Mar. 24, 1943|United States|71 Min.|n/A
Genre: Action;Crime;Mystery;Thriller;War
Description: Sherlock Holmes in Washington 1943 is a thrilling movie set during wartime. British secret agent Alfred Pettibone, carrying a crucial document, is murdered while en route to deliver it in the U.S. The British government enlists Sherlock Holmes to recover the document. Holmes deduces that Pettibone converted the document into microfilm. After narrowly escaping an assassination attempt, Holmes and Dr. Watson rush to Washington, D.C., to retrieve the microfilm before it falls into the hands of an international spy ring. Holmes believes the spies haven’t obtained the document yet, as individuals who interacted with Pettibone during his journey have been harassed. The spies delivered Pettibone’s body to Holmes to mislead him.
Before his death, Pettibone concealed the microfilm inside a “V for Victory” matchbook, which he unknowingly passed to Nancy Partridge, a Washington socialite and bride-to-be. The matchbook changes hands at a party and ends up with Heinrich Hinkel, the chief spy operating under the alias Richard Stanley, who kidnaps Partridge.
Holmes tracks the spy ring to an antiques shop, where he confronts Hinkel. During their conversation, Holmes hints that the person in possession of the microfilm is unaware of it, with the matchbook in plain sight. Holmes is captured, but the police, alerted by Watson, intervene and rescue him and Partridge after a gunfight. Hinkel escapes with the matchbook. Holmes races to Senator Henry Babcock’s office, tricking Hinkel into believing the microfilm is concealed under a stamp on a letter in the senator’s possession. As Hinkel eavesdrops, Holmes reveals the letter’s significance. Hinkel seizes the letter at gunpoint but is captured by the police. Holmes then retrieves the matchbook, burns the letter, and reveals that the microfilm was hidden in the matchbook all along.
Cast director: Roy William Neill
Cast actor: Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Marjorie Lord, Henry Daniell, George Zucco, John Archer, Gavin Muir, Edmund MacDonald, Don Terry, Mary Gordon
Original name: Sherlock Holmes in Washington