Good entry in the series. Roy William Neil frames and stages the action expertly on the train, and the repeated stock footage inserts don't distract too much. BIGGEST LIABILITY: Renee Godfrey as Vivian Vedder; her terrible British accent makes Dick Van Dyke in 'Mary Poppins' sound authentic. Everyone else in the cast is terrific, especially the woefully underused Skelton Knaggs in a bit part; he definitely puts the 'creep' in 'creepy.' Overall, a good example of what good, solid, studio craftsmanship could accomplish when a team worked together. In fact, Nigel Bruce once commented that he and Rathbone would be invited to see the rushes by Roy William Neil and allowed to make suggestions (sourse: basilrathbone.net.)

This is a very fast-paced mystery film. A few suspicious characters, multiple murders, diamond switching, fake policemen all on a claustrophobic speeding train from London to Edinburgh! A very exciting Sherlock Holmes mystery-thriller.There is one scene were Sherlock Holmes (Rathbone) is hanging on the outside of the very fast moving train that sent tingles all over my body... just the very thought of this gave me the shivers! Inspector Lestrade, Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes have their hands full on this train ride... and sometimes very funny together. A real joyful film to watch - one of the best Sherlock Holmes movies ever.9/10

This is the installment on a train, and it's very well directed, and eerie; it has the comic book story this kind of show could afford: suspenseful and eerie. It also has an awesomely nice actress in a supporting role, a mercenary vamp. Maybe my installment of predilection, more atmospheric than others: I liked the cast (here, a frightening henchman, plus the colonel …), the plot, the speed; its genre is action suspense, not the whodunit. The pace and the eerily looking supporting characters (also by a smart use of lighting) make it so exciting. And Rathbone is in good shape; he even has an action scene.The ideas of such a plot are speed and action: to keep Holmes wired. And for these, they had the requisite cast; Rathbone couldn't make a Holmes who was more than an action star always on the move (and, in other renderings of the character, the attempt to add depth led to adding gloom and creepiness, as in the '80s TV show, which I used once to analyze at length). The main asset is a script that keeps Holmes busy in public, it keeps Rathbone on the move, and this advantages his own understanding of Holmes as a plausible action star (not also as a recluse thinker …). (I am under the impression that Rathbone didn't make a very good indoors Holmes, a very good meditative Holmes; on this train, and with these colleagues, we are spared the conveying of an indoors Holmes.)

Mysterys set on trains are always thrilling because of the claustrophobic feeling of all the suspects, investigators and usual red herrings being placed so close together and unable to get away. In this case, the mystery surrounds a precious diamond, the Star of Rhodesia, stolen from a wealthy British dowager. It just so happens that Sherlock Holmes has been hired to guard the stone so the occurrence of a murder to get possession of the jewel is perfect timing. While the movie gets a little slow at times, there's still a lot of thrills to be had, particularly Rathbone's desperate fight with the unseen killer that almost knocks Holmes off the side of the train. The identity of the killer and their relation to a previous Holmes villain is ingenious.