Basil Rathbone The adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – based not on a Conan Doyle story but on William Gillette's play – was the second movie to feature Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr Watson. Rathbone had become the movie Sherlock Holmes, with his piercing eyes, knife-sharpened features and finely-played trademark habits (the violin, the relentless drive and enthusiasm, the never-ending desire for knowledge). Bruce's Watson is a humorous foil to Rathbone's intense seriousness – although Holmes himself is not averse to the odd witty quip. These two actors had made the roles their own. This was the second and last film featuring Rathbone and Bruce in the authentic 1890s setting, by the time Universal had begun producing further adventures in 1941, the decision had been taken to update the stories and bring them into a contemporary setting.