Home :: DVD :: Mystery & Suspense :: Mystery  

Blackmail, Murder & Mayhem
British Mystery Theater
Classics
Crime
Detectives
Film Noir
General
Mystery

Mystery & Suspense Masters
Neo-Noir
Series & Sequels
Suspense
Thrillers
Sherlock Holmes - Dressed to Kill

Sherlock Holmes - Dressed to Kill

List Price: $19.98
Your Price: $17.98
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 >>

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Last of the series was the weakest....
Review: This was the last of the series that the two actors did and it was sadly a poor way to bow out. The mystery is a no-brainer, Holmes is somewhat more somber in this one and the Dr. Watson character is too corny even for him. The script was poorly written and the cast all act like wooden tree carvings, I can watch the other movies in this series but this one is too corny to watch in any era.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Sad ending to series
Review: "Dressed to Kill" was the last of the Sherlock Holmes series for Universal. Sad to say, it's also the most lack-lustre and boring. Despite a terrific cast--Patricia Morrison, in particular, as the slinky villainess--the story plods along so slowly, with zero suspense, that you wonder how this quickie passed the approval of Universal executives. The plot revolves around music boxes but the plot has nothing to do with the title. On the cover of my budget Sherlock Holmes double-feature for $5.95, you see a great poster of Patricia Morrison, clad in furs and silks, with a gun ready to fire. And you get the impression that the movie has something to do with a sharply attired gun moll. I'm glad I only paid $5.95 for this episode in the usually entertaining HOlmes series. Oh, by the way, the second feature on my disc is "Terror in the Night," another boring episode that has absolutely nothing to do with the title.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Sad ending to series
Review: "Dressed to Kill" was the last of the Sherlock Holmes series for Universal. Sad to say, it's also the most lack-lustre and boring. Despite a terrific cast--Patricia Morrison, in particular, as the slinky villainess--the story plods along so slowly, with zero suspense, that you wonder how this quickie passed the approval of Universal executives. The plot revolves around music boxes but the plot has nothing to do with the title. On the cover of my budget Sherlock Holmes double-feature for $5.95, you see a great poster of Patricia Morrison, clad in furs and silks, with a gun ready to fire. And you get the impression that the movie has something to do with a sharply attired gun moll. I'm glad I only paid $5.95 for this episode in the usually entertaining HOlmes series. Oh, by the way, the second feature on my disc is "Terror in the Night," another boring episode that has absolutely nothing to do with the title.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: THE COMFORT OF WATCHING HOLMES IN MY HOME
Review: 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......

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: THE COMFORT OF WATCHING HOLMES IN MY HOME
Review: 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......

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: THE COMFORT OF WATCHING HOLMES IN MY HOME
Review: 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......

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Standard Holmes mystery
Review: Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce made their final big screen appearances as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in "Dressed to Kill," the twelfth film in Universal's series, and the fourteenth time the two actors brought Arthur Conan Doyle's heroes to vivid life on film.

Even 35 years before Brian DePalma's thriller of the same name, the title wasn't original, having been previously used for one of Lloyd Nolan's Michael Shayne private detective thrillers. There isn't much original about this entry, but even if it's a fairly standard series episode, it still has the always superb Rathbone and Bruce to recommend it, as well as a satisfying mystery for the two to unravel.

Although Rathbone left the series after this film and moved on to Broadway where he won a Tony Award, he didn't succeed in escaping Holmes, and would wear the deerstalker again on stage and in an unsold pilot for a TV series. He remains the definitive Sherlock Holmes.

Brian W. Fairbanks

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Standard Holmes mystery
Review: Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce made their final big screen appearances as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in "Dressed to Kill," the twelfth film in Universal's series, and the fourteenth time the two actors brought Arthur Conan Doyle's heroes to vivid life on film.

Even 35 years before Brian DePalma's thriller of the same name, the title wasn't original, having been previously used for one of Lloyd Nolan's Michael Shayne private detective thrillers. There isn't much original about this entry, but even if it's a fairly standard series episode, it still has the always superb Rathbone and Bruce to recommend it, as well as a satisfying mystery for the two to unravel.

Although Rathbone left the series after this film and moved on to Broadway where he won a Tony Award, he didn't succeed in escaping Holmes, and would wear the deerstalker again on stage and in an unsold pilot for a TV series. He remains the definitive Sherlock Holmes.

Brian W. Fairbanks

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Rathbone's last bow as the great detective
Review: 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.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Get it for free
Review: It'll be interesting to see if amazon posts this. This movie can be legally downloaded for free at www.archive.org in their movie section.


<< 1 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates