playlist thumnail

Sherlock Holmes Basil Rathbone Series - 1939 - 1946

Cult Classics Cinema &TV Classics
14 videos
Updated 4 months ago
Play All Shuffle
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. The films from Fox had large budgets, high production values and were set in the Victorian era. Universal produced them as B pictures with lower budgets and updated the films' settings to the then-present time of the Second World War, with Holmes fighting the Nazis. Both Rathbone and Bruce continued their roles when the series changed studios, as did Mary Gordon, who played the recurring character Mrs Hudson.
  1. Sherlock Holmes Dressed to Kill - 1946
    1:11:50

    Sherlock Holmes Dressed to Kill - 1946

    Dressed to Kill is a 1946 American mystery film directed by Roy William Neill. Released by Universal Pictures, it is the last of fourteen films starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Doctor Watson. It is also known by the alternative titles Prelude to Murder (working title) and Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Code in the United Kingdom. The film has an original story, but combines elements of the short stories "The Adventure of the Six Napoleons" and "A Scandal in Bohemia."
     47  views
  2. Sherlock Holmes Terror by Night - 1946
    59:38

    Sherlock Holmes Terror by Night - 1946

    Terror by Night is a 1946 Sherlock Holmes crime drama directed by Roy William Neill and starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. The story revolves around the theft of a famous diamond aboard a train. The film's plot is a mostly original story not directly based on any of Arthur Conan Doyle's Holmes tales, but it uses minor plot elements of "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle," "The Adventure of the Empty House," "The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax," and The Sign of Four.
     65  views
  3. Sherlock Holmes Pursuit to Algiers - 1943
    1:05:04

    Sherlock Holmes Pursuit to Algiers - 1943

    Pursuit to Algiers (1945) is the twelfth entry in the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes film series of fourteen. Elements in the story pay homage to an otherwise unrecorded affair mentioned by Dr. Watson at the beginning of the 1903 story "The Adventure of the Norwood Builder", notably the steamship Friesland. Off-camera, Watson also recounts to his audience another unrecorded affair mentioned in the 1924 story "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire", that of the Giant Rat of Sumatra, "a story for which the world is not yet prepared".
     24  views
  4. Sherlock Holmes The Woman in Green - 1945
    1:07:45

    Sherlock Holmes The Woman in Green - 1945

    The Woman in Green is a 1945 American film, the eleventh of the fourteen Basil Rathbone-Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes films based on the characters created by Arthur Conan Doyle. Produced and directed by Roy William Neill, it stars Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Bruce as Dr. Watson, with Hillary Brooke as the woman of the title and Henry Daniell as Professor Moriarty. The film follows an original premise with material taken from "The Final Problem" (1893) and "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box .
     26  views
  5. Sherlock Holmes The House of Fear - 1945
    1:09:10

    Sherlock Holmes The House of Fear - 1945

    The House of Fear is a 1945 Sherlock Holmes crime film starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. Directed by Roy William Neill, it is loosely based on the 1891 short story "The Five Orange Pips" by Arthur Conan Doyle. It is the 10th film of the Rathbone/Bruce collaboration as Holmes and Dr. Watson.
     34  views
  6. Sherlock Holmes Faces Death - 1943
    1:08:06

    Sherlock Holmes Faces Death - 1943

    Sherlock Holmes Faces Death is the sixth film in the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce series of Sherlock Holmes films. Made in 1943, it is a loose adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 1893 Holmes short story "The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual". Its three immediate predecessors in the film series were World War II spy adventures with Holmes and Dr. Watson helping the Allies thwart enemy agents, but this one marked a return to the pure mystery film form. Though several characters are military men and there are frequent mentions of the ongoing war, it is not the focus of the story.
     46  views
  7. Sherlock Holmes in Washington - 1943
    1:11:32

    Sherlock Holmes in Washington - 1943

    Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943) is the fifth film in the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce series of Sherlock Holmes movies. The plot is an original story not based on any of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Holmes tales. Alfred Pettibone, a British secret agent carrying a vital secret document, is murdered on his way to deliver it in the U.S. The British government turns to Sherlock Holmes for help. He deduces that Pettibone converted the document to microfilm. Avoiding an assassination attempt, he hurries to Washington, D.C., with Dr. Watson to retrieve it before it falls into the hands of an "international spy ring".
     27  views
  8. Sherlock Holmes and The Pearl of Death - 1944
    1:08:41

    Sherlock Holmes and The Pearl of Death - 1944

    The Pearl of Death is a 1944 Sherlock Holmes film starring Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson, the ninth of fourteen such films the pair made. The story is loosely based on Conan Doyle's short story "The Adventure of the Six Napoleons" but features some additions, such as Evelyn Ankers as an accomplice of the villain played by Miles Mander, and Rondo Hatton as a brutal killer. Master criminal Giles Conover (Miles Mander) steals the famous "Borgia Pearl" from the Royal Regent Museum under the very nose of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, but when caught the pearl is not found on him, he is released.
     35  views
  9. Sherlock Holmes and the Scarlet Claw - 1944
    1:13:48

    Sherlock Holmes and the Scarlet Claw - 1944

    The Scarlet Claw is a 1944 American mystery thriller film based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes detective stories. Directed by Roy William Neill and starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, it is the eighth film of the Rathbone/Bruce series. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are in Canada attending a conference on the occult, when Lord Penrose receives a message that his wife Lady Penrose has been murdered in the small village of La Mort Rouge. Holmes and Watson are about to return home when Holmes receives a telegram from Lady Penrose, issued before her death, asking for help as she fears for her life. Holmes decides to investigate her death.
     32  views
  10. Sherlock Holmes and the Spider Woman - 1943
    1:02:11

    Sherlock Holmes and the Spider Woman - 1943

    Sherlock Holmes and the Spider Woman is a 1943 mystery film starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson, the seventh of fourteen such films the pair were involved in. As with all of the Universal Studios films in the series, the film is set in then-present day as opposed to the Victorian setting of the original stories. This film incorporates elements from the 1890 novel The Sign of the Four, as well as the short stories "The Final Problem", "The Adventure of the Empty House", "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" and makes explicit reference to "The Adventure of the Devil's Foot".
     39  views