TERROR BY NIGHT Sherlock Holmes! Basil Rathbone! Free on YouTube

‘One way ticket to death..!’
Terror by Night is a 1946 Sherlock Holmes crime thriller about the theft of a famous diamond aboard a train.

The movie was produced and directed by Roy William Neill from as screenplay by Frank Gruber. The plot is a mostly original story not directly based on any of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Holmes tales, but it uses minor plot elements from “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle,” “The Adventure of the Empty House,” “The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax,” and “The Sign of Four”.

The Universal Pictures production stars Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Alan Mowbray, Dennis Hoey, Renee Godfrey, Frederick Worlock, Mary Forbes and Skelton Knaggs.

Plot [contains spoilers]:
In London, Vivian Vedder verifies that a carpenter has completed a coffin for her recently deceased mother’s body, which she is transporting to Edinburgh in Scotland by train. She boards the train that evening, as do Lady Margaret Carstairs, who owns and is transporting the famous Star of Rhodesia diamond; Lady Margaret’s son, Roland; Sherlock Holmes, whom Roland has hired to protect the diamond; Scotland Yard’s Inspector Lestrade, who is also worried about the diamond’s safety; and Dr Watson and his old chum Major Duncan-Bleek.

Shortly afterward, Roland is murdered and the diamond is stolen. Lestrade, Holmes, and Watson learn nothing conclusive in questioning the other passengers. At one point during the investigation, Watson believes an elderly couple is guilty of the crime but the only crime that they have committed is stealing a teapot from a hotel.

While searching the train, Holmes is pushed out of the train, nearly to his death, but climbs back into the day coach and discovers a secret compartment in the coffin carrying Miss Vedder’s mother. He suspects that one of the people on the train is the notorious jewel thief Colonel Sebastian Moran.

Upon further questioning, Miss Vedder admits that a man paid her to transport the coffin. As Watson and Duncan-Bleek join the group, Holmes reveals that he swapped the diamond with an imitation while examining it. Lestrade ostensibly takes possession of the real diamond.

In the luggage compartment, Holmes and Watson find a train guard murdered with a poisoned dart. Meanwhile, a street criminal named Sands incapacitates the conductor. Sands was hidden inside the coffin, and is in cahoots with Duncan-Bleek, who is, in fact, Colonel Moran. Sands and Moran go to Lestrade’s room, where Sands knocks Lestrade unconscious and steals the diamond from him. However, Moran double-crosses Sands, shooting him dead with the same dart gun he used to kill Roland and the guard.

The train makes an unexpected stop to pick up several Scottish policemen, led by Inspector McDonald. Holmes informs McDonald that Duncan-Bleek is really Moran, and McDonald arrests Moran and finds the diamond in his vest, but Moran seizes a policeman’s gun and pulls the emergency cord to stop the train again. During a scuffle in which the lights are turned off, Holmes subdues and handcuffs Moran, then secretly hides him under a table.

When the lights are turned on again, the officers leave the train with Lestrade, his coat covering his face, believing he is Moran. As the train departs, Lestrade captures the thieves in the railway station, and Holmes reveals to Watson and Moran that he recognised McDonald as an impostor and recovered the diamond from him during the fight.

Choice dialogue:
Sherlock Holmes: The young lady is taking her mother to Scotland for burial.
Inspector Lestrade: In a coffin?
Sherlock Holmes: That is the customary method, I believe.

Cast and characters:
Basil Rathbone … Sherlock Holmes
Nigel Bruce … Doctor John H. Watson
Alan Mowbray … Major Duncan-Bleek
Dennis Hoey … Inspector Lestrade
Renee Godfrey … Vivian Vedder
Frederick Worlock … Prof. William Kilbane
Mary Forbes … Lady Margaret Carstairs
Skelton Knaggs … Sands
Billy Bevan … Train Attendant
Geoffrey Steele … Roland Carstairs
Gilbert Allen … Dining Car Steward
Harry Cording … Mock
Boyd Davis … Inspector MacDonald
Gerald Hamer … Alfred Shallcross
Leyland Hodgson … Train Conductor
Stuart Holmes … Man on Train Platform
Colin Kenny … Constable
Charles Knight … Guard
Janet Murdoch … Mrs Shallcross
Tom Pilkington … Baggage Car Attendant
Alexander Pollard … Steward
C. Aubrey Smith … Elderly gentleman on train station
Bobby Wissler … Mock’s Son

Release:
February 1, 1946 (United States)

Filming locations:
Universal Studios – 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California

Tech specs:
1h (60 min)
Black and white
Aspect ratio: 1.37: 1

Trailer [1080p HD but blurry]:

Free to watch online on YouTube [1080p Premium HD]:

Free to watch online on YouTube [480p]:

Free to watch online on YouTube [in colour and 4K]:

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