Dressed to Kill

Dressed to Kill (1946), also known as The Secret Code in the UK, is the last of fourteen films starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Doctor Watson.

Though not directly based on any of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Holmes stories, the film features several references to “A Scandal in Bohemia”, with Holmes and Watson discussing the recent publication of the story in The Strand Magazine, and the villain of the film using the same trick on Watson that Holmes uses on Irene Adler in the story. The plot also bears some resemblance to “The Adventure of the Six Napoleons”.

A convicted thief in Dartmoor prison hides the location of the stolen Bank of England printing plates inside three music boxes. When the innocent purchasers of the boxes start to be murdered, Holmes and Watson investigate…

Critic Reviews:

• " Final entry in the Rathbone series has a lot of style. " – Ken Hanke

• " One of the classic movies pairing suave gaunt Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and plump Nigel Bruce as his bumbling Boswell, Dr. Watson. " – Donald J. Levit

• " This is another enjoyable well-paced and acted mystery thriller in the series with the usual pleasant banter between Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. " – Dennis Schwartz