Sherlock Holmes in Washington

CinemaSerfJun 2022

3.0

When a British agent carrying a secret document to Washington goes missing, His Majesty’s government drafts in the services of “Holmes” (Basil Rathbone) and “Watson” (Nigel Bruce) to investigate. After a very near miss at the missing man’s lodgings, the pair conclude that they must head to the US of A if they are to make any headway with their search. Of course, “Watson” is quite excited by the prospect and that is used as a conduit to show us the Statue of Liberty, then some capital city landmarks, before they get to their hotel and receive a large trunk with some unwelcome contents! Now the race is on to find the secrets, but “Holmes” knows that he isn’t the only one looking for them, and that puts in danger many of the fellow passengers in the railway club carriage where “Pettibone” (Gerald Hamer) was last seen. Things become especially dangerous for the wealthy and soon to be married “Nancy” (Marjorie Lord) whom we know the baddies think knows more than she thinks she does, and when she finds herself getting to inspect her new rug a little more closely than she’d like then she has to hope that these visiting sleuths can save the day. This is probably my least favourite of these films. The narrative is a little more propagandist, the story a bit thin and “Holmes” has swapped his “indubitably” and “elementary” for some more jingoistic terminology as it builds to it’s denouement. The usual cast is supported here by the welcome presence of George Zucco and the familiar one of Henry Daniell, but I don’t think it crossed the Atlantic with much distinction here.