Sherlock Holmes in Washington

Starring:Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Marjorie Lord, Henry Daniell, George Zucco, John Archer, Gavin Muir, Edmund MacDonald, Don Terry, Bradley Page, Holmes Herbert, Thurston Hall, Alice Fleming, Gerald Hamer, Evelyn Cook, Regina Wallace, Alexander Lockwood, Eddie Coke, Paul Scott (IV), Jason Robards Sr.
Director: Roy William Neill
Studio: Mpi Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Description
SHERLOCK HOLMES IN WASHINGTON
Digitally Restored in 35mm
The master detective Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and his faithful cohort Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) are back, preserved and digitally restored in 35mm to original condition by the UCLA Film and Television Archive. This newly restored version of the classic film includes the period war bond tag, studio logo and credits from its original theatrical release. Filled with ominous shadows and interesting camera angles, the visual beauty of the film in 35mm is stunning.

A British secret service operative, carrying top-secret microfilm from England to Washington, disappears while traveling to his destination. Fearing for his safety just before his disappearance, he passes the microfilm, ingeniously hidden, to another passenger on the train without her knowing. The agent is reported missing and Sherlock Holmes is called in to investigate.

Description

Contains four classic feature films:
SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE VOICE OF TERROR (1942) - When taunting saboteurs warn of a Nazi invasion of the British Isles through a horrific radio menace, the British Intelligence's Inner Council calls in Sherlock Holmes to help in the crisis.

SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SECRET WEAPON (1942) - The great detective must stop the Nazis from getting their hands on a new bombsight, wrapped in a code of dancing men.

SHERLOCK HOLMES IN WASHINGTON (1943) - Top-secret documents are missing and a British secret service agent is dead. Holmes and Watson go to Washington to recover the documents before they fall into the wrong hands.

SHERLOCK HOLMES FACES DEATH (1943) - Holmes and Watson are summoned to Musgrave Manor to investigate a murder. Holmes solves a complicated puzzle of an ancient family ritual to expose the murderer.

BONUS MATERIAL
Commentary from renowned British author David Stuart Davies
Photo Gallery
Original Movie Posters

Customer Reviews:

5 stars for content BUT..........2007-03-14

$62.99?!?!?!

I got Dressed To Kill, Terror By Night, The Secret Weapon and The Woman In Green in a two-DVD box set at Ross (of all places!) for under $10.00! And (naturally) no shipping!

Sherlock Holmes Collection Vol. 1.......2006-03-15

Exactly what I was hoping for in old movie DVD's. Perfectly restored and just what I was looking for in movies to watch. This is a perfect mix of Holmes.

Sherlock Holmes Collection Vol. 1.......2006-03-04

This is a wonderful collection of the best of the Sherlock Holmes movies, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. There have been many actors cast in the roles of Homes and Watson, but Rathbone and Bruce are by far the best. These films are all updated to the 40's, when Britain was at war with Hitler, but they still are very intertaining. "The Voice of Terror," "The Secret Weapon," and "Holmes in Washington" all are concerned with Nazi spies and the war, and were obviously made as a moral booster for the wartime audiences. They are excellent examples of how to make movies that will entertain for many, many years and not just for the weekend boxoffice grab, the way most films are done today.

Classic.......2006-02-25

If you're a Sherlock Holmes fan than this set is for you. I'm going to buy all of the sets.

excellent, but a rip off.......2006-02-06

excellent dvd's, marvellous restauration, but you americans are getting ripped off like crazy here: this complete collection of 16 restaured films cost more than 200 dollars in the USA while the SAME collection with exactly the same extra's and the same restauration from the same company can be purchased, with a rather more appealing slip cover I'd say, in the UK for as little as 25 pounds(about 37 dollars) or at amazon uk for 34 pounds(about 51 dollars)... if that isn't a reason to buy a regionfree dvd player I don't know what is....don't let those money hungry purveyors of the seperate dvd regions get their way!!!

Average customer rating:

"It's so old it's new."
Classic Sherlock Holmes
Enjoyable curio
A Big Country, Watson, and a Small Match Folder
Washington never looked so good!

Sherlock Holmes in Washington
Starring: Basil Rathbone , Nigel Bruce , Marjorie Lord , Henry Daniell , and George Zucco
Director: Roy William Neill
Manufacturer: Mpi Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Suspense | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Mystery | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Detectives | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Espionage | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Sherlock Holmes: The Voice of Terror
Sherlock Holmes Faces Death
Sherlock Holmes in Pursuit To Algiers
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes in The Spider Woman

ASIN: B0000APVBM
Release Date: 2003-10-28

Description

SHERLOCK HOLMES IN WASHINGTON
Digitally Restored in 35mm
The master detective Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and his faithful cohort Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) are back, preserved and digitally restored in 35mm to original condition by the UCLA Film and Television Archive. This newly restored version of the classic film includes the period war bond tag, studio logo and credits from its original theatrical release. Filled with ominous shadows and interesting camera angles, the visual beauty of the film in 35mm is stunning.

Customer Reviews:

"It's so old it's new.".......2004-08-16

I'd rank as SHERLOCK HOLMES IN WASHINGTON as the weakest of the three "Sherlock Holmes vs. the Germans" films Universal produced during WWII with Basil Rathbone in the starring role. The storyline is clumsy (and contains a notable plot inconsistency), alternating between the completely obvious and the maddeningly obtuse. So, to judge this, I'm just going to talk about its pure entertainment value. In those terms, the movie isn't bad. It's not the greatest thriller ever made, but it's fun enough.

Given that the first three in this line of movies from Universal were thinly veiled propaganda films, it was only a matter of time before the Americans would become involved. (Bringing Holmes and Watson into the then-present day worked quite well all things considered, though it seems appropriate that Watson reading a newspaper ignores the main headlines recounting world events and instead focuses on the cricket scores.) A large deal of time is spent showing that, hey, the Americans are great, and, hey, the British are great, and hey, isn't it great that we're all such great friends. Numerous scenes involve Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce staring at back-screen projections of various Washington, DC landmarks ("Magnificent!" declares Holmes of the Capitol Building). A photograph of FDR hangs in the background of one scene.

Watson gets the bulk of the pro-American lines. He's overjoyed at the possibility of taking in a baseball game. He reads a thin book on American customs and phrases which he takes delight in repeating at inappropriate moments. And, of course, he is suitably impressed with the comic strip adventures of Flash Gordon. Pure Holmes scholars might be horrified that the intelligent and sensitive Dr. James Watson of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories reduced to a bubbling buffoon kicking back milkshakes and being gently pushed off to eat his breakfast. Personally, I was giggling too much to be outraged.

Rewatching this in the background while I type up my review really highlights the film's flaws. Take SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE VOICE OF TERROR as an example. It also has a few storyline problems, but succeeds as a thriller because it successfully places style over substance. It just looks good, even when it isn't entirely making sense. WASHINGTON just doesn't have the same confidence. The pacing is a bit too slow, taking far too long to get from the revelation as to what exactly Holmes is looking for to the inevitable recovery.

Although this is a film with problems and one which is vastly inferior to other movies in the same series, I can't say that I was actually unhappy while viewing it. Sure, it's sillier (deliberately so) than was the norm, but it still has a lot of entertainment value. I wouldn't recommend this if you've never seen any of this series before, but if you're already a fan, you may find this one at least amusing. The Holmes and Watson double-team just manages to save it.

Classic Sherlock Holmes.......2004-07-20

I loved this entry in the series. It was full of pithy, classic, Holmes deductions and Watson wise cracks. I enjoyed the other two WWII movies that were part of the Sherlock Holmes series and highly recommend this one as well. I thought it was excellent!!!! This movie is homeschooler friendly!

Enjoyable curio.......2004-01-07

Other than "Dressed to Kill," the last entry in Universal's 12 film Sherlock Holmes series, "Sherlock Holmes in Washington" may be the weakest effort but it remains an enjoyable curio.

In this third film, the attempt to update Holmes for the 20th century reached its zenith as the producers sent the great detective into the very center of the New World, Washington D.C., in another episode devoted to espionage and criminal activity related to World War II. The novelty is tolerable if only because we know there are less gimmicky, superior entries to come, but anyone whose love of Holmes came from the original Conan Doyle stories rather than the film adaptations will wince at this film more than any other. Basil Rathbone entertainingly overplays the role this time, and with his eccentric hairstyle and wardrobe looks less like Sherlock Holmes than my tenth grade high-school English teacher, the one everyone suspected of being gay (not that there's anything wrong with that).

What makes this entry worthwhile, aside from the always entertaining emoting of Rathbone and Nigel Bruce (more bumbling than ever as he discovers the Sunday newspaper comics and chewing gum) is the supporting cast. The superb George Zucco, whose Satanic presence enlivened many a B horror movie and who already appeared as Professor Moriarty in 20th Century Fox's "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," comes slithering back, not as Moriarty but as another demented creature, and Henry Daniell, who would be the best Moriarty of all (in Basil Rathbone's opinion, as well as mine) in "Woman in Green," is also on hand with his share of villainy.

This film may have greatest value for history buffs and sociologists than for Holmes fans, however. It remains fascinating to see how a major Hollywood film studio converted a beloved literary figure into a special agent as a way to contribute to the United States' propaganda campaign during WWII.

A Big Country, Watson, and a Small Match Folder.......2003-11-08

When I was a wee lad steeped in Conan Doyle's original Sherlock Holmes stories, this movie struck me as plain awful. It was painful to see Sherlock as a tourist in a wildly inappropriate DC milieu (the back-projected crazy quilt of Washington monuments on his drive around town makes it seem the chauffeur is on crack), spouting pax Americana patriotism and even paying tribute to the crime-fighting superiority of the FBI (??!!). Nigel Bruce was a particular affront as a doddering Dr. Watson, noisily sucking down ice cream sodas and struggling to read 30 pages on a 10-hour transatlantic flight.

But time has been kind to "SH in Washington." This was the first of these movies written by Bertram Millhauser, who always came up with witty dialogue for Rathbone and Bruce and snarky bits of malice for the supporting cast. Basil Rathbone gives a hopped-up performance as Holmes, barking out ludicrously improbable deductions and even reprising his Louis XI imitation as a limp-wristed "eccentric" collector. There is a small gem of a performance from Gerald Hamer (unbilled, sadly) as the master spy who sets the plot in motion -- he gives the movie a few whiffs of danger, intrigue and poignance. And it's hard to dislike a movie with two Moriartys: silky sadist Henry Daniell and glittery-eyed psycho George Zucco. By the way, the suspense hinges on the fate of a fast-dwindling book of matches, so if you're trying to quit smoking, this is not the movie for you.

Washington never looked so good!.......2003-09-18

I am writing this pre-review to express my Great Expectations and excitement over the upcoming DVD release of the 14 Sherlock Holmes movies made by Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.
For those of us who have loved and worn out our VHS versions of these films, I am sure that I speak for many of us in expressing incredible anticipation and near shock that someone has finally recognized the need to release a "restored version" of these timeless classics.
We are told that they have been "Preserved and restored in 35mm by the UCLA Film and Television Archive." This is marvelous and I have already pre-ordered Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 from MPI Home Video.
I so hope that the entire 14 movies, are ultimately released in restored condition. Especially the rarest of them, "The Scarlet Claw" which has rarely been shown on televison and only been available on VHS sporadically.
To me and many others I know, Basil Rathbone is the definative Holmes. Not just because he looks alarmingly similar -as much as is humanly possible- to Sidney Pagets drawings of Holmes from the Strand Magazine illustrations, but mostly we love Rathbone because he portrayed the same Holmes that we as readers get through the buffer of Dr. Watson explaining away not magnifying Holmes' shortcomings.
Jeremy Brett chose to amplify every negative aspect of Holmes' personality that in the written versions Watson explained away. Rathbone's Holmes has been demeaned visciously over the past years and hopefully the respect and dignity that he gave his portrayals will be seen in all their accuracy and glory with these new digitally restored releases. ... these will have to be the best quality versions of these classics ever released...so for all of us who have cursed the incomprehensibly awful releases of these films over the years...our time has almost come. Show your support for this effort by ordering a restored version of American Film Histroy.
Much Thanks to UCLA, MPI, and Whoever was ultimately responsible for the idea of doing this!!!!

Average customer rating:

"It's so old it's new."
Classic Sherlock Holmes
Enjoyable curio
A Big Country, Watson, and a Small Match Folder
Washington never looked so good!

Sherlock Holmes in Washington
Starring: Basil Rathbone , Nigel Bruce , Marjorie Lord , Henry Daniell , and George Zucco
Director: Roy William Neill
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Sherlock Holmes: The Voice of Terror
Sherlock Holmes Faces Death
Sherlock Holmes in Pursuit To Algiers
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes in The Spider Woman

ASIN: B0000V6SBY

Customer Reviews:

"It's so old it's new.".......2004-08-16

Classic Sherlock Holmes.......2004-07-20

Enjoyable curio.......2004-01-07

Other than "Dressed to Kill," the last entry in Universal's 12 film Sherlock Holmes series, "Sherlock Holmes in Washington" may be the weakest effort but it remains an enjoyable curio.

A Big Country, Watson, and a Small Match Folder.......2003-11-08

Washington never looked so good!.......2003-09-18

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