Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (released theatrically as Sherlock Holmes in the United Kingdom) is a 1939 American mystery adventure film based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes detective stories. Although claiming to be an adaptation of the 1899 play Sherlock Holmes by William Gillette, the film bears little resemblance to the play. Released by 20th Century-Fox, the film is the second of fourteen Sherlock Holmes films produced between 1939 and 1946, starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. John Watson. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is the last film in the series to be released by Fox as well as the final film to be set in the Victorian period of Doyle's stories (all subsequent Holmes films would be released by Universal Pictures and set in contemporaneous times (i.e. the 1940s). The film co-stars George Zucco as Holmes's nemesis, Professor Moriarty, and follows Holmes and Watson as they attempt to foil Moriarty's plans to target a wealthy family and steal the Crown Jewels.