Terror by Night 1946

     The Star of Rhodesia diamond is stolen on a London train traveling to Edinburgh.  Lady Margaret owns the diamond and her son is killed during the robbery.  Holmes has taken the precaution of switching the diamonds.  Lady Margaret believes she had the real diamond but actually Sherlock Holmes has switched the real diamond for a fake.  Holmes must discover which of the passengers on the train is responsible?  Dr. Watson and Inspector Lestrade are on hand to help Holmes with his investigation.  There is a possibility that Colonel Sebastian Moran is involved in the crime?  He is a long-time henchman for Moriarty, a foe of Holmes.

     There is a LOT going on in this film and there are many suspects.  This is almost like a Hercule Poirot film with the need of assistance from the “little gray cells!!”  It is interesting to try to figure out who is not involved and separate them from the real suspects.  It is also possible that Dr. Watson is not helping very much??  3 ½* (I liked this movie)  

      

60 min, Crime directed by Roy William Neill with Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Alan Mowbray, Dennis Hoey, Renee Godfrey, Frederick Worlock, Mary Forbes, Skelton Knaggs, Billy Bevan, Geoffrey Steele.

Note:  Imdb 6.9 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 75% critic 61% audience, Amazon 6.9* out of 5* with 180 reviews, Letterboxd average 3.1* out of 5*, bloodymurder.wordpress.com 3* out of 5*, dvdjournal.com 2* Mark Bourne, the spinningimage.co.uk 6* out of 10* Graeme Clark.

Special Note:  Filmed in Universal Studios, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California.  In order to show the Edinburgh Express preparing for departure, short clips from the classic British film Rome Express 1932 are used.  Veteran actor C. Aubrey Smith appears in a non--speaking role as an elderly man smoking a pipe on the train platform 49 minutes into the film.  A stolen teapot is shown and it appears to have come from the Beacon Hotel.  This is the thirteenth of fourteen films based on Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional consulting detective Sherlock Holmes with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Doctor Watson.  The original copyright was not renewed and this title has fallen into public domain.  There are seriously inferior copies offered by some sellers.