Dartmoor Prison, 1946. In one section, prisoners are making little wooden music boxes, which are sold in the outside world. Fade out to the Gaylord Art Gallery, London. It's having an auction, and three of the music boxes are offered for sale, and they go cheaply. After the gallery is closed for the day, a well-dressed man in a bowler hat pleads with the owner, "This is extremely important.... I was unfortunately delayed in coming on time to bid on certain articles I'm rather anxious to obtain.... Three identical music boxes."
He wangles the names and addresses of the purchases from the auctioneer (well, a £5 note does the wangling.) He leaves and tells his chauffeur, "Is it my fault they were sold? She can't hold me responsible for that."
Who is "she" and why does she want the music boxes? No matter, she'll get them by hook or by crook. Or by murder.
This is the 14th and last movie where Basil Rathbone played Sherlock Holmes, with Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson. It has been modernized to take place in the 1940s. It came out in 1946 and is only 72 minutes long. What it lacks in length, it makes up in excellence. This is one of the BEST Rathbone Sherlock stories and one of the best Sherlock stories by anybody. It has humor and a great plot, though you do have to accept that Holmes can repeat an odd music box melody after one hearing.
You get two versions of the movie, colorized and the original black & white. I didn't even bother watching the colorized version, but that's just my preference. The only Bonus Feature is the original trailer for the movie. Unfortunately, this movie release has no subtitles.
"Prelude to Murder" is included in a collection of all 14 of the Sherlock films which Rathbone made with Bruce,
The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection
. In the collection, though, it has the title "Dressed to Kill", which was the original British title. When it crossed the pond to the U.S., the title was changed. As a bonus, if you watch Prelude/Dressed in the Collection, it has subtitles available as well as a Commentary Track, neither of which are included in this single-movie issue. The Collection does not, however, include a colorized version of the movie.
I am a fan of many film and TV iterations of Sherlock Holmes, and that includes the Rathbone/Bruce Sherlock series.
Happy Reader
| Additional DVD options | Edition | Discs | Price | New from | Used from |
|
DVD
October 31, 2006 "Please retry" | — | 1 |
—
| — | $5.70 |
Watch Instantly with 
| Rent | Buy |
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
Customer reviews
Excellent Mystery, Excellent Holmes, Excellent Dangerous Lady!
Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2018
Dartmoor Prison, 1946. In one section, prisoners are making little wooden music boxes, which are sold in the outside world. Fade out to the Gaylord Art Gallery, London. It's having an auction, and three of the music boxes are offered for sale, and they go cheaply. After the gallery is closed for the day, a well-dressed man in a bowler hat pleads with the owner, "This is extremely important.... I was unfortunately delayed in coming on time to bid on certain articles I'm rather anxious to obtain.... Three identical music boxes."He wangles the names and addresses of the purchases from the auctioneer (well, a £5 note does the wangling.) He leaves and tells his chauffeur, "Is it my fault they were sold? She can't hold me responsible for that."Who is "she" and why does she want the music boxes? No matter, she'll get them by hook or by crook. Or by murder.This is the 14th and last movie where Basil Rathbone played Sherlock Holmes, with Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson. It has been modernized to take place in the 1940s. It came out in 1946 and is only 72 minutes long. What it lacks in length, it makes up in excellence. This is one of the BEST Rathbone Sherlock stories and one of the best Sherlock stories by anybody. It has humor and a great plot, though you do have to accept that Holmes can repeat an odd music box melody after one hearing.You get two versions of the movie, colorized and the original black & white. I didn't even bother watching the colorized version, but that's just my preference. The only Bonus Feature is the original trailer for the movie. Unfortunately, this movie release has no subtitles."Prelude to Murder" is included in a collection of all 14 of the Sherlock films which Rathbone made with Bruce, The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection. In the collection, though, it has the title "Dressed to Kill", which was the original British title. When it crossed the pond to the U.S., the title was changed. As a bonus, if you watch Prelude/Dressed in the Collection, it has subtitles available as well as a Commentary Track, neither of which are included in this single-movie issue. The Collection does not, however, include a colorized version of the movie.I am a fan of many film and TV iterations of Sherlock Holmes, and that includes the Rathbone/Bruce Sherlock series.Happy Reader
Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2018
Images in this review
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 9, 2018
He wangles the names and addresses of the purchases from the auctioneer (well, a £5 note does the wangling.) He leaves and tells his chauffeur, "Is it my fault they were sold? She can't hold me responsible for that."
Who is "she" and why does she want the music boxes? No matter, she'll get them by hook or by crook. Or by murder.
This is the 14th and last movie where Basil Rathbone played Sherlock Holmes, with Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson. It has been modernized to take place in the 1940s. It came out in 1946 and is only 72 minutes long. What it lacks in length, it makes up in excellence. This is one of the BEST Rathbone Sherlock stories and one of the best Sherlock stories by anybody. It has humor and a great plot, though you do have to accept that Holmes can repeat an odd music box melody after one hearing.
You get two versions of the movie, colorized and the original black & white. I didn't even bother watching the colorized version, but that's just my preference. The only Bonus Feature is the original trailer for the movie. Unfortunately, this movie release has no subtitles.
"Prelude to Murder" is included in a collection of all 14 of the Sherlock films which Rathbone made with Bruce, [[ASIN:B000EXZFRQ The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection]]. In the collection, though, it has the title "Dressed to Kill", which was the original British title. When it crossed the pond to the U.S., the title was changed. As a bonus, if you watch Prelude/Dressed in the Collection, it has subtitles available as well as a Commentary Track, neither of which are included in this single-movie issue. The Collection does not, however, include a colorized version of the movie.
I am a fan of many film and TV iterations of Sherlock Holmes, and that includes the Rathbone/Bruce Sherlock series.
Happy Reader
Excellent Mystery, Excellent Holmes, Excellent Dangerous Lady!
By Happy Reader on March 8, 2018
Dartmoor Prison, 1946. In one section, prisoners are making little wooden music boxes, which are sold in the outside world. Fade out to the Gaylord Art Gallery, London. It's having an auction, and three of the music boxes are offered for sale, and they go cheaply. After the gallery is closed for the day, a well-dressed man in a bowler hat pleads with the owner, "This is extremely important.... I was unfortunately delayed in coming on time to bid on certain articles I'm rather anxious to obtain.... Three identical music boxes."By Happy Reader on March 8, 2018
He wangles the names and addresses of the purchases from the auctioneer (well, a £5 note does the wangling.) He leaves and tells his chauffeur, "Is it my fault they were sold? She can't hold me responsible for that."
Who is "she" and why does she want the music boxes? No matter, she'll get them by hook or by crook. Or by murder.
This is the 14th and last movie where Basil Rathbone played Sherlock Holmes, with Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson. It has been modernized to take place in the 1940s. It came out in 1946 and is only 72 minutes long. What it lacks in length, it makes up in excellence. This is one of the BEST Rathbone Sherlock stories and one of the best Sherlock stories by anybody. It has humor and a great plot, though you do have to accept that Holmes can repeat an odd music box melody after one hearing.
You get two versions of the movie, colorized and the original black & white. I didn't even bother watching the colorized version, but that's just my preference. The only Bonus Feature is the original trailer for the movie. Unfortunately, this movie release has no subtitles.
"Prelude to Murder" is included in a collection of all 14 of the Sherlock films which Rathbone made with Bruce, [[ASIN:B000EXZFRQ The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection]]. In the collection, though, it has the title "Dressed to Kill", which was the original British title. When it crossed the pond to the U.S., the title was changed. As a bonus, if you watch Prelude/Dressed in the Collection, it has subtitles available as well as a Commentary Track, neither of which are included in this single-movie issue. The Collection does not, however, include a colorized version of the movie.
I am a fan of many film and TV iterations of Sherlock Holmes, and that includes the Rathbone/Bruce Sherlock series.
Happy Reader
Images in this review
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 31, 2018
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 20, 2010
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 23, 2017
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 30, 2009
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 3, 2010
Top reviews from other countries
Dennis Grumpy Peters
Good watch but I felt rather aggrieved with the name ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 8, 2014mycroft.1
Sherlock Holmes Prelude to Murder
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 20, 2011Wendy
Think Basil Rathbone is excellent as Sherlock Holmes and this film is 5 star
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 18, 2015
