Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1942)

Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon was my first introduction to the world famous sleuth; I was in 8th grade at the time and out of sheer boredom (it was 2 AM on a Friday night) I popped in my dad’s video copy (COLORIZED) in the VCR, and I have been hooked ever since. Whenever there was a Sherlock Holmes movie on television, I had to watch it.  However, the Rathbone-Bruce films weren't enough to quench my thirst, so I eventually turned to the Arthur Conan Doyle short stories; I bought "The Classic Illustrated Sherlock Holmes" and absolutely ate it up. What’s amazing about Doyle’s character is how he has transcended time; Sherlock Holmes is just as relevant now as he was in Victorian London. The TV show Sherlock was not the first adaptation to transpose Doyle’s creation to a modern day setting; the Universal series did the same thing in the 1940s by setting it against the backdrop of World War II. In the early films, Holmes was often pitted against Nazi agents. In The Secret Weapon,  a Swiss scientist, Dr. Tobel, has invented a bombsight that the Nazi’s desperately want and it is up to Holmes to see that it does not fall into their hands.

The plot is secondary in a movie like this; the real joy of the Universal Sherlock Holmes series was seeing Basil Rathbone’s definitive take on the Doyle character (sorry, Jeremy Brett fans). Indeed, part of the fun is watching Holmes don various disguises to either evade or locate his enemy. In the Secret Weapon he disguises himself as:  an elderly, German book dealer, a Lascar sailor named  Rum Sangh, and Frederic Hoffner, a scientist. It's amazing how Rathbone completely loses himself in these characterizations; often to the point that you forget it's Sherlock Holmes in disguise. There was never any sense that Rathbone was phoning in his performance, despite starring in 14 Sherlock Holmes movies from 1939 to 1946. Rathbone is extremely energetic in the role of Sherlock Holmes and is always fun to watch; check out his musical number in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It's a fairly gratuitous moment, but an absolute delight as well. Holmes dons the disguise of a music hall performer and sings "I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside" at a garden party.

Rathbone is well matched by Lionel Atwill's ratlike portrayal of Professor Moriarty. In the Rathbone series, Moriarty was played by three distinct actors: George Zucco, Lionel Atwill, and Henry Daniell. Each of them gave a fairly distinct performance, but Atwill was my favorite. His Moriarty was a complete slime bag and gave off a foul odor.  Zucco and Daniell were fairly dignified in their roles, but Atwill's Moriarty is absolutely shameless, as Holmes often points out. Zucco and Daniell's Moriarty lived in lavish settings, Atwill's lives in a complete dive. Yet, there is a mutual respect between him and Holmes; Moriarty even regrets having to kill Holmes, because he is the only worthy adversary out there. The battle of wits between Holmes and the "Napoleon of Crime" are among the best scenes in the movie, as well as in the entire series. Rathbone and Atwill had a wonderful dynamic that it's no wonder they were often cast opposite one another; their most famous pairing was in Son of Frankenstein, in which Atwill gave a commanding performance as the wooden armed Inspector Krogh, while Rathbone hammed it up in the role of the title character.

Nigel Bruce has often been a source of controversy among die hard Sherlock Holmes fans, there are many who resent his bumbling portrayal of Dr. Watson. I, personally, rather enjoy Bruce's comedic take on the character.  Of course, this is largely due to the fact that the Rathbone/Bruce films were my first exposure to Sherlock Holmes. In the Arthur Conan Doyle stories, Watson isn't really much of a character, his main function is that of a narrator, hence he often gets lost in the shuffle (the two exceptions being Hound of the Baskervilles and The Sign of Four). The literary stories are told from the first person point of view, but when adapted into film, Watson's narration is unnecessary, not to mention redundant. Watson is essentially Holmes sidekick, therefore the logical solution would make him the comedy relief. This change boils the blood of many purists, but Bruce is a good enough actor that Watson's bumbling antics never become a stumbling block. It also helps that Rathbone and him have excellent chemistry; the two of them effortlessly work off one another. Watson maybe a bit clueless at times, but he's extremely loyal to his temperamental friend, and is often brave when the moment calls for it.

It's interesting to note that in The Secret Weapon, Watson and the equally inept Inspector Lestrade (Dennis Hoey) save Holmes not once, but twice from certain death. The first time, Holmes is tied up and placed in the false bottom of a trunk; Moriarty instructs his two lackeys to take the truck and dump it into the ocean. The two men are on their way, when they run into Lestrade and Watson. Lestrade demands to see the contents of the trunk, the men open it up, revealing tools on top. At first, Lestrade is taken in by the ruse and send the men on their way, but Watson notices that the trunk is unusually heavy for something containing a few tools. A light bulb goes off in Lestrade's head and he calls out after the two men; they panic and drop the trunk, thus saving our hero from certain peril.  Later on, just when it seems Moriarty is going to put a bullet in Holmes head, the dimwitted duo arrive just in the nick of time, once again prolonging the life of the famous sleuth.

The was the first entry directed by Roy William Neill, who would go on the direct the remaining films in the series. Neill's greatest accomplishment is how he managed to keep things moving at a brisk pace; there is  almost no let up in Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon. Holmes is almost always on the move, be it walking through the desolated streets of London (this film takes place during the German air raids), or frequenting the many swill holes in London in an effort to locate Professor Moriarty. Neill's efficient direction becomes even apparent when you compare the Rathbone films to the Arthur Wortner adaptations of the 30s. Wortner made for an excellent Holmes; he was much more subdued in his portrayal than Rathbone. However, his Sherlock Holmes films are quite a chore to sit through due to the pedestrian direction; they are sluggish in spots, to the point where they make Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey seem like a Michael Bay film. Also, the editing is extremely choppy that it's often hard to tell where one character is in relation to another. Wortner gives it his all, but sadly, even his performance can't redeem these stale films. The Rathbone/Bruce films may not be most faithful of adaptations, but they are a lot of fun. Even the worst film in the series, Pursuit to Algiers, is still worth a look.

Credits.
Cast: Basil Rathbone (Sherlock Holmes), Nigel Bruce (Dr. Watson), Lionel Atwill (Moriarty), Dennis Hoey (Inspector Lestrade), Kaaren Verne (Charlotte Eberli), William Post, Jr. (Dr. Franz Tobel), Holmes Herbert (Sir Reginald Dailey), Mary Gordon (Mrs. Hudson).
Director: Roy William Neill
Screenplay: Edward T. Lowe Jr., Scott Darling, Edmund L. Hartmann. Based on “The Dancing Men” by Arthur Conan Doyle.
Running Time: 68 min.