Product Description

Dressed to Kill (1946) is the fourteenth and final film in the Rathbone/Holmes series. After over a dozen movies and more than 200 radio appearances as The Great Detective, Rathbone felt it was time to move on to other pursuits. Three identical musical boxes manufactured by an inmate at Dartmoor Prison are sold to three random collectors at an auction house in London. A female antagonist (Patricia Morison) and her accomplices attempt to recover the musical boxes using all means possible, even murder. Watson's old schoolmate, Julian "Stinky" Emery, purchases one of the boxes. After an evening of entertaining Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, Emery is murdered and robbed of the recently-purchased musical box. Holmes and Watson investigate and begin to realize that the musical boxes contain more than just a swaggering Australian folk tune.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #59665 in DVD
• Brand: MPI
• Released on: 2004-01-27
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 72 minutes

Customer Reviews

Rathbone's last bow as the great detective
Dressed to Kill (1946) has the distinction of being the final film starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson, and I think it closed out the series on something of a high note. The film has a few weaknesses, but it does place the art of deduction on a pedestal above and beyond the action, and that is just what I want out of a Sherlock Holmes film. Needless to say, the plot is not based on any work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but it does try to place itself within the milieu of the canon. Early on, we see Dr. Watson perusing the latest issue of The Strand; A Scandal in Bohemia has just been published, and this leads to a few comments on "the woman," Irene Adler. This sets up the new case in hand, one in which Holmes finds himself greatly tested by yet another woman. Hilda Courtney (Patricia Morrison) is no Irene Adler, but she is devilishly clever enough to pose quite an interesting and dangerous challenge to the great detective.

Like many of the classic Holmes stories, this adventure starts with a common object - a music box. One of Watson's old friends stops by and describes the theft of one of the plainest music boxes in his collection the night before. Thinking it odd that a thief would steal only a seemingly insignificant piece of the collection, Holmes sets his mind to looking for an explanation more complicated than any petty thief theory. He soon finds himself on a search for three music boxes, each of which plays the same tune (but with minor differences). The ultimate quarry is a set of stolen plates from the Bank of England. Convinced that the music boxes contain some type of code pointing to the location of the plates, Holmes is hard pressed to figure out the secret of the boxes. His foe is a clever one; not only is she capable of playing Watson for a fool, she is clever enough to outmaneuver Holmes himself.

A needlessly elaborate method of disposing once and for all of the meddling detective definitely weakens the effectiveness of this story, but all in all I found this a perfectly enjoyable Holmesian adventure. Watching Holmes try to figure out the secret of the music boxes calls to mind the spirit of Holmes' original adventures and showcases the detective doing what he does best.

THE COMFORT OF WATCHING HOLMES IN MY HOME
AS I"VE SAID IN A EARLIER REVIEW THESE SHERLOCK HOLMES RESTORATIONS BY M P I ARE JUST WONDERFUL, I DOUBT THAT YOU WILL EVER FIND BETTER COPIES OF THESE WONDERFUL FOLIOS ( AS HOLMES WOULD HAVE CALLED THEM ) SO PLACE YOUR ORDER, CRANK UP THE MICROWAVE POPCORN, PUT YOUR FEET UP AND WATCH HOMES DEDUCE THE IMPOSIBLE......

Last entry in the series
This was the last entry in the series and while not one of the best, it was still an enjoyable entry. As usual, Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce gave excellent performances. At this point in the series Rathbone was tired of his character role and wanted to move on. Patricia Morison who played Hilda Courtney was a very good antagonist of Holmes. The MPI release is much more superior than some of the other poor releases that have been going around for years.