sherlock holmes and the secret weapon start in switzerland a the world foremost detective sherlock holmes ( basil rathbone ) outwit the nazi and manage to smuggle a brilliant scientist name dr. franz tobel ( william post jr. ) out of the country and to the relative safety of london . but be london as safe a holmes think . dr. tobel have engineer a revolutionary new bomb sight that will change aerial bombardment forever and he have agree to give it to the british government and but those nazi want it just a badly and holmes arch enemy professor moriarty ( lionel atwill ) plan on steal the secret of the bomb sight and sell it to the nazi . add the bumbling inspector lestrade ( denis hoey ) of scotland yard and dr. tobel love interest charlotte eberli ( kaaren verne ) and assassin and mysterious scientist and a puzzling cod message and holmes have his work cut out to keep dr. tobel alive so he can deliver his bomb sight . direct by roy william neill sherlock holmes and the secret weapon be the fourth in a series of fourteen holmes film make between 1939 and 1946 to feature rathbone and bruce a holmes and watson . the script by edward t. lowe jr. and scott darling and edmund l. hartmann be base on the short the dance men by sir arthur conan doyle and isn not the tradition holmes murder mystery a it more of a wartime adventure story . to neglect what holmes be all about and the solving of complex crime and mystery be a big mistake as far a i be concern and the involvement of the nazi and the war a a backdrop to the story feel out of place and awkward and just do not sit too well with me . the dialogue isn not great and professor moriarty feel almost like an afterthought a if they couldn not come up with a villain for it and a a whole it far less engaging than other in the series . however and at least it short . director neill do his usual efficient job but you have to cut it a little slack and bear in mind that it be make over 60 year ago . it have no real style or imagination and lack both atmosphere and intrigue as well . technically the film be ok if unspectacular and the black and white cinematography be fine although i understand that a computer colourise version be also available . the acting be alright and bruce and hoey do their usual comic relief turn and rathbone hairstyle in this look ridiculous and i be glad he change it for late instalment . sherlock holmes and the secret weapon be a disappointment when compare to some of the other excellent entry in the series and there be very little by which i can recommend it and everything that make the other so good seem to be miss here . leave this one till last and watch some of the good one first and for die hard fan only .