Searching for an invaluable microfilm, SHERLOCK HOLMES IN WASHINGTON encounters as much danger as ever he did in old London.<br /><br />Basil Rathbone & Nigel Bruce return as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's beloved characters Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in this unpretentious but enjoyable film. Although not based on any particular tale from the Canon, there is still enough mystery and intrigue to keep detective fans well satisfied. Of course, with Rathbone all cerebral intellect and Bruce ever the good-natured bumbler, the viewer knows that God's in His Heaven and all's right with the world.<br /><br />Henry Daniell & George Zucco, two of the series' finest villains, appear in this entry. They both specialized in making menace delightfully subtle and sophisticated. This time they portray German agents intent on retrieving an enormously important British document.<br /><br />Others in the cast include the lovely Marjorie Lord (who's quite grotesque with a cigarette dangling from her lips) as a young socialite pulled into the nefarious scheme; Holmes Herbert as a senior civil servant in London; and Thurston Hall as a blustery United Stated senator.<br /><br />Movie mavens will spot several fine actors in uncredited roles: Gerald Hamer as a hapless British agent; elderly Margaret Seddon as a train traveler with mice; dear Mary Gordon as Holmes' landlady, Mrs. Hudson; Mary Forbes as a spy's loving mother; and Ian Wolfe as a slightly sinister antiques store clerk. Especially notable is the always entertaining Clarence Muse, appearing as a club car porter, who does the almost impossible by stealing a scene from Rathbone.<br /><br />This film followed SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SECRET WEAPON (1942) and preceded SHERLOCK HOLMES FACES DEATH (1943).