Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942) - film review

It is 1942 and Britain is at war with Germany.  With alarming regularity a series of disasters is hampering the British war effort.  Trains carrying servicemen and vital supplies are derailed.  Factories and depots are blown up.  Each of these incidents is preceded by a chilling radio message from a Nazi operative, known as the voice of terror.  Sherlock Holmes is invited by the country’s war intelligence council to investigate and help save Britain in her hour of greatest need...

After his successful first two outings as Sherlock Holmes in 1939, it was almost inevitable that Basil Rathbone would return to the role that had made him a household name, ably assisted by his loveable sidekick, Nigel Bruce.  With Twentieth Century Fox reluctant to continue the series, the baton passed to Universal Pictures who saw an opportunity to exploit a winning formula – and did so for all it was worth.  Made on a far lower budget than the first two films, Universal’s twelve contributions to the Sherlock Holmes series were set in the present day (i.e. mid-1940s) and often dealt with contemporary themes, something which added to the films’ popularity.  

Loosely based on the Arthur Conan Doyle story His Last Bow, the first film in Universal’s series sees Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson pitted against the might of Nazi Germany.  (Just how these two gents managed to get from late Victorian England to the early 1940s isn’t explained, and neither is the alarming change in Holmes’ coiffure.)   One of the most contrived and far-fetched entries in the series, the film’s strident anti-Nazi propaganda messages are now painfully evident, with barely a scene passing without an opportunity being taken to demonise the entire German nation.

On the plus side, The Voice of Terror does capture the mood of its era pretty well and is well-made for a wartime B movie.  The striking chiaroscuro cinematography lends the film a brooding, doom-laden atmosphere that is redolent of early film noir, whilst the performances convey a genuine sense of menace and urgency.  It is a pity that the plot is so ridiculous – you could mistake this for a misfired parody of a Sherlock Holmes adventure were it not for the desperate earnestness that drips from the deadly dry dialogue.  Fortunately, Universal would do a much better job with their subsequent Sherlock Holmes films, even managing to evoke something of the original Conan Doyle stories.

© James Travers 2009

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