Admirable film.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

This 14th and final entry in the Sherlock Holmes film series finds the star, Basil Rathbone, in fine form. The story deals with three seemingly inconsequential music boxes, which were manufactured in prison. These items subsequently get sold at an auction, and the people who were supposed to lay their hands on them resort to murder to get them back.The hook in this case isn't figuring out "whodunit". We're shown our villains early on. The interest lies in watching Holmes as he works the clues, as one of the music box purchasers, Watsons' friend "Stinky" Emery (Edmund Breon), is killed for his new possession. Also, one will be made to wonder what could be so important about these items. Holmes and Watson are up against particularly clever adversaries this time.Produced and directed by Roy William Neill, "Dressed to Kill" lacks an all-important Victorian atmosphere. It's still fun, but not altogether satisfying in the end. However, Rathbone leaves no indication of his desire to move on from the Holmes role at this point: he delivers a typically engaging performance. Holmes remains unflappable in the face of danger, and his ear for music proves to be crucial. Nigel Bruce is perfectly endearing as Watson. Although his function is mostly to ask questions, Watson does prove his worth with a well-timed quote.The strong supporting cast includes Patricia Morison, Frederick Worlock, Carl Harbord, Holmes Herbert, and Ian Wolfe. The lovely Morison, the intense Worlock, and a menacing Harry Cording are fine as those individuals dueling with our intrepid heroes.The film moves along pretty well and does have an appreciable sense of humour. It may be a lesser entry in the series, but it entertains solidly.Seven out of 10.

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.

Directed by Roy William Neill, "Dressed to Kill" stars Basil Rathbone as detective Sherlock Holmes. Rathbone would star in a series of Holmes films between 1939 and 1946, of which "Dressed" was the last.The plot? A prisoner smuggles three musical boxes out of Dartmoor Prison. These boxes fall into the hands of various collectors, most of whom eventually turn up dead. This mystery, of course, soon catches the ear of Sherlock Holmes, who promptly begins snooping and sleuthing. Assisting him is Doctor Watson (Nigel Bruce), Holmes' bumbling sidekick.Though "Dressed To Kill" finds Holmes in one of his simplest mysteries, Neill maintains a brisk pace and both Rathbone and Bruce are endearing. Patricia Morison dazzles as a svelte femme fatale.7.9/10 – Worth one viewing. See "Zero Effect".

Dressed to kill is the final and fourteenth film in the Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes film series. The movie is based on the Characters of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and although the plot is an original screenplay the movie features references to Conan Doyle's "A Scandal in Bohemia".The movie plot is quite interesting, as everything is based on a few musical notes that are out of place in a song, the music itself is a message, what the message is or what it is meant for is what our duo has to figure out.The plot is about three cheap musical boxes (each one playing a subtly different version of "The Swagman" and only one keen in hearing and with musical background can pick it up), the musical boxes were manufactured in Dartmoor Prison by one of its inmates and they were sold at a local auction house. The criminal gang meant to get the boxes, got to the auction a little late and all the boxes were sold to different owners, but the gang were however bent to recover the boxes by any means necessary, even if it means committing murder.Sherlock Holmes is called on board when a murder occurs and a musical box seems to be the target, so he has to try and recover the last of the musical box and crack the secret code contained in the tune before the gang can.Food for thought, in the movies Dr. Watson is portrayed to be much older than Holmes, and he does look it, as Nigel looks like he is 10 years Rathbone senior, but in real life Rathbone is 3 years older than Bruce, Bruce just looks older. Much talk had been around about the portrayal of Watson in this series, as he is portrayed as a bumbling fellow, who is just around and really doesn't add to Sherlock's detecting ability. While in the book and in subsequent remakes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's characters, Watson is portrayed as an upright fellow, who is a necessary addition to Holmes detective ability.Dressed to kill is a good movie to see, as it shows our protagonist in a light of being one step ahead of the rest, we see him pick pocket with ease and escape death with the ingenuity of a fox. The movie is a nice ending to a beautiful pair and a wonderful film series.www.lagsreviews.com