Basil Rathbone
Sherlock Holmes
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Synopsis
Three inexpensive music boxes attract a criminal gang willing to kill for objects that appear almost worthless. Sherlock Holmes suspects their slightly different tunes contain a concealed message. With Watson at his side, he must trace the scattered purchases and understand the code before a persuasive adversary completes the collection.
Cast
DirectorsRoy William Neill
Historical context
This was the final entry in the fourteen-film partnership of Basil Rathbone's Holmes and Nigel Bruce's Watson. Alternative titles, including Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Code, reflect the different ways the series circulated internationally.
Inspirations
The screenplay tells a new mystery while borrowing elements from Conan Doyle's The Adventure of the Six Napoleons and A Scandal in Bohemia. It is an example of adapting a detective's methods and recurring motifs rather than transferring a single story intact.
Sources and availability
The synopsis and editorial text were written for this collection. The references below were cross-checked to identify the film and its copy; each editorial section identifies its reference.
Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.
The reference concerns the original work. Restorations, colorization, translations and other territories may have different conditions. This site uses the player enabled by the channel.
Availability checked on September 10, 2026.
Photograph credit
Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.
- Basil Rathbone — Los Angeles Times · CC BY 4.0
- Nigel Bruce — Trailer screenshot · Public domain
- Patricia Morison — Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain
- Edmund Breon — unknown (Gaumont) · Public domain
