Music boxes & bank plates figure in Holmes' Mystery

DRESSED TO KILL (1946)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

An intriguing opening sequence from "Dressed to Kill" has two Dartmoor prisoners manufacturing musical boxes that will be sold to a London auction. These musical boxes are not exactly priceless yet their musical content contains secret codes elusive to those who purchase the boxes. Thus begins an exciting and thrilling final chapter in the Universal-helmed Sherlock Holmes series with Basil Rathbone as the iconic sleuth who deduces clues faster than Scotland Yard and Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) who never catches on fast enough.

There is much to enjoy in "Dressed to Kill." The convict in the opening scene has hidden Bank of England's £5 printing plates somewhere and all three cheap musical boxes have the clues (Hint: the nuanced musical themes in each box). When Dr. Watson's charming friend Stinky (Edmond Breon), a music box collector, is killed after having one of those boxes stolen (worth only two pounds), Sherlock finds himself embroiled in a nifty plot involving a femme fatale (Patricia Morison) who devises a clever disguise as an old Cockney-accented woman to elude Holmes - she is involved in Stinky's murder. Though Sherlock can't quite figure out the details immediately, eventually he does and faces obstacles such as a deadly poison gas that the Germans love to use on undesirables (a little WW2 hint of Holocaust atrocity). More deductive reasoning emits from a visit to a pub for actors,  and a museum of a certain famous doctor that at first seems like a contrivance yet, on second viewing with attention paid to details, is decidedly not. That's the cleverness of Sherlock Holmes and his trusted partner, Dr. Watson, who helps Holmes when least expected with famous quotes and reminiscences of piano-playing that involved his frustrated teacher numbering the piano keys. Watson may not catch on in the detective department but he is useful.

A solid mystery that is oodles of fun especially for those who love Sherlock Holmes. I can only sum up "Dressed to Kill" with Holmes' own words: "Brilliant antagonist. A pity her talents were so misdirected." I think that says it all.