Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1942) – Roy William Neill

Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Watson (Nigel Bruce) continue their own efforts against the Third Reich in this 1942 film that is loosely based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Adventure of the Dancing Men story. I say loosely, but it’s really only the code that comes into play. Holmes gets to put his disguises to…

Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942) – John Rawlins

Nazis, I hate these guys. Basil Rathbone’s Sherlock Holmes leaves behind the trappings of the 19th century for this 1940s adventure, based loosely on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s tale His Last Bow. A radio broadcast from Germany is threatening destruction on England, and it gleefully predicts and calls out each moment of destruction with eerie…

Invisible Agent (1942) – Edwin L. Marin

The next Universal Monsters movie (that I haven’t previously seen) is Invisible Agent, and honestly, it feels like a huge step up from The Invisible Woman, but too often goes for the comedic angle instead of playing itself as a straight thriller, which I think it could have done brilliantly. This time we are introduced…

The Mummy’s Tomb (1942) – Harold Young

Working as a direct sequel to The Mummy’s Hand, The Mummy’s Tomb is supposed to take place some thirty years after the previous film as Karis the Mummy (now played by Lon Chaney JR.) is used to hunt down the members of the party that defiled the tomb in the previous film. That means archeologist…

Saboteur (1942) – Alfred Hitchcock

Hitchcock delivers a fantastically paced thriller, that stirs in some patriotism and humour as every man Barry Kane (Robert Cummings) finds himself caught up in a conspiracy on the eve of war. Kane works in an airplane factory, and is doing his part for the blossoming war effort. But when he inadvertently helps a fellow…

In Which We Serve (1942) – Noel Coward and David Lean

As I continue to explore The Movie Book from DK Canada, I find myself diving into the What Else to Watch list after the book’s recommendation of Das Boot (and who doesn’t love that movie?). Noel Coward not only stars in this film, he wrote, produced and directed it (alongside David Lean) as we follow…

The Undying Monster (1942) – John Brahm

The Undying Monster, the next werewolf title recommended by DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies book by legendary directory John Landis is suitably moody, dark, gothic, and set in England – despite the fact that most of them speak with American accents. There’s an ancestral home, a curse, a pair of Scotland Yard investigators with…

Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) – Michael Curtiz

As I continue my time with the Musical chapter in the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book, I dove into the biographical film, Yankee Doodle Dandy starring James Cagney. That gave me a pause. Despite everything I had ever heard about the film, I’d never seen him do anything like this. It was…

Casablanca (1942) – Michael Curtiz

  As we move back to the Romance and Melodrama genre in the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book, we get to revisit one of my favourite films (many people share that opinion, and who can blame them?!) – Casablanca. It came along at just the right time, had just the right cast,…