movies. A character as legendary as Sherlock Holmes deserves great actor portrayal like this.This is one of the most interesting plots as it involves three music boxes that will display a secret message all put together. Holmes himself doesn't appear until 8 minutes in the movie, which is fairly long for this series. As a series with such short installments and many entries, they really do all seem like episodes of a TV show. I enjoy reviewing TV show episodes and am glad this structure was used. The series may have ended, but there are so many incantations, he will never be missed. ***.

*Spoiler/plot- Dressed to Kill, 1946, A Sherlock Holmes story some hidden bank-note printing plates hidden by a master thief and never found. When an old school friend of Dr. Watson is found murdered, Sherlock Holmes immediately suspects that this has something to do with his latest collector's item purchase, namely a wooden musical box. The music box has a music code to solve the mystery of the stolen items.*Special Stars- Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Patricia Morison, Ian Wolfe, Harry Cording *Theme- Once Homes is interested, nothing will stop him from solving the mystery.*Trivia/location/goofs- Watch for Nigel Bruce's voice impression of a duck quacking to entertain a frightened little girl. Watch for great character man with a LONG career, Ian Wolfe in this movie. Copyrights of this film fell into public domain and so DVD copies are inferior due to not having access to studio copies.*Emotion- A slightly slow mystery in the Rathbone Holmes series. Enjoyable and has enough drama and intrigue to satisfy everyone.

This movie is rather an anomaly. Made after WWII in 1946, but when was the action set? The transport is of the 1930's, especially the "General" London omnibus. As I said in the Goofs section, one of the scenes depicts a "General" omnibus carrying passengers on a normal route, but the "London General Omnibus Company" went out of service in 1933. Yet the ladies fashions depicted in the movie are of the 1940's. As another viewer remarked (also in the "Goofs" section)..."Watson refers to the events in his story 'A Scandal in Bohemia' taking place two years earlier. In the story Bohemia was a independent kingdom, but in 1943 it was obviously part of Hitler's Third Reich." ...but of course the original story by Conan Doyle was written and set before WWI.So exactly in which period was this movie intended to be set? Although there is no mention of either WWI or WWII, I suspect it's supposed to be set in the 1930's, and before Holmes' wartime (WWII) exploits. But who knows? The movie is nowhere near as good as others in this Rathbone/Bruce series of movies. However it has its amusing moments, but the only one to come out of it with any real credit is Patricia Morison, and there's very little else to shout about.