Dressed to Kill

1946 MysteryCrime 72 minutes Directed by Roy William Neill

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About Dressed to Kill

In Dartmoor, thief John Davidson hides the location of stolen Bank of England plates in three music boxes, each a slightly different version of "The Swagman." Collector Julian Emery is murdered after he refuses to sell his box to Hilda Courtney. Holmes buys the third, matches notes to letters, and is left hanging in a warehouse under poison gas. He escapes. A line of Samuel Johnson's that Watson repeats leads him to the plates, hidden in a bookcase at Johnson's house, where the gang is arrested.

Cast & crew

More about Dressed to Kill

Roy William Neill directed and produced the last of the fourteen Universal films with Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Watson. Frank Gruber wrote the screenplay. Leonard Lee is credited with material from "The Adventure of the Six Napoleons" and "A Scandal in Bohemia." Maury Gertsman photographed it. It opened in New York on 24 May 1946 and went into general U.S. release on 7 June 1946.

Themes

  • A tune that is a code
  • Three boxes, three buyers
  • Plates in Samuel Johnson's bookcase
  • Sherlock Holmes
  • Dr. Watson
  • Hilda Courtney
  • music boxes
  • The Swagman
  • Bank of England
  • Dartmoor

Background

Universal closed the Rathbone-Bruce series with this picture, after the wartime spy plots had ended.

Making

Courtney steals one box while disguised as a charwoman, after locking a child in a closet. A cigarette with a distinctive tobacco leads Holmes to her.

Look

Maury Gertsman shot the Dartmoor opening and the warehouse where Holmes is left in the gas.

Music

Milton Rosen composed the score. The plot turns on three slight variations of "The Swagman."

Preservation

Public domain in the United States. Copies run 72 minutes in the restoration and 76 in the copyright length.

Notes

  • In Britain the title is Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Code. The working title was Prelude to Murder.
  • Patricia Morison plays Hilda Courtney. Edmund Breon is "Stinky" Emery. Mary Gordon is Mrs. Hudson.
  • The boxes play "The Swagman," an Australian tune, not a French folk song.
  • The copyright length is 76 minutes. Restored copies run 72.
  • It is one of four films in the Rathbone series that are in the public domain.
  • Milton Rosen is credited with the music.

Scenes

  • Emery is killed after he refuses to sell the cheap music box.
  • Holmes hangs from a rafter while poison gas fills the warehouse.
  • Courtney's gang leaves a tour of Dr. Johnson's house to open the bookcase.

Influenced by

  • Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Adventure of the Six Napoleons" and "A Scandal in Bohemia

Also available

  • Internet Archive (dressed_to_kill)

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