Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943)

Undescribable Perfection

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

"Sherlock Holmes in Washington" isn't as bad as some fans make out. For once, the supporting cast don't have to put on their lamentable Cockney accents, as the plot is based in America mostly. Basil Rathbone is very settled as Holmes and his approach is much more natural than Jeremy Brett's. George Zucco is outstanding as the villain, those coal black eyes that could hold their own in the never- ending hell. Henry Daniell is also effective as another villain of the film. The story plays more like an Espionage plot and it works well. The middle section of "Sherlock Holmes in Washington" is rather weak with an unnecessary diversion from the plot. However, the film quickly improves. I found Nigel Bruce's clowning around to be rather irksome but it's not the actor's fault. It is the writers who are to blame. Anyone who is familiar with Nigel Bruce as Watson, might forever identify him as a buffoonish but lovable and loyal companion to Holmes. However, you only need to see Nigel Bruce in the 2 period films of Sherlock Holmes made by "20th Century Fox" and to listen to those excellent radio episodes to know that he could play Watson as the serious character of the stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. I do like "Sherlock Holmes in Washington" but it would be overshadowed by the Holmes films from 1944.

Not one of the best of the series like Hound of the Baskervilles, Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Scarlet Claw, but of the wartime-based Sherlock Holmes films Sherlock Holmes in Washington comes across as the best one. That is not to say the others were bad, Secret Weapon was fun and Voice of Terror had some good things too, though generally it was lacking and the, or one of the, weakest of the series. Sherlock Holmes in Washington can feel padded, particularly in the middle, the ending could have done with more punch and some of the propaganda is rather in-your-face(not as badly as Voice of Terror though). However, it is smoothly directed and photographed with evocatively rendered sets. The music is jaunty and atmospheric, the dialogue is generally thoughtful and the story has a good amount of mystery, suspense and fun. It is also very intriguing, and scenes like at the dinner party and Holmes in the antique shop are very well done. Basil Rathbone, apart from a very distracting hair-do, is wonderful as Holmes(regarding Holmes in movies he was without peer though second only to Jeremy Brett in general). Nigel Bruce is amusing as Watson, he can be too much of a blustering, bumbling fool in the series but it's not so bad here. George Zucco brings the right amount of menace for his villainous role despite him having too few scenes, while Henry Daniell is similarly creepy. The secondary roles of some talented character actors add to the fun too. Overall, a good entry, while not one of the best of the films starring Rathbone- the series works so much better in the Victorian era with the odd horror element amongst the suspense and mystery- it was the best of the ones based in the wartime. 7/10 Bethany Cox

It's not an offensive entry in the series but I couldn't find much new in it except that it's set in a rear-projected Washington, DC. There are some stock footage shots of the Capitol Building and the Washington Monument when Holmes arrives. "Magnificent," he comments. And at the end he gives the expectable pep talk. "Yes, Watson, democracy. And some day these two great nations will walk under the same flag, holding hands, indulging in the occasional kiss, while under the bright blue skies of freedom from tyranny." Something like that.A British courier carrying microfilm in a matchbook is waylaid and murdered and his killers search for the tiny microfilm with the secret document or something. It hardly matters.The matchbook changes hands a number of times and beautiful young Marjorie Lord in swept up in the chase, chloroformed or etherized, then menaced in some unspecified fashion by one of the goons working for George Zucco, playing Heinrich Hinkel, the notorious German agent. I swear I didn't make that name up. Another goon, a little higher up the scale as far as elegance is concerned, is the nasal Henry Daniell, he of the square but flabby jaw and thin lips. He was Lord Wolfingham who buckled swashes with Errol Flynn in "The Sea Hawk." All through the final scene, involving an ordinary shoot out in a fake antique store, I kept wondering what Zucco's brawny subordinate had done to Marjorie Lord to try to get her to talk about the hidden document. I couldn't get it out of my mind. What's happening to me, Doc? Zucco was almost always an up-tight heavy in cheap films of the period. That includes a Sherlock Holmes venture in which he was Professor Moriarty. But I was impressed here with his aplomb, his sense of comme il faut. How easily he lights his pipe during a duel of wits with Holmes.The other surprise was watching Basil Rathbone doing his best to imitate a pouf while haggling with the owner of the antique shop over the price of a broken vase, and whether it was from the Ming dynasty or the Tang. It wasn't nearly as successful as Humphrey Bogart's similar riff in the rare book shop in "The Big Sleep." Altogether pretty routine stuff.

Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943) *** (out of 4) Third in Universal's series has a British secret agent killed and robbed of an important document but the bad guys (led by George Zucco) aren't quite sure what the document is. Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Watson (Nigel Bruce) are called in to track down a kidnapped victim (Marjorie Lord) as well as the book at matches that the document (a microchip) are hidden in. A fun story, nice laughs, a strong supporting cast and a tense ending make this the best of the first three films in the series with Neill's strong direction putting everything into place. Rathbone turns in another great performance, which is to be expected but it's Bruce's comic timing that really steals the film. His obsession with American bubble gum is among the highlights of the film. The greatest sequence of the movie is a scene where the match book is being passed around at a party without anyone knowing what's inside it. The way Neill handles this scene makes for a charming sequence. Zucco seems to be forgotten today but he was also great at playing the bad guys and his performance here is no exception. It was nice seeing Henry Daniell in a supporting role (again) and Lord does a very good job as the woman caught up in the whole mess. The film's one big negative is a lot of in your face propaganda, which was probably needed at the time but today it sticks out like a sore thumb.