Sherlock Holmes in Washington

"The Mystery Master in America!"

1943 1h 11m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

★6.8TMDB · 89

MysteryCrimeThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In World War II, a British secret agent carrying a vitally important document is kidnapped en route to Washington. The British government calls on Sherlock Holmes to recover it.

“The Mystery Master in America!”

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Where to watch · US

Cast

Basil Rathbone
Sherlock Holmes
Nigel Bruce
Doctor Watson
Marjorie Lord
Nancy Partridge
Henry Daniell
William Easter
George Zucco
Heinrich Hinckel aka Richard Stanley
John Archer
Naval Lt. Pete Merriam
Gavin Muir
Mr. Lang, government agent
Edmund MacDonald
Detective Lt. Grogan

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Roy William Neill
Writers: Bertram Millhauser, Bertram Millhauser, Bertram Millhauser
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Tight 71-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

83 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Roy William Neill, shot by Lester White. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Otto Ludwig shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce and Marjorie Lord carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The Mystery Master in America!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0036349 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Roy William Neill directs. Lester White behind the camera. Otto Ludwig cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 71-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
283 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Part of the "Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Roy William Neill, shot by Lester White. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Editor Otto Ludwig shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce and Marjorie Lord carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "The Mystery Master in America!".
8IMDB entry: tt0036349 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 89 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Lester White
Editing: Otto Ludwig
Costume design: Vera West
Runtime: 71 min · 1h 11m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943)

Part of

Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) Collection

A series of fourteen films based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories was released between 1939 and 1946; the British actors Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce played Holmes and Dr. John Watson, respectively. The first two films in the series were produced by 20th Century Fox and released in 1939. The studio stopped making the films after these, but Universal Pictures acquired the rights from the Doyle estate and produced a further twelve films. Although the films from 20th Century Fox had large budgets, high production values, and were set in the Victorian era, Universal updated the films to the contemporary era of the Second World War, and produced them as B pictures with lower budgets. Both Rathbone and Bruce continued their roles when the series changed studios, as did Mary Gordon, who played the recurring character, Mrs. Hudson.

Also by

Roy William Neill

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-06-26
★ 6/10
When a British agent carrying a secret document to Washington goes missing, His Majesty’s government drafts in the services of “Holmes” (Basil Rathbone) and “Watson” (Nigel Bruce) to investigate. After a very near miss at the missing man’s lodgings, the pair conclude that they must head to the US of A if they are to make any headway with their search. Of course, “Watson” is quite excited by the prospect and that is used as a conduit to show us the Statue of Liberty, then some capital city landmarks, before they get to their hotel and receive a large trunk with some unwelcome contents! Now the race is on to find the secrets, but “Holmes” knows that he isn’t the only one looking for them, and that puts in danger many of the fellow passengers in the railway club carriage where “Pettibone” (Gerald Hamer) was last seen. Things become especially dangerous for the wealthy and soon to be married “Nancy” (Marjorie Lord) whom we know the baddies think knows more than she thinks she does, and when she finds herself getting to inspect her new rug a little more closely than she’d like then she has to hope that these visiting sleuths can save the day. This is probably my least favourite of these films. The narrative is a little more propagandist, the story a bit thin and “Holmes” has swapped his “indubitably” and “elementary” for some more jingoistic terminology as it builds to it’s denouement. The usual cast is supported here by the welcome presence of George Zucco and the familiar one of Henry Daniell, but I don’t think it crossed the Atlantic with much distinction here.

Production companies