Dressed to Kill (1946)

Dressed to Kill (1946) is the fourteenth and final Sherlock Holmes film (affiliate link) starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson. Universal Pictures released the last film in the series on June 7, 1946. Once World War II ended, the series returned to non-war related crime stories.

Cyril Delevanti plays a thief serving at Dartmoor Prison. The prisoner refuses to divulge the location of the hidden loot from a bank robbery. He spends his time in prison making music boxes.

Coincidentally or not after the music boxes are sold at auction, a mysterious gang attempts to retrieve the music boxes including resorting to murder to gain possession of them. The case fascinates Sherlock Holmes, who decides to solve the mystery of the three music boxes.

Patricia Morison plays the leader of the criminal gang. Born Eileen Patricia Augusta Fraser Morison on March 19, 1915, Ms. Morison is still alive at the time of this post having celebrated her 100th birthday this year.

Ms. Morison was born to a playwright, William Morrison. Reportedly, her mother Selena Morrison worked for British Intelligence during World War I. Ms. Morison began her stage career on Broadway before moving into films. Ms. Morison would make mostly “B” films in Hollywood. Her filmography contains 54 credits for film and television. Ms. Morison also continued to act on stage.

The film runs about 71 minutes. Despite its late entry into the series, Dressed to Kill still holds up pretty well. Where do you rate it in the 14 films starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson?

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