Product: Dressed to Kill (1946)
Rating: 5.0
One of the best of the Rathbone/Bruce Sherlock Holmes adventures
As someone that has read all of the original Sherlock Holmes stories by Doyle, in my mind the two actors that will forever be the best at depicting them are Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Watson. Their mannerisms, speech patterns and appearance are completely in keeping with the characters described by Doyle.The Rathbone/Bruce Holmes stories were a staple of the Saturday late night movie when I was young and I watched the entire sequence. Of those stories, this is one of my favorites, largely due to the cleverness of the gang of villains, including a beautiful woman that is the brains of the gang.Some of the interactions between Holmes and the female villainess remind the viewer of the interactions between James Bond and his female adversaries. Both know exactly who the other is and what their goal is so their verbal interaction is a combination of sparring and expression of respect. Of course, given the time that it was filmed, there could be none of the explicit sexuality of Bond versus femme fatal.A joy to watch once again after so many years, I am once again admiring the work of two actors that seem to have been constructed for their parts.