This is the Second and Best of the Three Basil Rathbone Movies with Holmes set During WWII. Although the Conceit of Modernizing Sherlock has Purist Pontificating Endlessly about the Blasphemy, Truth is that the Rathbone-Bruce Series Probably did more to Reinstate Arthur Conan Doyle's Consulting Detective to the Public's Consciousness than Anything Else.The Updated Movies were All Fun and with Rathbone's Energetic Performances and a Striking and Sometimes Dark Style were just Dandy. Here He dons Three Rather Impressive Disguises (a Holmes trademark), is Near Horrific Death on Two Occasions, and must in the End Battle Wits with His Arch Nemesis Professor Moriarty (Lionel Atwill).Some of the Military Stuff is Clunky and the there is a Weak Female Participant, but it is the First in the Series to Include Holmes Link to Scotland Yard, Inspector Lestrade (Dennis Hoey), "Always glad to have you hanging around Mr. Holmes". Listen Up for the Throwaway Lines, one about that Well Known German Author William Shakespeare and the other about the Needle. Yes, Fun Stuff.

Just like the previous 'Sherlock Holmes' film produced by Universal, "Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon" serves exclusively the same goal: to promote the Allied propaganda against Nazi Germany. A righteous cause, of course, but worked out and presented in a VERY poor and dubious way: Holmes becomes an assistant of the British Secret Service, an expert of decoding secret messages - in order to save a mass destruction device a Swiss scientist has developed from falling into the Germans' hands and to get 'safely' to its destination, the British Airforce, for which it will mean 'a revolution for aerial bombardment'... Which means of course great damage to the enemy - but also the loss of tens of thousands innocent lives, not only in Germany, but also in other towns and cities all over Europe.And what is left of the original 'Holmes'? Not much, except for his arch-enemy Moriarty, who in this case of course is collaborating with the enemy - and even the great veteran actor Lionel Atwill looks pale in the role of the evil mastermind. Watson is depicted as a complete sap this time, and all the other characters are simply insignificant; neither is there any suspense or room for criminological deductions.Now, almost every hero of Hollywood's crime movie series was 'recruited' during the War to do his part for the Allies; but, for example, 'Charlie Chan', even while he was working for the Secret Service, always remained 'Charlie Chan'... While Sherlock Holmes as a 'war hero' at home is simply beyond recognition.

Regarding the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes adaptations, The Secret Weapon is an improvement on The Voice of Terror, but entries like Hound of the Baskervilles are superior. The Secret Weapon is quite good and does have some entertainment value. It's not faultless, to me that is, the story is fun, fast paced and engrossing with some good mystery and suspense but felt rushed towards the end and the secret code stuff was confusing. It also had moments where it did feel over-plotted and didn't have enough time to explain it properly. Nigel Bruce does what he can with Watson and is a good partner with Rathbone, but can come across as too blustery and too much of a idiot, the way Watson is written though has a lot to do with it. Purists will find a lot of good things with The Secret Weapon but adaptation-wise, there are parts from The Dancing Men and The Empty House other than that as said already there's not much Conan Doyle here and the inclusion of Nazis may come across as silly to some. To me, the Nazis weren't so much a problem and they were appropriate within the setting though there is the sense that without the characters' names that this could have been any mystery film set during the war. The Secret Weapon is well made, stylishly and atmospherically shot with fine attention to detail, while the score is appropriately haunting in some others and jaunty in others. The dialogue is intelligent and witty, the banter between Holmes and Watson intrigues and amuses and that with Moriaty even more so. Thankfully also the patriotic stuff is much more toned down than in The Voice of Terror. The direction is solid and skillful, not taking things too seriously nor is anything taken like a farce, suspense and such aren't undermined, even if there are other entries in the series that have a much more suspenseful edge. The acting is strong, the obvious high point is Basil Rathbone who is easily the best of the film incarnations of Holmes and overall either joint first or very close second place to Jeremy Brett. He has a very commanding presence, very intelligent, cunning and not one to miss much, his disguises are very convincing too. Lionel Atwill is a very good nemesis, he gets the malevolence of Moriaty just right if not quite as mysterious as other actors as the character and seems to be enjoying himself thoroughly. Dennis Hoey makes a credible debut as Lestrade, he does come across as an idiot but seeing as Lestrade is an inept character anyway that didn't come across as problematic, though it might do for any first-time viewers who've never read a Sherlock Holmes story before or for who this is their first encounter with this great literary detective. Overall, fun and quite good, but there are better Sherlock Holmes adaptations out there, both with Rathbone and in general as well. 7/10 Bethany Cox

When the Nazis set their sites on getting the formula for battle from the allies, they turn to nasty Professor Moriarty (Lionel Atwill) to get it for them. The traitor goes on a murder spree, and it is up to Holmes and Watson to stop him. William Post Jr. plays the scientist who ends up in Moriarty's clutches, while the lovely Kaaren Verne ("All Through the Night", "King's Row") has a minor part as his lady love who may or may not be on the Nazi's side. Atwill makes a great villain in any form, and Moriarty is one of his best. However, there is no fooling Sherlock Holmes, and Basil Rathbone (no stranger to villainy himself) is as always convincing, even fooling Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce). Mary Gordon is, as usual, a delight as Mrs. Hudson, the kind-hearted Scottish landlady.