File:1942 Neill (film).png

{en} Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon [1] (USA, 1942), directed by Roy William Neill, starring Basil Rathbone (Holmes), Nigel Bruce (Watson).

A disguised Holmes helps Swiss scientist Dr Tobel to escape from Gestapo kidnappers and flee to England with his revolutionary bombsight. Without telling Holmes or Watson, Tobel splits his bombsight into four parts and leaves a part each with four Swiss scientists also living in London. Shortly afterwards, he is kidnapped by Professor Moriarty, who is working with the Nazis; a coded note giving details of the scientists that was left for Holmes was also taken by Moriarty. Holmes discovers tracings of the note and decodes it, but three of the scientists had already been killed. Holmes takes the place of the fourth scientist and allows himself to be kidnapped by Moriarty's men. Moriarty tries to kill Holmes by exsanguination, but Watson and Inspector Lestrade rescue the detective. As Moriarty tries to escape he falls through a trapdoor, seemingly to his death.

It is the 4th film of the Rathbone/Bruce series; the second produced by Universal with an updated WW2 setting.