What a terrific piece of cinema. Wonderful blocking, use of light, camera angles, costumes and of course the inimitable ensemble led by Sir Basil Rathbone et al.

But what did the editor do with the conclusion? It's rather like seeing Roger Federer win at Wimbledon and missing his acceptance speech after the match is over.

The very reason I gave it four stars on this technicality.

I simply LOVE Basil Rathbone and particularly love him in the old black and white Sherlock Holmes films. If you ask me why I love these films I don't exactly know but I do.

Perhaps it is pure escape into a time before I was born, into another era, a simpler time perhaps although it was shown either during or after WWII.

I guess it's that things were black and white..easy to figure out. One felt safe that good would always prevail ESPECIALLY if Sherlock Holmes was involved.

I love too to examine the styles and the social milieu of the age. I particularly LOVE the women's clothes as my mother dressed like Ms. Morrison in "Dressed to Kill." It was a different era and a different time. I think the simplicity of life at least to people in this country was obvious.

No it was not so simple if you were a Jew in Germany or black in the US but movies were the escape and made one THINK that right prevailed.

Yes I know this isn't one of the wonderfully faithful BBC/PBS adaptations, and it is based more on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's characters than his story. Nevertheless, Universal's modernized Sherlock Holmes yarns have an appeal all their own, and this one is no exception. The plot involves murder, music boxes and a scheme that could threaten the stability of the British Empire. Basil Rathbone's Holmes is brilliant as ever, and Nigel Bruce is engaging as the ever-bumbling Dr. Watson. It all adds up to seventy-two minutes of sleuthing fun. (a.k.a. Sherlock Holmes in Dressed to Kill)

One of the Classics you don't mind watching several times in your life. And of course the cast, led by Basil is one of the best. The sound is out of sync on this upload but so what.