TERROR BY NIGHT (1946)

The Star of Rhodesia is an infamous diamond, thought to be cursed. Lady Margaret is traveling by train to Edinburgh with it and has hired Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson to guard it, as there has already been one robbery attempt in London. Also on the train is Vivian Vedder, transporting her deceased mother's body to Scotland in a specially made coffin that we saw her inspect at a carpenter's shop. Other passengers: Lady Margaret's son Roland; Major Duncan-Bleek, an old acquaintance of Watson's from his days in India; Prof. Kilbane, a secretive mathematician; the Shallcrosses, a secretive older couple; and Inspector Lestrade, who tells Holmes he is on vacation but is actually keeping his eyes on the diamond. Not long into the journey, Roland is found dead and the diamond is gone, but Holmes reveals that he actually has the diamond and the missing one is a fake. Watson, certain he could do as well at detecting as Lestrade, starts an investigation, with some help from his buddy Duncan-Bleek. Holmes feels the case has the mark of an old pro named Moran, an associate of Holmes' nemesis Moriarty; as no one knows what he looks like, he could be anyone on the train. At one point, Holmes discovers that Vivian's coffin is empty, and has a false bottom with a compartment big enough to hold a small person (as we learn, a man with a poison dart gun who is now hiding on the train). Vivian admits that she was paid to accompany the coffin but knows nothing more. Holmes is also pushed out of the train by an unseen assailant, though he manages to get back on. In the end, the killer is unmasked, after which a delicious final twist occurs.

This eleventh film in the Universal series, somewhat like the previous PURSUIT TO ALGIERS, begins with Holmes not as a detective but as a security agent for hire. But all is forgiven when it does eventually turn into a mystery almost in the Agatha Christie mold—there's even a brief recap of the suspects at the half-hour mark. I also like that it's a train movie; aside from the opening scene at the carpentry shop, it's all set on or about the train, the Scotch Express. The mystery is tricky enough, and the last ten minutes are exciting, unpredictable, and fun. Though there is one more film left in the series, this is the last one with Lestrade (Dennis Hoey). It's fun to see Watson having a friend to chat with, and Alan Mowbray is fine as Duncan-Bleek. Very busy character actor Mary Forbes is good as Lady Margaret, and of course Basil Rathbone (pictured above with Hoey) and Nigel Bruce continue their impersonations of Holmes and Watson in a satisfactory manner. The short and odd-looking Skelton Knaggs, who made a decent career out of playing short and odd-looking people, is the poison dart killer working for Moran. Renee Godfrey, an American, uses an awful artificial British accent as Vivian, which I sure was meant to be a put-on disguise, but no, she's just bad at accents. A solid entry in the series. [DVD]