Dressed to Kill (1946)

Basil Rathbone: Sherlock Holmes

Photos 

Quotes 

• Watson : I say, Holmes?

  Holmes : What?

  Watson : It's morning.

  Holmes : Allow me to congratulate you on a brilliant bit of deduction.

• Holmes : Elementary, my dear fellow, one of the first principles in solving crime is never to disregard anything no matter how trivial.

• Holmes : [Holmes and Watson are in a pub to see Joe Cisto, a piano player. Holmes introduces Cisto to Watson]  I want you to meet a friend of mine, Dr. Watson. Joe Cisto.

  Joe Cisto : Oh, well, any friend of Mr. Holmes is a friend of mine.

  Watson : How are you, Joe?

  Joe Cisto : He did me a good turn once that I'll never forget.

  Holmes : Yes, I cleared Joe of a most unpleasant charge.

  Joe Cisto : Murder no less.

  Watson : Oh, really?

  Holmes : By proving to the satisfaction of the police that he was busy at the time blowing open someone's safe.

• Watson : Humph, Irene Adler, what a striking looking woman from the brief glance I had of her. Seems only yesterday. What charm. Hmmmm. What poise. And what a mind! Sharp enough and brilliant enough to outwit the-the great Sherlock Holmes himself!

  Holmes : I take it that the new issue of the Strand Magazine is out containing another of your slightly lurid tales.

  Watson : It is indeed!

  Holmes : And what do you call this one?

  Watson : I call it "A Scandal in Bohemia." Not a bad title, huh?

  Holmes : Hmm. If you must record my exploits, I do wish you would put less emphasis on the melodramatic and more on the intellectual issues involved.

  Watson : More on the intel... what do you mean by that?

  Holmes : Well I do hope you've given, um, *The* Woman a soul, she had one, you know.

  Watson : By *The* Woman, I suppose you mean Irene Adler?

  Holmes : Yes... I shall always remember her... as *The* Woman.

• Commissioner of Scotland Yard : Before going further, Dr. Watson, I must inform you that this matter is not to be mentioned outside of this room.

  Watson : [Indignantly]  Of course not. Do I look like a man who'd gossip?

  Holmes : Let's not go into that now, old fellow, shall we?

• 'Stinky' Emery : [remarking on one of his music boxes]  Charming, isn't it?

  Holmes : Quite!

  Watson : [bored]  They all sound to me like a lot of mice running about a tin roof.

• Watson : Holmes! You all right?

  Holmes : Perfectly, thank you, old fellow, but I think this gentleman on the floor requires some medical attention. We must see that he looks his best, you know, when he's hanged.

• Holmes : However, it's a mistake to accept something that's true merely because it's obvious.

• [last lines] 

  Inspector Hopkins : I still don't understand how you solved it, Mr. Holmes.

  Holmes : It's entirely due to Doctor Watson. He gave me the clue when he mentioned Doctor Samuel Johnson.

  Inspector Hopkins : Well, congratulations, Doctor.

  Watson : Oh, thank you, Inspector. I don't think I could have done it entirely without Mr. Holmes' help, you know.

• Holmes : The truth is only arrived at... by the pain staking process of eliminating the untrue.

• Watson : [remarking on the stolen music box]  But that box is only worth two pounds!

  Holmes : It's worth a man's life, Watson!

• Holmes : Somehow, the tune... is the key to the mystery. It must be the tune. Otherwise, why use three musical boxes to convey the message? Why not collar boxes, or shoe boxes?