Dalbert Pringle (*Movie quote*) - "Pip! Pip! Cheerio!"1946's "Terror By Night" is definitely not Film Noir. No way. It's a "Sherlock Holmes" crime-drama starring Basil Rathbone as everyone's favourite, Victorian-era, super-sleuth.On a speeding night-train heading from London to Edinburgh, Scotland - The priceless "Star of Rhodesia" diamond goes missing - And it's now up to the dynamic duo of Holmes and Watson to sift through a bevy of suspicious characters in order to recover this precious gem.Filled to overflowing with brilliant deductions, shadowed mystery, and deadly intrigue - "Terror By Night" moves along at a very brisk pace with its brief, 60-minute running time.

dglink Suspicious strangers on a train during a great train robbery; and, while it is not a lady who vanishes, there is murder on the Edinburgh express. Sherlock Holmes is hired to accompany Lady Margaret Carstairs and her son, Roland, on a northward journey from London to Edinburgh; her ladyship owns the Star of Rhodesia, an enormous diamond, that is greedily lusted after by countless criminals, and Holmes is responsible for the gem's security. The jewel is well protected, because not only Holmes and his dear friend, Doctor Watson, are aboard, but also the undependable Inspector Lestrade, who has thinly veiled his involvement as a fishing trip to Scotland. Other passengers of interest in the same rail car with the diamond include Alan Mowbray as Major Duncan-Bleek, an old acquaintance of Watson; Renee Godfrey as Vivian Vedder, a cool dark-haired beauty, who is accompanying her mother's body to Scotland for burial; and Frederick Worlock as Professor William Kilbane, the cantankerous object of Watson's attempts at police investigation. However, the myriad suspicious characters extend beyond those few to a married couple who are obviously concealing a secret, a laconic baggage car attendant, the conductor, and the dining car steward; if they are aboard, they are a suspect.The eleventh in Universal Studios's Sherlock Holmes series, "Terror by Night" was directed by dependable Roy William Neill from an original story written by Frank Gruber using snippets from a few Arthur Conan Doyle stories. Similar to an Agatha Christie mystery, the action largely takes place aboard a speeding train, which appears to limit the number of suspects. Holmes has a close brush with death, meets an old nemesis, and plays sleight of hand during the film's tight one-hour running time. Nigel Bruce also has opportunity to shine, and the well meaning, but bumbling doctor, spars during the interrogation of an unwilling suspect and does some independent examination of the clues with his old school chum. Although lensed by Maury Gertsman, a Universal contract cinematographer of B films, the picture utilizes grainy stock footage of locomotives and unconvincing shots of model trains; however, Gertsman's images inside the train are crisp, sometimes atmospheric, black and white."Terror by Night" is a solid entry in the Holmes series, although sharp viewers will decode the mystery early on. Nevertheless, the fun is watching Holmes ponder the clues, Watson bluster through his sleuthing attempts, and Lestrade claim Holmes's hints as his own. Considering how late in the series this installment appeared, "Terror by Night" is an intriguing who-dunnit, who took it, and who's got it.

Lechuguilla It's no Orient Express but the film is reasonably interesting with Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Watson (Nigel Bruce) on hand to guard a valuable jewel. Yet, despite their presence, murder occurs shortly after they leave the train station. Suspects include five to seven passengers, depending on whom the viewer deems suspicious.The film features good plot misdirection and there's a nifty twist at the end. But one minor character spoils part of the story's logic and, at just one hour in duration, the film seems rushed. There's very little back-story for most characters.The Watson character is quite annoying, as he is way too unobservant, inept, and useless to be convincing as a sidekick to Holmes or to have the title "Dr.". Bruce plays the role well, but in this particular film we could have done without the character.In the copy I watched the B&W visuals were poor; intro title sequence names were blurry; also, the overall visual quality was not very good. Stock footage at the beginning, and of exterior train shots throughout, conveys a cheap look and feel. Sound quality also is poor, with some dialogue too muffled to understand precisely.Despite these weaknesses the film is worth a one-time watch for the whodunit puzzle. I was way off in my guess of the killer, which resulted in a surprise ending, and therefore more fun than a puzzle that is easy to figure out.

TheLittleSongbird Terror by Night is an entry in the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes series that is neither among the best or worst of the series. It's not Hound of the Baskervilles, Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Scarlet Claw but it's superior to Voice of Terror and Pursuit to Algiers. It is too short and can feel rushed, but aside from the length the only other things that let it down were the pretty awful performance of Rene Godfrey(as gorgeous as she is) and the identity of the killer being revealed too early, I personally would have done it five-ten minutes later. While not as beautifully made as the likes of Hound of the Baskervilles and Scarlet Claw, Terror by Night is certainly better made than the hurried-looking production values of Pursuit to Algiers. It does evoke a very claustrophobic atmosphere, for a murder mystery set on a train that was actually appropriate and well done. The train is a great setting for a murder mystery as well. The music has haunting and jaunty touches that are used fittingly, while the dialogue is intelligent, with a good mix of comedy and suspense. The mystery elements to the story are clever and suspenseful with lots of nice twists and turns, the final solution itself is pretty ingenious and the climatic fight is exciting, and the comedy is funny and doesn't feel out of place. The film is solidly directed and very well played on the whole with a suave and authoritative Basil Rathbone and an amusing Nigel Bruce leading. Dennis Hoey has always been a mixed bag in effectiveness as Lestrade, not his fault usually it's his placement and how's he written, the good news is that it is one of his better performances of the series and Lestrade is not quite as idiotic as he was before(at his most idiotic he veers on annoying). The supporting acting is not as strong but still good, Alan Mowbrey being the standout, though Skelton Knaggs is relatively creepy too. To conclude, a solid Sherlock Holmes mystery. 7/10 Bethany Cox