Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

It's a shame that to make Basil Rathbone's Holmes seem brilliant they had to make Nigel Bruce's Watson the dimmest bulb that ever attempted to shine light and even Holmes has some really dimwitted ideas--storing the music box at 221B Baker Street and going to confront criminals alone when having an accomplice would have been no more difficult. The way the plot was written it seemed necessary, but it seems sloppy writing to have a genius think like an idiot.

Roy William Neil directed, and Basil Rathbone & Nigel Bruce star as Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, all for the last time, as this proved to be the end of the series. Plot involves a crook in prison who had stolen unrecovered money plates of England and hidden them in three music boxes, which were sold at auction, prompting the murders of two of the buyers, as someone desperately wants possession of all three for nefarious reasons. Patricia Morison costars as a ruthless female criminal who is dressed to kill... Not bad finale has an interesting plot and good cast, though some clichéd silliness as well. Still, this was a reasonable send-off overall.

As much as I enjoyed this final adventure for Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as the world's greatest detective and his sidekick, I have to acknowledge the film's myriad of flaws: a champion of the truth like Holmes would want it that way.After so many fine adventures, it is a shame that the series ends with such a comparatively weak affair, the rather unexceptional story revolving around three musical boxes that hold the secret of the whereabouts of a set of stolen Bank of England printing plates. When these boxes are sold to three different customers at an auction, villainess Hilda Courtney (Patricia Morison) and her cronies turn to murder to get their hands on them. As Holmes and Watson get closer and closer to solving the mystery, the problems, plot holes and contrivances mount up: Watson is depicted as more of a fool than usual, the killers are extremely inept, and Sherlock cracks the case more by chance than by pure detection (irritatingly, his most important breakthroughs are wild assumptions based on casual remarks made by his portly pal).Of course, Rathbone and Bruce are as likable as ever as the iconic crime-fighting duo, and it's down to their marvellous chemistry and charisma that Dressed to Kill still manages to be reasonably diverting despite the movie's many imperfections.5.5 out of 10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

This movie is rather an anomaly. Made after WWII in 1946, but when was the action set? The transport is of the 1930's, especially the "General" London omnibus. As I said in the Goofs section, one of the scenes depicts a "General" omnibus carrying passengers on a normal route, but the "London General Omnibus Company" went out of service in 1933. Yet the ladies fashions depicted in the movie are of the 1940's. As another viewer remarked (also in the "Goofs" section)..."Watson refers to the events in his story 'A Scandal in Bohemia' taking place two years earlier. In the story Bohemia was a independent kingdom, but in 1943 it was obviously part of Hitler's Third Reich." ...but of course the original story by Conan Doyle was written and set before WWI.So exactly in which period was this movie intended to be set? Although there is no mention of either WWI or WWII, I suspect it's supposed to be set in the 1930's, and before Holmes' wartime (WWII) exploits. But who knows? The movie is nowhere near as good as others in this Rathbone/Bruce series of movies. However it has its amusing moments, but the only one to come out of it with any real credit is Patricia Morison, and there's very little else to shout about.