Approved | 1h 16min | Drama, Crime, Mystery | 7 June 1946 (USA)
Sherlock Holmes sets out to discover why a trio of murderous villains, including a dangerously attractive female, are desperate to obtain three unassuming and inexpensive little music boxes.
Director: Roy William Neill
Writers: Leonard Lee, Frank Gruber, Arthur Conan Doyle
Stars: Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Patricia Morison
Sherlock Holmes sets out to discover why a trio of murderous villains, including a dangerously attractive female, are desperate to obtain three unassuming and inexpensive little music boxes.
Director: Roy William Neill
Writers: Leonard Lee, Frank Gruber, Arthur Conan Doyle
Stars: Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Patricia Morison
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00:30♪
00:00:59♪
00:01:09♪
00:01:18Dartmoor Prison.
00:01:20Isolated from the outside world by walls of granite.
00:01:25♪
00:01:36They say you could get out of here by merely telling what you know.
00:01:41You may or may not be another Scotland Yard bloke,
00:01:45but I'll give you the same answer I gave the others.
00:01:50I still have two years, eight months, and six days left
00:01:55in which to make musical boxes
00:01:57that'll be sold at auction for the benefit of this delightful sanctuary.
00:02:02And I intend to serve them.
00:02:05♪
00:02:11Move along.
00:02:14And now we come to the next object on our list,
00:02:16or I should say objects, because there are three of them.
00:02:19Now, ladies and gentlemen, these can be bought together or separately.
00:02:25Now, these beautiful little musical boxes only arrived this morning,
00:02:27and I didn't intend to put them on the auction block until later,
00:02:30but I'm going to sell them now.
00:02:32So, good friends, as our old pal Mark Antony used to say,
00:02:35lend me your ears.
00:02:38And what do you hear?
00:02:41Right.
00:02:42The beautiful tinkle-tinkle of a musical box.
00:02:46What a lovely trinket. What a beautiful gift.
00:02:49Created unmade by loving hands.
00:02:51A thing of beauty and utility.
00:02:54Now, who's going to start? Who has five pounds?
00:02:57It's a bargain, five pounds.
00:03:00Do I see any hands?
00:03:02If it's a connoisseur in the house, we'll go three pounds for it.
00:03:07Two pounds.
00:03:09One pound.
00:03:12Ten shillings.
00:03:14Ten... Thank you, sir.
00:03:17Ladies and gentlemen, ten shillings is offered for a musical box
00:03:20you couldn't buy anywhere in London for less than five pounds.
00:03:23It'd be stealing to let it go for ten shillings,
00:03:26like taking milk from a baby.
00:03:27All right, we'll sell it for ten shillings.
00:03:29Ten shillings, ten shillings is offered, ten shillings is offered,
00:03:32can anybody give me one pound?
00:03:33Can anybody give me one pound?
00:03:35Won't someone give me a pound?
00:03:37A pound, one pound is offered, one pound is offered,
00:03:39ladies and gentlemen, one pound is offered, it's against you, sir.
00:03:41Can you go to two pounds? Can you go to two pounds, sir?
00:03:44Two pounds, two pounds is offered, two pounds is offered,
00:03:46going once, twice, third and the last call.
00:03:51Sold to the gentleman for two pounds.
00:03:54Sorry, my dear.
00:03:56Now, ladies and gentlemen, comes the opportunity to purchase
00:03:59an exact duplicate of the beautiful little musical box
00:04:02just bought by this gentleman for the ridiculous low price of two pounds.
00:04:06It's exactly the same, exactly the same, made with the same hands.
00:04:09You hear that? Isn't that lovely?
00:04:11That tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, tinkle?
00:04:14Sounds like bow bells to me, you know,
00:04:15with little angels pulling on the ropes, eh?
00:04:17We'll give you two pounds for it.
00:04:19Who's starting with two pounds? Will anybody start with two pounds?
00:04:22Oh, come, come, ladies and gentlemen.
00:04:24You know, from your enthusiasm, we might all be in Scotland instead of London.
00:04:27Please buy it for me, Daddy.
00:04:29Two pounds, certainly not. We all might be in Scotland.
00:04:33Besides, I don't like his manner.
00:04:35One pound, ten shillings.
00:04:36One pound, one pound is asked, one pound, one pound is offered,
00:04:39one pound is offered, going one pound.
00:04:41Any advance? Going once, going twice, the third and the last call.
00:04:46Sold to the lady for one pound.
00:04:49Smart bidding, my dear.
00:04:51We come to the third and last of these beautiful little musical boxes.
00:04:55Exactly the same. Tinkle, tinkle. Isn't that lovely?
00:04:59Ladies and gentlemen, I don't bring you here to gull you and swindle you.
00:05:02This is the exact replica of those two I just sold before.
00:05:12We're closed.
00:05:13But this is extremely important.
00:05:18Come in, sir, come in.
00:05:19I'm sorry to disturb you,
00:05:21but I was unfortunately delayed from arriving in time
00:05:24to bid on certain articles which I was rather anxious to obtain.
00:05:27Oh, perhaps they were sold, sir.
00:05:29We are carrying several things over.
00:05:32What might the articles be, sir?
00:05:34Three identical musical boxes, about so large.
00:05:37Oh, I'm sorry, sir, but they were sold.
00:05:40Pity you weren't here to bid on them.
00:05:42They didn't bring anything like the real value.
00:05:44I'm most anxious to obtain them.
00:05:46I wonder if your records would show who the purchasers were.
00:05:50Oh, we don't usually give out that information, sir.
00:05:53For certain, shall we say, sentimental reasons,
00:05:56I'm most anxious to get in touch with the purchasers.
00:05:59I'd be willing to pay, shall we say, five pounds.
00:06:04Well, for certain sentimental reasons, sir, we'd be very happy to oblige.
00:06:07Alfred, today's sales.
00:06:10Three musical boxes.
00:06:11Musical boxes, oh.
00:06:12Ah, here we are.
00:06:14The first purchased for two pounds from Mr. Julian Emery,
00:06:1652 Portman Square.
00:06:18Write this address down, Alfred.
00:06:19Yes, sir.
00:06:20Second didn't leave any name.
00:06:21Oh, how unfortunate.
00:06:23I think she's a dealer.
00:06:24You see, they don't like us to know where the things are going.
00:06:26On account of the profits.
00:06:28You say the second purchaser was a woman.
00:06:31Can you give me a description of her?
00:06:33Oh, she was a young woman.
00:06:35Fairly tall, slender.
00:06:37She had a light complexion and dark hair and she was wearing a...
00:06:42A grey suit, don't you remember?
00:06:43She probably runs a gift shop.
00:06:46She paid one pound.
00:06:49You say she comes here fairly frequently?
00:06:52No, I didn't say so, but she does, sir.
00:06:55Like us or not, she'll come in on Thursday.
00:06:57We have sales on Mondays and Thursdays.
00:07:00Oh, and the third box?
00:07:02The third, oh, Mr. William Kilgore, 143B Hampton Way.
00:07:07For ten shillings.
00:07:09Hmm, quite a drop from two pounds.
00:07:11Mr. Kilgore was a Scotchman.
00:07:13Oh, well, thank you.
00:07:15You've been most helpful.
00:07:17Oh, thank you, sir.
00:07:19And any time you're passing, dropping,
00:07:21we always have lovely things for sale.
00:07:23How can't you?
00:07:24Oh, thank you.
00:07:25I'll be back Thursday.
00:07:28The message reached us too late.
00:07:31The musical boxes are being sold.
00:07:35Well, let's get out of here.
00:07:44Someday you'll go too far.
00:07:48Hmm, reaching for a star.
00:07:53Reaching for a star, you fool.
00:07:56Yet a fool may touch a star, Colonel Cavanaugh,
00:07:59if he can reach high enough
00:08:01to not possess it as you would.
00:08:05The musical boxes, they're being sold.
00:08:08What a pity for you, my dear Colonel.
00:08:10Is it my fault that the message reached us only an hour ago?
00:08:13Is it my fault that they were sold?
00:08:16She can't hold me responsible for that.
00:08:19I hope for your sake you're right.
00:08:50They will call upon you tonight at a quarter to eight.
00:08:53A gentleman who desires to consult you
00:08:55upon a matter of the very deepest moment.
00:08:58Remember that letter, Holmes?
00:09:00It was written over two years ago.
00:09:02An interesting case.
00:09:04Devilishly interesting.
00:09:06Hmm, Irene Adler.
00:09:08That's a striking looking woman
00:09:10from the brief glance I had of her.
00:09:12Seems only yesterday.
00:09:14What charm.
00:09:16What poise and what a mind.
00:09:18Sharp enough and brilliant enough
00:09:20to outwit the great Sherlock Holmes himself.
00:09:23I take it the new issue of the Strand magazine is out,
00:09:26containing another of your slightly lurid tales.
00:09:29Yes, indeed.
00:09:31And what do you call this one?
00:09:33I call it A Scandal in Bohemia.
00:09:35Not a bad title, eh?
00:09:37Hmm.
00:09:38If you must record my exploits,
00:09:41I do wish you'd put less emphasis on the middle name.
00:09:44I do wish you'd put less emphasis on the melodramatic
00:09:47and more on the intellectual issues involved.
00:09:49More on the... What do you mean by that?
00:09:52Well, I do hope you've given, uh,
00:09:54the woman a soul.
00:09:56She had one, you know.
00:09:58By the woman, I suppose you mean Irene Adler.
00:10:01Yes.
00:10:03I shall always remember her
00:10:06as the woman.
00:10:15Come in.
00:10:19Hey, Stinky.
00:10:21That's her, old boy. How are you?
00:10:23How are you, old boy? I haven't seen you for years.
00:10:25I want you to meet my old friend Sherlock Holmes.
00:10:27Holmes, this is Stinky.
00:10:29In other words, uh, Julian Emery.
00:10:31How do you do, Mr. Emery? Watson has often spoken of you.
00:10:34Oh, has he? Yes, we were at school together.
00:10:36Yes, more years ago than I care to remember,
00:10:38but you didn't come in here just to remind me of that.
00:10:40No, I just happened to be in the neighborhood
00:10:42and saw your lights burning, so I took the liberty of looking you up.
00:10:45Still writing your mystery stuff?
00:10:47Yes, there's a new one out this week.
00:10:49Good. I never miss them.
00:10:51Oh, good. Thanks.
00:10:53I say, that bandage makes you look very interesting.
00:10:55Still poking your nose into other people's business as usual?
00:10:58Who hit you? I haven't the foggiest notion.
00:11:00Somebody knocked me on the head in my own living room
00:11:02and then proceeded to commit the most idiotic burglary
00:11:04you ever heard of.
00:11:06Fellow must have been barmy as a coot.
00:11:08Barmy? Why?
00:11:11Come, sit down, old boy.
00:11:13Would you like a cup of tea?
00:11:15Oh, all right.
00:11:17I'll go and tell Mrs. Hudson about it.
00:11:22Why did you say the robbery was idiotic, Mr. Emery?
00:11:24Oh, simply for the fact that with about 5,000 pounds
00:11:27worth of musical boxes in my living room,
00:11:29the thief, who I caught in the act,
00:11:31made off with one that isn't even worth five pounds.
00:11:34I gather you're a collector of musical boxes.
00:11:36Yes, I am indeed. Some of them are very beautiful,
00:11:38but not the one that was stolen.
00:11:40The thief evidently grabbed the first thing that came to his hand
00:11:43when he heard me coming into the room.
00:11:45Still, it's rather odd, isn't it, that having disposed of you,
00:11:48he didn't pick up something more valuable.
00:11:51Was there anything unusual about the stolen box?
00:11:53No, nothing at all.
00:11:55I picked it up in the south of France, oh, several years ago.
00:11:59You say you have many valuable music boxes,
00:12:02and yet the thief made off with one that isn't worth five pounds.
00:12:05Sounds like rather an intriguing little problem.
00:12:07Yes, well, I take it that he was just an ordinary petty thief
00:12:10and didn't know the value.
00:12:11That is a possible explanation, and yet I venture to say
00:12:14that the average petty thief has a more extensive knowledge
00:12:17of the value of object d'art than the average collector.
00:12:19Well, anyway, that's gardener's theory.
00:12:21They didn't get very excited about it.
00:12:23That's consistent anyway.
00:12:25I wonder if I might see your collection, Mr. Emory.
00:12:28Why, of course you could, yes.
00:12:30Nothing a collector likes more than showing off his trophies.
00:12:33When would it suit you?
00:12:34No time like the present.
00:12:36Good.
00:12:37My place is just round in Portmouth Square.
00:12:39Shall we?
00:12:40Yes, right.
00:12:45Hello?
00:12:46Where are you going?
00:12:47Stinky hasn't had his tea yet.
00:12:48Oh, I'm sorry.
00:12:49We're going round to my place,
00:12:50where I'm going to give you something better than tea.
00:12:55Now, this one was made for Louis XV,
00:12:57and is one of the very few still in existence from that period,
00:13:00and a particularly fine specimen.
00:13:03Hmm.
00:13:05Charming, isn't it?
00:13:07Quite.
00:13:10They all sound to me like a lot of mice
00:13:12running about on a tin roof.
00:13:14I'm afraid you have no ear for music, Watson.
00:13:16Give me a good old band playing a rousing march,
00:13:19and you'll have all your silly little tweet-tweets.
00:13:28Another one.
00:13:32This way.
00:13:42Stupid thing.
00:13:43Singing rabbit.
00:13:46What would you say offhand
00:13:47is the value of a box like that, Mr. Emory?
00:13:49Well, it's hard to say offhand.
00:13:51I think it would bring about five or six hundred pounds today.
00:13:54It's the gem of my collection.
00:13:56Yet a thief who steals an oddity like a musical box
00:13:58passes up one worth five hundred pounds
00:14:00for one of almost no value at all.
00:14:02Odd. Very odd.
00:14:05What was a stolen box like, Mr. Emory?
00:14:07Oh, just a plain wooden box about, um, so big.
00:14:11As a matter of fact, I have one over here,
00:14:13almost exactly like it.
00:14:15I picked this up yesterday at an auction room in Knightsbridge.
00:14:18Paid only two pounds for it.
00:14:20Of course, I wouldn't in the ordinary way
00:14:22add one like this to my collection,
00:14:24but the, um, the tune intrigued me.
00:14:26I'd never heard it before.
00:14:30♪
00:14:46You have a remarkable ear for music, huh?
00:14:48Rather an unusual melody.
00:14:49Sit down. Thanks.
00:14:53You, uh, say you bought that box at an auction sale yesterday.
00:14:56Yes, the Gaylord auction rooms in, uh, Knightsbridge.
00:14:59Run by old, what's his name?
00:15:01Crabtree.
00:15:02That's the man.
00:15:03At what time was the robbery committed?
00:15:05Oh, about three o'clock this morning.
00:15:07You know, Mr. Emery, that box and the robbery might well be cause and effect,
00:15:12especially since you say that this stolen box
00:15:14outwardly resembles this one a great deal.
00:15:16And Scotland Yard were not particularly interested, eh?
00:15:20Oh, yes, but I wouldn't blame them for that,
00:15:23especially as I told them I was quite unable to describe the thief,
00:15:26except, of course, for the fact that it was definitely a man.
00:15:29All you remember is that you came in here and someone struck you on the head.
00:15:31Yes, and the next thing I knew, my man was trying to revive me.
00:15:35It might be wise for you to put that box away somewhere and lock it up.
00:15:37Oh, I don't think that's necessary.
00:15:39Besides, everything's insured.
00:15:41Well, at least if any further attempts at robbery are made,
00:15:44I'd suggest that you call the police
00:15:46rather than running into any personal danger.
00:15:48Oh, come, Holmes, aren't you being a bit of an alarmist?
00:15:50Possibly.
00:15:51I must agree with old Stinky.
00:15:53It seems to me you are making rather a mountain out of a moleskill.
00:15:56Molehill is the word, old boy, and it's time you were in bed.
00:15:59Thanks so much for letting us see your place.
00:16:01No, it's been great meeting you.
00:16:05Holmes, I can't understand why you were so mysterious.
00:16:08It seems to me the petty thief explanation was the only sensible one.
00:16:11Really?
00:16:12I can't see how you can believe it was anything else.
00:16:14I didn't say I believed it to be anything else.
00:16:16The petty thief theory is the obvious one, I grant you.
00:16:18However, it's often a mistake to accept something as true
00:16:21because it's obvious.
00:16:23The truth is only arrived at
00:16:25by the painstaking process of eliminating the untrue.
00:16:29We are not able to do that in this case, without further doubt, are we?
00:16:32Rubbish, you're pulling my leg.
00:16:34You're trying to turn a tuppany-hapeny robbery
00:16:37into an international plot.
00:16:39No, I'm not.
00:16:40I just hope that your friend Stinky is a little more cautious in the future.
00:16:43Just in case.
00:16:52PHONE RINGS
00:16:58PHONE RINGS
00:17:07PHONE RINGS
00:17:10Hello? Yeah?
00:17:12Julian Emery here.
00:17:14Who?
00:17:16Why, of course I remember you, Mrs. Courtney.
00:17:20Yes, you're the one bright spot
00:17:22at that appallingly dull affair of Lady Sanford's.
00:17:26Huh?
00:17:27Of course it isn't too late to come round.
00:17:30Yes, I shall be delighted to give you a drink.
00:17:33I tell you what, come straight up and I'll leave the door unlatched.
00:17:37Right, well, 15 minutes?
00:17:40Good.
00:17:42I shall be counting each moment.
00:17:44No, no, no. No, I mean that, really.
00:17:47Right, goodbye.
00:17:50HE HUMS
00:18:08Boo!
00:18:09Oh, you startled me.
00:18:11Did I? Yes.
00:18:13Must be the pixie in me.
00:18:15I know I shouldn't have called you so late,
00:18:17but I was at a party just around the corner
00:18:19and I remembered your invitation to see your collection of musical boxes.
00:18:22My dear Mrs. Courtney,
00:18:24the pleasure is all the greater for being so unexpected.
00:18:27My friends call me Hilda.
00:18:29Oh, thanks. Mine call me Stinky.
00:18:31Stinky, how quaint.
00:18:33Oh, what a perfectly wonderful collection of musical boxes.
00:18:36You know, when you told me you had a collection,
00:18:38I had no idea it was so attractive.
00:18:40Yes, they appeal to the ear as well as to the eye.
00:18:45Oh, what a plain little one.
00:18:47Why, it looks just like a country cousin amid all this grandeur.
00:18:50No, no, no, you mustn't underestimate the country cousin.
00:18:53Only last night a burglar broke in here
00:18:55and with all these to choose from, went off with one very much like it.
00:18:58Really? Yes, I don't mind the loss of the box so much,
00:19:01but I do resent this crack on the skull.
00:19:03But it makes you look so interesting. Oh, do you think so?
00:19:06It's funny, that's what old Fatso said. Fatso?
00:19:08I mean, Dr. Watson.
00:19:10He was here this evening with a friend, a Mr. Holmes.
00:19:13He's interested in my collection too.
00:19:15Sherlock Holmes? Yes, do you know him?
00:19:17I've heard of him.
00:19:19Yes, he seems to think I'm in some sort of danger.
00:19:23What a haunting tune. It takes me right back to my childhood.
00:19:26Really?
00:19:27You know, it's odd that you should be interested in that particular musical box.
00:19:30Odd? Why?
00:19:31Because Mr. Holmes is also interested in it.
00:19:33He may have been more interested in the tune than in the box.
00:19:36My dear, yes, that's right.
00:19:38I remember now, he whistled it note for note, having heard it only once.
00:19:42Really?
00:19:43He must be a remarkable man.
00:19:45Bit of an alarmist, if you ask me.
00:19:47Don't you believe in warnings?
00:19:49Of course not.
00:19:50Who'd want a box like that?
00:19:52I would.
00:19:53You're not serious.
00:19:55Oh, but I am.
00:19:57Well, you put me in a very awkward position.
00:19:59I'm a collector, you know.
00:20:01And a collector buys, but never sells.
00:20:03But if the price were high enough...
00:20:06The price has nothing to do with it.
00:20:09It's the principle of the thing.
00:20:12Yes, well, we haven't had our drink.
00:20:14No, thanks. I must be getting along.
00:20:18Must you really?
00:20:19I'm afraid so.
00:20:22You're not walking out on me, are you?
00:20:24My reputation, stinky.
00:20:29I say, you know, you are an attractive woman.
00:20:31Thanks.
00:20:41You fool.
00:20:42I told you to wait outside.
00:20:44What did you have to kill him for?
00:20:46All I had to do was walk out with this.
00:20:48He held you in his arms.
00:20:50Don't touch him.
00:20:51Don't touch anything.
00:20:53Now, get out.
00:20:54I'm sorry.
00:20:55You're sorry?
00:20:56What about me?
00:20:58This is murder.
00:20:59What about Scotland Yard?
00:21:01What about Sherlock Holmes?
00:21:03Now, get out!
00:21:11Get out!
00:21:34Did you get it?
00:21:38Good.
00:21:39Any trouble with him?
00:21:41Just a matter of murder.
00:21:47Ah, Mr. Holmes.
00:21:48Hopkins.
00:21:49Thanks for coming so promptly.
00:21:51Inspector Mestrade suggested that I call through to you.
00:21:54Mr. Emery was the client of Mr. Holmes, Inspector.
00:21:57Indeed?
00:21:58You didn't mention that when I telephoned you, Mr. Holmes.
00:22:00Well, not exactly a client, Inspector.
00:22:02Dodgen-Thompson?
00:22:03He was killed between the hours of 11 and 2 o'clock this morning, Mr. Holmes.
00:22:09It must have been someone he knew, someone of whom he had no suspicion.
00:22:13Poor old Stinky.
00:22:15It's all my fault.
00:22:16I should have prevented this.
00:22:18Well, there's no time to start talking about that now, Doctor.
00:22:21Apparently, it's gone.
00:22:23That's the second attempt on the musical box that Emery bought at the auction sale.
00:22:27And this time, it was successful.
00:22:29But that box was only worth two pounds.
00:22:31It was worth a man's life, Watson.
00:22:33I think we'd better pay a visit to Gaylord's auction room and that fellow Crabtree.
00:22:36Inspector, may I suggest that you make a complete search of this flat...
00:22:39for a small, plain musical box about that size?
00:22:42Thank you. Come along, Watson.
00:22:46You say the first box went to Mr. Julian Emery...
00:22:49the second to Mr. Kilgore, 143 B. Hampton Way...
00:22:52and the third to the unidentified young lady...
00:22:54who presumably has a shop and lives near Golders Green.
00:22:56That's right, Mr. Holmes.
00:22:58Isn't it rather strange, Mr. Crabtree...
00:23:00that you should have had three identical musical boxes...
00:23:02all playing the same tune? Where'd they come from?
00:23:04Dartmoor Prison.
00:23:05Dartmoor?
00:23:06We get a regular shipment from there every month.
00:23:08The inmates manufacture them.
00:23:10They make all kinds of things.
00:23:11Pipe racks, waste paper baskets, musical boxes.
00:23:13Did you happen to notice...
00:23:15if anyone showed any particular interest...
00:23:17during the auction in the purchasers of these three boxes?
00:23:22Come now, Mr. Crabtree.
00:23:24This is very literally a matter of life and death.
00:23:26Since you put it that way, Mr. Holmes...
00:23:28there was a gentleman who came in here about an hour after closing time...
00:23:31and he was in an awful state, he was.
00:23:35He gave me five pounds to tell him where the boxes had gone to.
00:23:37He said they had a sentimental value for him, sir.
00:23:39Oh, expensive sentiment.
00:23:41Can you describe him?
00:23:42He was tall, distinguished-looking...
00:23:44and he had grey hair and a moustache.
00:23:46He was quite a gentleman, sir.
00:23:47Now, what was his reaction...
00:23:49when you were unable to supply him...
00:23:50with the address of the young lady who owned the shop?
00:23:52I told him the young lady usually come back on Thursday.
00:23:55He said he'd come back on Thursday.
00:23:56You know, that's tomorrow.
00:23:57Thank you, Mr. Crabtree. You've been very helpful.
00:24:00Come along, Watson.
00:24:01Where are we going now, Holmes?
00:24:03The home of Mr. Kilgore.
00:24:04The men have bought the third box.
00:24:12Good hang it all, Holmes.
00:24:13How do you know those other two musical boxes are of any importance?
00:24:16I don't, but I certainly have no intention of waiting...
00:24:18until the owners are murdered to find out.
00:24:22No one at home.
00:24:24I hope that's the explanation.
00:24:26I'll have a look through this window.
00:24:33Doesn't seem to be anyone there.
00:24:36The whole place seems deserted as far as I can see.
00:24:40Yes?
00:24:41Mr. and Mrs. Kilgore at home?
00:24:43No.
00:24:44When do you expect them?
00:24:45Oh, in an hour or so.
00:24:46There's no use your hanging about.
00:24:48They don't buy nothing from peddlers.
00:24:50Peddlers?
00:24:51My good woman, this is Mr. Sherlock Holmes.
00:24:53Sherlock Holmes? Oh, go on.
00:24:55Do you mind if we come in and wait?
00:24:57My business is rather urgent.
00:24:59Well, I've got to go out and do my shopping.
00:25:01And I don't know if Mrs. Kilgore would like any strangers nosing about.
00:25:05It's quite all right, I assure you.
00:25:07Well, I've got to be off.
00:25:08Get some light in the parlor.
00:25:10And no smoking either.
00:25:12Mrs. Kilgore says it smells up the house.
00:25:17Funny old girl, Holmes.
00:25:32Park Lane.
00:25:33Park Lane?
00:25:34And what would the likes of you be doing in Park Lane?
00:25:36Now, don't worry about the fare, Ducky.
00:25:38If you knows how to get to Park Lane, hop it.
00:25:46You know, Holmes, I've been thinking.
00:25:48There must have been something hidden in that box of old stinkies.
00:25:52Stolen jewellery, possibly.
00:25:55What's up, Holmes?
00:25:57Stolen jewellery, possibly.
00:26:00What's up, Holmes?
00:26:02Listen.
00:26:05What, just the steam in the water pipes?
00:26:13Watson!
00:26:17Great Scott!
00:26:19Come on, Holmes.
00:26:20Get out of the chair here.
00:26:24It's all right, my dear.
00:26:27There, there, there.
00:26:28Now, don't worry.
00:26:30It's all over.
00:26:32There you are, dear.
00:26:33Don't cry any more.
00:26:34She tied me up and shut me in the cupboard.
00:26:37I know, I know.
00:26:39She won't come back.
00:26:41Did you show her your new musical box?
00:26:43Yes.
00:26:44She said she wanted to hear it play.
00:26:46And as soon as I showed it to her, she grabbed hold of it.
00:26:49I know, I know.
00:26:50Now, don't worry, don't worry.
00:26:51We'll buy you a new musical box.
00:26:52Yes, my dear.
00:26:53The best one in London.
00:26:54Watson.
00:26:56Oh, what a fool, what a fool I've been.
00:26:58What do you mean, Holmes?
00:26:59She took the musical box out of this house in that marquee basket.
00:27:02Right under our very noses.
00:27:04Why could the Kilgore Chow woman want to take the music box?
00:27:07She isn't the Kilgore Chow woman.
00:27:09She's a consummate actress.
00:27:10An extremely clever, unscrupulous woman who will stop at nothing.
00:27:13Take care of the Chow, will you, Waffler?
00:27:15Until her parents get back.
00:27:16Explain everything to them.
00:27:17Of course I will.
00:27:18But, Holmes, where are you going?
00:27:20Somewhere, somehow.
00:27:22I must get to the young lady who bought that third musical box
00:27:25before our opponents find out.
00:27:26I only hope that I won't be too late.
00:27:32Oh, no.
00:27:33No, no.
00:27:34No, no, no.
00:27:35Darling, you mustn't cry anymore.
00:27:37Now, cheer up.
00:27:38Would you like to hear an old uncle make a noise like a duck?
00:27:53Sorry.
00:27:55Hmm.
00:28:20And now, ladies and gentlemen,
00:28:21how much am I offered for this beautiful lace Dresden china figurine?
00:28:26A lady of the French court.
00:28:28Now, this is the genuine article.
00:28:31What a beautiful ornament for your mantelpiece.
00:28:33Or you could use it as a centerpiece on the dining room table.
00:28:36Now, will somebody start me for ten pounds?
00:28:38Will somebody start me for ten pounds?
00:28:40Eight pounds?
00:28:42Seven pounds?
00:28:43All right, five.
00:28:44Five pounds is offered.
00:28:45Five pounds is offered.
00:28:46Five pounds is offered.
00:28:47Five pounds, ten.
00:28:48Five pounds, fifteen.
00:28:49Six pounds is offered.
00:28:50Six pounds, six pounds.
00:28:51Going once, going twice.
00:28:53The third and the last call will be all done.
00:28:55Sold to the lady from Tricknam for six pounds.
00:28:59Next, we have a real museum piece, ladies and gentlemen.
00:29:02A fine 19th century doll.
00:29:05The costume, an exact replica of the holiday clothes worn by the Hungarian peasant women.
00:29:10Now, ladies and gentlemen,
00:29:12an article like this would cost you from 15 to 20 pounds in a western shop.
00:29:15I'm not going to ask for anything like that.
00:29:17I'm not going to ask for anything like that.
00:29:19Who will give me two pounds for it?
00:29:20Two pounds.
00:29:21Anybody offer me two pounds?
00:29:22Two pounds for the Hungarian?
00:29:23Two pounds?
00:29:24One pound.
00:29:25Will anybody give me one pound?
00:29:26Anybody offer me one pound for the doll?
00:29:28One pound is offered, ladies and gentlemen.
00:29:30One pound is offered.
00:29:31Now, I'm not going to waste your valuable time or mine
00:29:34in trying to get one half of what this beautiful doll is worth.
00:29:37If the young lady can steal it for one pound, that's her good fortune.
00:29:40So it's going once, it's going twice.
00:29:42The third and last call.
00:29:43Any more?
00:29:44Sold to the young lady for one pound.
00:29:47And now, ladies and gentlemen, may I draw your attention to something
00:29:50which may be a great surprise to you, worthy of any collection.
00:29:53The only other one like it is in the British Museum.
00:29:56It's a Ming vase of the Seventh Dynasty.
00:29:59This vase lay in a large collection somewhere outside Rome
00:30:04for over two centuries, I understand.
00:30:06It was discovered there by the noted antiquarian Sir Andrew Copleston.
00:30:09Now, some of you may remember Sir Andrew Copleston.
00:30:11Besides being a noted traveller and antiquarian,
00:30:13he's also a gentleman rider.
00:30:18A girl with a parcel in her hands, that's her.
00:30:21Are you sure that's the girl?
00:30:23She fits perfectly the auctioneer's description.
00:30:26Follow her, Hamid.
00:31:08It's lovely, dear.
00:31:10And only one pound. We can get at least three for it.
00:31:13Easily. I'll go make some tea.
00:31:15Upright.
00:31:20Good afternoon.
00:31:22Good afternoon.
00:31:23I'm looking for a birthday gift for a seven-year-old girl.
00:31:25What would you suggest?
00:31:26We have some lovely dolls.
00:31:27Now, this Hungarian peasant...
00:31:29I think she has enough dolls already.
00:31:30Books are always welcome.
00:31:32Well, I'm looking for something a little different.
00:31:34Well, that's rather cute.
00:31:36What is it?
00:31:37Oh, that's a musical box.
00:31:38Children always love them.
00:31:40And this is an exceptionally nice one.
00:31:43It plays many tunes.
00:31:51Have you any others?
00:31:52Yes.
00:31:53If you'll just step this way.
00:31:55I have only two left.
00:32:02How nice.
00:32:08Are you sure this is all you have?
00:32:09I'm sorry.
00:32:10They're rather hard to find, you know.
00:32:12That's our entire allotment.
00:32:14I did have one other, but I sold it earlier this afternoon.
00:32:17But it was only a plain wooden one.
00:32:19It wouldn't have been a very nice gift for a child.
00:32:21Really?
00:32:22Do you happen to know who the purchaser was?
00:32:26Why, yes.
00:32:27He left his card,
00:32:28just in case anyone should inquire for him.
00:32:38How interesting.
00:32:40I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I'll have to look a bit further.
00:32:43Thank you, anyway.
00:32:45Good afternoon. Thank you.
00:33:10Heavy!
00:33:15Follow that cab.
00:33:16Here, now. What?
00:33:17Gotland Yard.
00:33:18Hop in.
00:33:27Sherlock Holmes.
00:33:29I might have known.
00:33:30We thought we were the hunters,
00:33:33instead of which we're the hunted.
00:33:35We've been fooled, haven't we?
00:33:37We're the hunted.
00:33:39We've been fools. We played right into his hands.
00:33:42Of course.
00:33:44He's had us followed.
00:33:46Don't look.
00:33:48The man in front of the toy shop.
00:33:52Hamid.
00:33:53Turn sharp right at the next corner, and again at the next.
00:34:03No photograph of her, Commissioner, as I expected.
00:34:06She's not an uncriminal.
00:34:08But I'd expect to know if you do find her.
00:34:10After all, she was disguised as a charwoman.
00:34:13Don't worry, old fellow.
00:34:14If I ever see her again, I'll recognize her.
00:34:17Well, it won't be long till we know who they are
00:34:19and from where they operate.
00:34:21Who's covering them?
00:34:22Sergeant Thompson's following them, sir.
00:34:24They won't get away from him. He's a good man.
00:34:26We could have arrested them at Clifford's Toy Shop
00:34:28if we had any proof.
00:34:29But we know that they killed Emory.
00:34:31Proof, my dear fellow. We must have proof.
00:34:35We have X-rayed it, sir.
00:34:36There's nothing whatever concealed in the box.
00:34:38We'll have a look at the plates.
00:34:48There must be some clue.
00:34:50And it's probably so obvious that we've all overlooked it.
00:34:53Seems to me we're up against a bunch of lunatics.
00:34:57Not lunatics, my dear fellow.
00:35:00Extremely astute, cold-blooded murderers.
00:35:02What can these little musical boxes have in them that's so important?
00:35:06Don't forget, they were made in Dartmoor Prison.
00:35:08You can smuggle stuff into prison, but not out.
00:35:11Do you want us to break the box apart, sir,
00:35:13to see if there's anything the X-ray hasn't caught?
00:35:15No, not yet. Do you mind if I take it?
00:35:17Certainly. Thanks.
00:35:28The governor of Dartmoor Prison informed us, sir.
00:35:31In answer to Mr. Holmes' question,
00:35:33that all three musical boxes were made by the same convict,
00:35:36John Davidson, serving a seven-year term, sir.
00:35:39Davidson? The Bank of England plates.
00:35:41That'll be all. Yes, sir.
00:35:44Now, we're getting somewhere. If...
00:35:46Wait a minute. How did you know about the plates, Mr. Holmes?
00:35:49I'm a student of crime, Inspector.
00:35:51I make it my business to know about such things.
00:35:53And when the name of Davidson was mentioned...
00:35:55Well, who is this fellow Davidson?
00:35:57As long as Mr. Holmes seems to know all about it already,
00:36:00I suppose there's no harm in telling you.
00:36:02Uh, two years ago in London,
00:36:05there occurred a robbery of such tremendous importance,
00:36:09although the stolen articles themselves have no intrinsic value whatsoever,
00:36:12that the Home Secretary was instrumental in seeing
00:36:14that not a word of it appeared in any newspaper.
00:36:17But you never told me anything about this, Holmes.
00:36:20You were away at the time.
00:36:22Articles of no intrinsic value and yet of such importance?
00:36:25I don't understand.
00:36:27Davidson was apprehended within 15 minutes of committing the theft.
00:36:31But by that time, he'd hidden the articles in question
00:36:34and they've yet to be found.
00:36:36Before going further, Dr. Watson,
00:36:37I must inform you that this matter is not to be mentioned outside of this room.
00:36:41Of course not. Do I look like a man who'd gossip?
00:36:44Let's not go into that now, old fellow, shall we?
00:36:47Davidson had been employed for years
00:36:49in a position of extreme trust
00:36:51by the engravings department of the Bank of England.
00:36:53The articles he stole were nothing less
00:36:56than a complete duplicate set of plates for printing five-pound notes.
00:37:00What? The Bank of England's own plates?
00:37:02Precisely.
00:37:04And with those plates, a gang of crooks could flood England with five-pound notes,
00:37:08not forged, in the usual sense of the word,
00:37:10but notes undetectable from genuine Bank of England notes
00:37:13in any way whatsoever.
00:37:14Good heavens.
00:37:16Any whisper at all might have resulted in enormous damage
00:37:19in shaking public confidence in the Treasury.
00:37:21We tried everything after we arrested Davidson.
00:37:23Offered him a shorter sentence if he'd tell us where he'd hidden the plates.
00:37:26Why, we even put in Scotland Yard men with him as cellmates,
00:37:30but no results.
00:37:32Obviously, Davidson is a man of strong character and infinite patience.
00:37:36Yet suddenly he feels impelled
00:37:38to smuggle out the secret of the hiding place of the plates to his confederates.
00:37:42Why?
00:37:43I don't understand, Mr. Holmes.
00:37:46Well, for example,
00:37:48has the Bank of England made any plans
00:37:50to radically change the design of the five-pound notes
00:37:52so that in, say, seven years from now,
00:37:55notes made from the stolen plates would be worthless?
00:37:58Confidentially, Mr. Holmes, such a move was discussed.
00:38:01But replacing all the five-pound notes in circulation
00:38:03would be such a Herculean task that nothing's been done about it as yet.
00:38:07I see.
00:38:09Of course, there is another possible explanation.
00:38:11Davidson didn't have much time to find a hiding place before he was captured.
00:38:15He may be afraid
00:38:16that the plates will be accidentally discovered before he's released.
00:38:21Hence his anxiety
00:38:22to communicate their whereabouts to his confederates as soon as possible.
00:38:26I believe you've hit it, Mr. Holmes.
00:38:28I'm sure that the message is contained in this musical box.
00:38:34Or rather, in all three musical boxes,
00:38:36since possession of all three seems to be essential.
00:38:39Our opponents have two-thirds of the puzzle. We have one-third.
00:38:42Well, what are you going to do, Holmes?
00:38:45Try to deduce the message from the one-third that we have.
00:39:21It's the same tune as the one played by Emery's musical box.
00:39:27And yet it's different.
00:39:29It sounds the same to me.
00:39:31The tune.
00:39:34Somehow the tune is the key to the mystery.
00:39:39It must be the tune.
00:39:41Otherwise, why use three musical boxes to convey the message?
00:39:45I don't know.
00:39:47Otherwise, why use three musical boxes to convey the message?
00:39:51Why not collar boxes or shoe boxes?
00:39:55Yes?
00:39:57Oh. It's for you, Inspector.
00:39:59Oh, thank you, sir.
00:40:01Inspector Hopkins speaking.
00:40:04What?
00:40:07Where?
00:40:10Golders Green Station reports they've just found Sergeant Thompson's body.
00:40:13From the tire marks on his clothes, he was apparently run over by a taxi.
00:40:18What an unfortunate accident.
00:40:20Not an accident, my dear fellow.
00:40:23I'm afraid it's murder.
00:40:25Oh, you never know just who you're going to meet
00:40:32When you're walking down a busy London street
00:40:37Mrs. Hawkins, Mrs. Brown, any subject of the crowd
00:40:41Oh, you never know just who you're going to meet
00:40:45So you'd better hold your topper in your hand
00:40:52Just in case you meet a lady on the strand
00:40:56Girls will think you're kind of sweet
00:40:59And your day will be complete
00:41:01Oh, you never know just who you're going to meet
00:41:06No gentleman is judged by his appearance
00:41:11Yes, a gentleman is judged by how he talks
00:41:15Now, he's much better off when he's acting like a toff
00:41:21Especially if he's taking him a walk
00:41:25What on earth is this outlandish place?
00:41:27A rendezvous for actors.
00:41:29Actors?
00:41:31Buskers, old boy. You've seen them a thousand times.
00:41:34Actors who entertain the queues waiting outside theatres.
00:41:41Oh, you never know just who you're going to meet
00:41:45When you're walking down a busy London street
00:41:49So you'd better wear your vest
00:41:52Helmet, ties, to look your best
00:41:54Cos you never know just who you're going to meet
00:41:58So you'd better keep your manners right in view
00:42:05Just in case a lady gives a how-do-you-do
00:42:10To the ladies in the house
00:42:12So you'd better keep your manners right in view
00:42:16Cos you never know just who you're going to meet
00:42:20Blimey. Mr. Holmes.
00:42:23How are you, Joe?
00:42:25Never pet him. And yourself?
00:42:27Fine, thank you. I want you to meet a friend of mine, Dr. Watson. Joe's sister.
00:42:31Oh, well, any friend of Mr. Holmes is a friend of mine.
00:42:33How are you, Joe?
00:42:34He did me a good turn once that I'll never forget.
00:42:36Yes, I cleared Joe of a most unpleasant charge.
00:42:39By proving to the satisfaction of the police that he was busy at the time
00:42:42Blowing open someone's safe.
00:42:43That's right, Governor.
00:42:46Now, Joe, uh, now you can help me.
00:42:50Come on. Buzz off. Buzz off.
00:42:52Come on. Up here. Up here.
00:42:53Can't a gentleman have some peace and quiet around here?
00:43:00And you, too.
00:43:02There you are, Mr. Holmes. Now we can have some peace and quiet around here.
00:43:05Thank you, Joe.
00:43:07There's five pounds of this for you.
00:43:09Well, I wouldn't want to take it on myself, sir.
00:43:12But I can get somebody to do it for you for half of that.
00:43:14You don't know what the job is yet.
00:43:15For five pounds? Murder, ain't it?
00:43:18What? No, Joe, not murder. Just, uh, music.
00:43:22I want you to identify a song for me.
00:43:24Oh, there ain't a song that's been written that I don't know.
00:43:26That's why I came, Joe.
00:43:28Now, of course, the violin is more my instrument, but, um...
00:43:31Oh, well, here we go. Now listen to this, Joe.
00:43:35Wait a minute. You're playing that wrong.
00:43:38That should be E natural, not E flat.
00:43:40You know the song?
00:43:42Oh, yes. It's an old Australian song called, uh, The Swag Man.
00:43:45But you're playing it all wrong.
00:43:47That's what I hoped you'd say. Now listen again, Joe.
00:43:56That's the same tune, all right.
00:43:58But you're making different mistakes than you did the first time.
00:44:00No, not mistakes, Joe. Call them mistakes.
00:44:02Here, play the song for me. We'll know the way it's written.
00:44:28There you are.
00:44:29Thank you, Joe.
00:44:30What's it mean, Holmes?
00:44:32Are you on to something?
00:44:34Perhaps. I don't know yet.
00:44:37It's probably a code of some sort.
00:44:40Joe.
00:44:43Could you write the song down for me, the way it was originally written?
00:44:47Oh, sure, Mr. Holmes, but it'll take a few minutes.
00:44:49Mm-hmm.
00:44:50Here, Mabel.
00:44:53Pale ale. Come on, opt to it. Along with it.
00:45:00Come on.
00:45:11Well, obviously, it isn't the lyrics.
00:45:13No combination of those words made any sense at all.
00:45:16The variations in the way Emory's musical box played the tune...
00:45:19are different from the variations in the one we have.
00:45:21You sure?
00:45:22Quite. You see, I took the trouble to memorize the tune...
00:45:25as played by Emory's box that night we were with him in his flat.
00:45:28Holmes, you amaze me.
00:45:29Let me mention, my dear fellow, one of the first principles in solving crime...
00:45:33is never to disregard anything, no matter how trivial.
00:45:35But why the three boxes? Why not one?
00:45:38Because the message was obviously too long to be conveyed by any one variation.
00:45:43Then there's the third box.
00:45:45The one that woman took from the Kilgores.
00:45:48That contains yet another set of variations.
00:45:51Yes, sir. It's all beyond me.
00:45:54Well, all we have to do now is to find the secret of the variations.
00:45:57Not a very easy problem to solve, my dear fellow.
00:46:04Hello.
00:46:05What's up?
00:46:10We've had company.
00:46:16I say, this is outrageous!
00:46:21Ask Mrs. Hudson to come in here, will you?
00:46:23Right.
00:46:28Mrs. Hudson?
00:46:30Yes?
00:46:32Oh, there you are. Will you come up here at once, please?
00:46:35Oh, coming, sir.
00:46:51Merci. Me, Mr. Holmes.
00:46:53What has happened?
00:46:56Who called while we were up, Mrs. Hudson?
00:46:58Just a young lady. The one who said you wanted her to wait for you.
00:47:02And a nice-looking old gentleman with her.
00:47:04Our friends again, Watson.
00:47:06What did the young lady look like?
00:47:08Oh, I couldn't see her face. She had a heavy black veil on.
00:47:12But she had such a nice way with her.
00:47:14Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Holmes, if I've done anything wrong.
00:47:20But you did say I should always let clients come in and wait for you.
00:47:23Don't worry, Mrs. Hudson. Don't worry. You had no way of knowing.
00:47:27It's quite all right. Quite all right. Now, don't worry, Mrs. Hudson.
00:47:33Don't worry? Well, where on earth's the musical box?
00:47:37They didn't get it.
00:47:40Didn't get it? Well, where is it?
00:47:42It's in your hand.
00:47:44In that biscuit jar.
00:47:48Pick the biscuits off the top.
00:47:51Now, put your hand inside, and you'll find the music box.
00:47:56Well done, Holmes. Well done. Amazing.
00:48:21Phew. Nice, fresh smell.
00:48:24Like a pub after closing time.
00:48:31I say, Holmes.
00:48:33What?
00:48:35It's morning.
00:48:37Allow me to congratulate you on a brilliant bit of deduction.
00:48:46It's not a transposition.
00:48:49Not a polygraph transposition, not a trigraph...
00:48:52nor any known form of decoding.
00:48:54How about the Morse code? Have you tried that?
00:48:57Yes, at about 3 o'clock this morning.
00:48:59I'm sorry, old man. I was only trying to help.
00:49:01Oh, don't be a favor. Not again.
00:49:03Must have heard that thing a thousand times.
00:49:05Kept me awake all night.
00:49:15I'm sorry, old man.
00:49:17I was only trying to help.
00:49:19Oh, don't be a favor. Not again.
00:49:21Must have heard that thing a thousand times.
00:49:23Kept me awake all night.
00:49:31Not a very distinguished composition, I grant you.
00:49:33You know perfectly well I don't know one tune from the other.
00:49:36When I was a kid, my people tried to have me taught the piano.
00:49:39I've always felt sorry for that old teacher of mine.
00:49:42The poor old girl finally reached the point of...
00:49:44numbering the keys for me.
00:49:46One, two, three, four. Even then, I never progressed beyond...
00:49:50Numbering the keys, Watson.
00:49:52The 19th key of the keyboard...
00:49:55is the 19th letter of the alphabet.
00:49:57S. Here.
00:49:59Write it down when I give it to you, old fellow, will you?
00:50:02The first altered note. Write S first.
00:50:05Now, the eighth key...
00:50:08is H.
00:50:11The fifth key, E.
00:50:14The twelfth key, L.
00:50:18The sixth key, F.
00:50:20S, H, E, L, F.
00:50:23Shelf.
00:50:25Your piano lessons were not in vain, old fellow.
00:50:27You've solved it. Thank you.
00:50:29Oh, thanks, old man.
00:50:31Old man.
00:50:33We now have two-thirds of the message behind books.
00:50:38Third shelf, secretary, Dr. S.
00:50:43Presumably...
00:50:45these are the first and second portions of the message.
00:50:48And this gang has the first and third parts of it?
00:50:51Precisely.
00:50:52Then it's a stalemate?
00:50:54Yes, Commissioner, but we can't leave it like that.
00:50:56I have it in my mind that they will try to secure...
00:50:58our third of the message that's missing.
00:51:00Well, I assume you've taken every precaution to guard the Clifford Music Club.
00:51:03Oh, yes, it's carefully hidden at Baker Street with Dr. Watson on guard.
00:51:06However, I'm reasonably certain that, difficult as it may be...
00:51:09we can find the plates...
00:51:11even without the missing part of the message.
00:51:14Behind books, third shelf, secretary, Dr. S.
00:51:19Well, outside of the fact that Davidson hid the Bank of England plates...
00:51:22somewhere in London, Mr. Holmes, I don't see that we've progressed at all.
00:51:25I'll point out to you, sir, the key words, Dr. S.
00:51:31It looks as if the plates were hidden in the house of the doctor.
00:51:34Whether S stands for his first or last initial...
00:51:36remains to be determined by a process of elimination.
00:51:39So there must be 10,000 doctors in London...
00:51:41with S for a first or last initial.
00:51:44Precisely, and every one of them will have to be questioned in person.
00:51:47That's why I say this is a task for Scotland Yard.
00:51:50It's a task, all right.
00:51:52Scotland Yard has searched worse haystacks and found a needle.
00:51:55Well, for the time being...
00:51:57I'll leave the matter in your hands, gentlemen.
00:51:59We'll call you if and when we get a lead on our mysterious Dr. S.
00:52:05Thank you. In the meantime, I intend to follow up...
00:52:07a little clue concerning a cigarette.
00:52:16You are certain of the identification of the tobacco?
00:52:18Absolutely. I have made up this special blend...
00:52:21for only three customers.
00:52:23It is almost pure Egyptian...
00:52:26with a mixture of latakia for added body...
00:52:30and a pinch of perique.
00:52:33Merely a whisper, as one might say, for elusive fragrance.
00:52:37Yes, yes. And the three customers?
00:52:40Major Wilson in Bombay, India.
00:52:43Mrs. Catherine Leamington-Smith in Ireland.
00:52:46Yes, and the third?
00:52:48Mrs. Hilda Courtney...
00:52:50of Park Mansions, Bryanston Square.
00:52:53Thank you. Thank you very much. You've been most helpful.
00:52:55It is a pleasure to have been of service, Mr. Holmes.
00:53:08Yes?
00:53:09Mrs. Courtney? Yes.
00:53:11My name is Sherlock Holmes. Oh, do come in.
00:53:16I've heard of you, of course, Mr. Holmes.
00:53:19I believe we have a mutual friend in Sir Edward Brookdale.
00:53:23He's spoken to me of you quite often.
00:53:25Indeed.
00:53:29And to what good fortune am I indebted for this visit?
00:53:32I think you know, Mrs. Courtney.
00:53:34Well, I... I did get a summons for speeding last week.
00:53:38But outside of that, I don't think I'm of any interest to the police.
00:53:41Oh, come now, Mrs. Courtney.
00:53:43You seem to forget that you and I have met before.
00:53:46I'm sorry. I'm sure I would have remembered meeting the great Sherlock Holmes.
00:53:50Please sit down. Thank you.
00:53:52You say we met before.
00:53:54Yes.
00:53:56At the home of Mr. and Mrs. Kilgore, 143B Hampton Road.
00:54:00Kilgore?
00:54:02I don't think I know anyone of that name.
00:54:05Well, I didn't say you knew them.
00:54:07As a matter of fact, you called on them when they were out.
00:54:10I don't understand, Mr. Holmes.
00:54:14Really? And you were dressed rather differently.
00:54:17Indeed.
00:54:19Cigarette?
00:54:41You know, Mrs. Courtney, people generally forget
00:54:43in assuming a disguise
00:54:46that the shape of the ear is an almost infallible means
00:54:49of recognition and identification to the trained eye.
00:54:52Evidently, you've mistaken me for someone else.
00:54:54Oh, no, not at all. Though naturally, I expected your denial.
00:54:58But when you paid your visit to my rooms at Baker Street,
00:55:01you carelessly left behind another identification.
00:55:07They're, uh... identical, aren't they?
00:55:11Yes, I must admit they are.
00:55:13You see, Mr. Holmes, to catch one as clever as you,
00:55:16I had to use a very special lure.
00:55:18I knew you'd be unable to resist the bait of my cigarette,
00:55:21having read with great interest your monograph
00:55:23on the ashes of 140 different varieties of tobacco.
00:55:27I should advise you not to move, Mr. Holmes.
00:55:33I must congratulate you on your ingenuity, Mrs. Courtney.
00:55:36It was indeed a brilliantly designed trap.
00:55:38Thank you, Mr. Holmes.
00:55:40Praise from a master is indeed gratifying.
00:55:43I shall always cherish the memory of your flattering words.
00:55:47Memory?
00:55:50Precisely.
00:55:51I'm afraid these gentlemen have a most regrettable task to perform.
00:55:55Unless, of course, you care to turn over the missing musical box
00:55:59with your pledge to take no action against us in the future?
00:56:03I'm afraid that will be impossible.
00:56:05I thought that would be your answer. Hamid!
00:56:08Careful!
00:56:09Careful?
00:56:11There's no need to be unnecessarily rough with our distinguished guests.
00:56:14You realize, Mr. Holmes, that your demise will not take place here,
00:56:18the, uh, corpus delicti, you know?
00:56:22Well, naturally.
00:56:23Shall we go?
00:56:27It's so fearfully awkward having a dead body lying about.
00:56:30Don't you agree, Mr. Holmes?
00:56:32Another dead body shouldn't weigh too heavily on your conscience, Mrs. Courtney.
00:56:40You mind if I have a cigarette?
00:56:42Well, I don't see why not.
00:56:57Be careful, Hamid.
00:57:00It's the brakes. They bind.
00:57:09Thank you, Colonel Kavanaugh. It's very considerate of you.
00:57:40You'll be happy to know, Mr. Holmes,
00:57:42that your death will be a painless one.
00:57:47Hamid, attach this to the motor of the taxi.
00:57:54That little attachment, my dear Mr. Holmes,
00:57:57contains the deadly fluid known as monosulfurine.
00:58:00The Germans use it with gratifying results
00:58:03in removing their undesirableness.
00:58:10Start the motor.
00:58:35Tape his mouth.
00:58:40Now, up with him, Hamid.
00:58:54You find yourself like Muhammad's coffin, Mr. Holmes,
00:58:58suspended between heaven and earth.
00:59:10Plenty of fuel in the tank?
00:59:13Good. It would be too bad to have anything go wrong
00:59:16through so simple an oversight.
01:00:09Holmes.
01:00:12Yes?
01:00:14Yes.
01:00:27Come here.
01:00:32Good afternoon.
01:00:34Mr. Sherlock Holmes?
01:00:36No, I'm Dr. Watson.
01:00:38Oh, this is stupid of me.
01:00:41Won't you come in?
01:00:42Well, I really came to see Mr. Holmes.
01:00:45Oh, I'm afraid he's out. I don't know when he'll be back.
01:00:47Perhaps there's something I can do.
01:00:49Won't you sit down?
01:00:51You know, Sherlock Holmes and I have been engaged on a great many cases.
01:00:56Oh, really?
01:00:57Yes, indeed.
01:00:58As a matter of fact, this very moment we're involved in one of the most baffling...
01:01:02Oh, well, won't you tell me your trouble?
01:01:05I may be able to help you.
01:01:06That's very kind of you, Dr. Watson.
01:01:08Perhaps, if I wouldn't be imposing too much...
01:01:12Imposing? Oh, there's no imposition, no imposition at all.
01:01:15A pleasure, I assure you now.
01:01:17Tell me all about it, Mrs...
01:01:19Mrs. Williams.
01:01:20Mrs. Williams.
01:01:21I live in Surrey, Dr. Watson, and I've come up to London in sheer desperation.
01:01:25My only sister has disappeared and the local police seem utterly unable to find her.
01:01:29Well, Holmes and I solved a case exactly like that once.
01:01:32Very interesting, as far as I remember.
01:01:34I call it the adventure of the solitary cyclist.
01:01:38Oh, sorry.
01:01:39Now I come to think of it, it wasn't so very similar.
01:01:42Entirely different, I think what I was saying.
01:01:45Uh-oh.
01:01:46Where were we?
01:01:48She's only 17, Dr. Watson, and until she disappeared last Thursday...
01:01:52she seemed to be in the best of spirits.
01:01:55Possibly a romantic entanglement?
01:01:58Oh, no, no, nothing of the sort.
01:02:00She left no note, didn't even pack a bag.
01:02:03No explanation.
01:02:04She just started to walk to the village from our house in broad daylight...
01:02:08and simply vanished from the face of the earth.
01:02:11Oh, there, there, there, there.
01:02:13Might I have a glass of water?
01:02:15A glass of beer, of course, a glass of water.
01:02:17I'll have one in that minute.
01:02:51There you are, my dear.
01:02:52Thank you, Dr. Watson.
01:02:54Now, now, now, you're not to cry any more.
01:02:56You must pull yourself together.
01:02:57I feel much better already knowing that you're going to help me.
01:03:00Oh, Dr. Watson, look!
01:03:01Good heavens!
01:03:04Oh!
01:03:06Get through, get through the fire brigade, quickly!
01:03:12Haven't you a fire extinguisher?
01:03:15Don't you think we have any?
01:03:34Don't you worry, Miss Williams.
01:03:35We'll have this thing out in no time.
01:03:49Ah, I've got it.
01:03:50Phew!
01:03:54Get some air.
01:03:56Well, you see, there was...
01:03:58There was no sign of her.
01:04:01Well, you see, there was...
01:04:02There was no need for the fire brigade after all.
01:04:06I hope you weren't too frightened, Miss Williams.
01:04:11Oh, gone.
01:04:13That's the trouble with women.
01:04:15They always lose their heads in an emergency.
01:04:20Hello?
01:04:26A musical box!
01:04:28Great Scott!
01:04:33Miss Williams!
01:04:40Well?
01:04:43Good.
01:04:44And Holmes?
01:04:45By now, Mr. Holmes has no doubt exchanged his violin for a harp.
01:04:49Always assuming that heaven is his destination.
01:04:52And now that we have the missing musical box...
01:05:06Nineteenth note.
01:05:10Nineteenth letter.
01:05:14S.
01:05:18Yes?
01:05:20He hasn't been there, you say?
01:05:22Holmes, where on earth have you been?
01:05:24I've been trying to get you at the club at Scotland Yard all over London.
01:05:29You were looking for me in the wrong places.
01:05:32Holmes, terrible things happened.
01:05:34I've been duped.
01:05:35That woman, she made a complete fool of me.
01:05:38Well, what do you mean?
01:05:39Well, she came here and lit off a smoke bomb.
01:05:41I thought the whole place was on fire and my first thought was to save the musical box.
01:05:45No need to say any more.
01:05:47She has the box.
01:05:48Yes.
01:05:50Don't blame yourself too much, old fellow.
01:05:54She is an extremely clever antagonist.
01:05:59Smoke bomb, you said?
01:06:04Well, you can console yourself with the thought that your charming friend is at least a reader of yours.
01:06:09What do you mean?
01:06:10If I remember correctly, you wrote about my little experiment with smoke and the cry of fire
01:06:15in a story you entitled, A Scandal in Bohemia, which has just appeared in The Strand Magazine.
01:06:20All right, all right, old boy. Don't rub it in.
01:06:24It may change you up to know that you made a fool of me too.
01:06:29That cigarette stub was planted here for one express purpose.
01:06:34We've got a bandaging around this place.
01:06:35Bandaging? What's the matter, Holmes?
01:06:37You hurt?
01:06:38Explanations will have to wait until later at the moment we're faced with a problem which I fear is insurmountable.
01:06:44Come over here, old boy, will you?
01:06:45Right.
01:06:48Our opponents are in possession of all three parts of the code.
01:06:51And here are we, while the Bank of England plates pass into their possession.
01:06:55Cheer up, old fellow, cheer up.
01:06:57As Dr. Samuel Johnson once said, there's no problem the mind of man can set that the mind of man cannot solve.
01:07:04What's that, old fellow?
01:07:05I was just quoting Dr. Samuel Johnson. He said there is no...
01:07:08Thank you, Watson, thank you.
01:07:09Hmm?
01:07:13Leaving the front reception room, we come into the main hall,
01:07:17where Dr. Johnson was in the habit of passing through to have his meager meals in the dining room opposite,
01:07:23in company with his friend and biographer, James Boswell.
01:07:28We will now pass up the stairway, which remains in its natural wood finish,
01:07:33just as it was when the good doctor was here.
01:07:36The framed etching on the wall is believed to have been presented to Dr. Johnson
01:07:40by the distinguished painter, Sir Joshua Reynolds.
01:07:44I've been told here that that picture was given in by Mrs. Thrail,
01:07:48and it's definitely not a Reynolds.
01:07:51Is that important, my dear?
01:07:53Oh, I'm sorry.
01:07:56This way, ladies and gentlemen, please, this way.
01:07:58Move along, children, move along.
01:08:01The secretary's not on this floor.
01:08:03Patience, Hamid.
01:08:04I have a feeling...
01:08:05My dear Colonel, with Sherlock Holmes out of the way, what could go wrong?
01:08:17And here we have the Garrett Library, in which Dr. Johnson wrote his famous dictionary,
01:08:23and in which you will see also many of the great man's books and other items of interest.
01:08:28Step forward, ladies and gentlemen, please, step forward.
01:08:31Standing in the corner is the secretary,
01:08:33which contains many of the original works by the literary genius.
01:08:37On this table, Dr. Johnson's cat, Hodge, used to sleep while his master worked.
01:08:42A strange thing about this cat, ladies and gentlemen, was its love of oysters.
01:08:47They do say that the dear doctor often went hungry to find the cat that delicacy.
01:08:53What a pity.
01:08:54Now we will visit the grave room, which is immediately below us.
01:08:58In which you will see the very bed in which Dr. Johnson died.
01:09:02What did he die of?
01:09:04Gout. Just gout.
01:09:08This way, ladies and gentlemen. Mind the steps, please.
01:09:24Your keys.
01:09:45Third shelf up.
01:09:53The knife.
01:09:59Gentlemen, the Bank of England plates.
01:10:04Well, Mrs. Courtney, so we meet again.
01:10:08No, I shouldn't do that if I were you, Colonel Capner.
01:10:11I must congratulate you, Mr. Holmes.
01:10:13You're far more clever than I thought.
01:10:17Thank you, Mrs. Courtney.
01:10:19The praise from you is indeed gratifying.
01:10:22I shall always cherish the memory of your flattering words.
01:10:27Memory?
01:10:31And now I have a most regrettable task to perform.
01:10:40Holmes!
01:10:42Coming, Holmes!
01:10:45Holmes!
01:10:46Are you all right?
01:10:47Perfectly, thank you, old fellow.
01:10:48But I think this gentleman on the floor requires some medical attention.
01:10:51We must see that he looks his best, you know, when he's hanged.
01:10:54Take them in charge.
01:11:12A brilliant antagonist.
01:11:15It's a pity her talents were so misdirected.
01:11:18Will you see that these plates have returned to the Bank of England, Inspector?
01:11:21I still don't understand how you solved it, Mr. Holmes.
01:11:23It's entirely due to Dr. Watson.
01:11:25He gave me the clue when he mentioned Dr. Samuel Johnson.
01:11:28Well, congratulations, Doctor.
01:11:30Oh, thank you, Inspector. I don't think I'd have done it entirely without Mr. Holmes' help, you know.