Sherlock Holmes at Universal Studios

“SHERLOCK HOLMES, the immortal character of fiction created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is ageless, invincible and unchanging. In solving significant problems of the present day he remains – as ever – the supreme master of deductive reasoning.” – opening title card from Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror

In 1942 Universal Pictures closed a $300,000 deal with the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to make a series of Sherlock Holmes second features. The option would last for 7 years and provide access to 21 of the original short stories to draw on. Ultimately 12 films would be made, all starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, reprising the roles they had already played on screen at Fox in 1939 in The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and since then on radio. This time the films would, not without controversy, all be set in contemporary times. They would be joined by Mary Gordon, who had played Mrs Hudson for them at Fox (and occasionally on radio too), while Dennis Hoey joined the team as Inspector Lestrade. The first was directed by John Rawlins and overseen by producer Howard Benedict. After that Roy William Neill took over as sole director and eventually producer and occasionally co-writer too. The memorable theme music was by Frank Skinner

The Universal Studios Sherlock Holmes series (1942-1946)