Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes film series

E430768

Sherlock Holmes film series film series

The Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes film series is a collection of classic late-1930s and 1940s mystery films in which Basil Rathbone’s iconic portrayal helped define the screen image of Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective.

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All labels observed (10)

Label	Occurrences
Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes film series canonical	7
Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes	3
Basil Rathbone–Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes film series	2
Sherlock Holmes as portrayed by Basil Rathbone	2
Basil Rathbone left the series in the mid-1940s	1
Sherlock Holmes (Rathbone–Bruce film series)	1
Sherlock Holmes film series (Basil Rathbone series)	1
Sherlock Holmes film series (Basil Rathbone)	1
Sherlock Holmes film series (Universal Pictures)	1
Sherlock Holmes – Basil Rathbone	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T4330153 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes film series
Context triple: [The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939 film), partOf, Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes film series]

A. Basil Rathbone
Basil Rathbone was a British actor best known for his definitive film portrayals of Sherlock Holmes in the 1930s and 1940s.
B. William Powell
William Powell was a prominent American actor best known for his sophisticated roles in classic Hollywood films such as "The Thin Man" series.
C. Sidney Gilliat
Sidney Gilliat was a British screenwriter, director, and producer best known for his witty, tightly plotted thrillers and comedies in mid-20th-century British cinema.
D. Raymond Burr
Raymond Burr was a Canadian-American actor best known for his iconic television roles as defense attorney Perry Mason and wheelchair-bound detective Robert Ironside.
E. Edward Van Sloan
Edward Van Sloan was an American character actor best known for his roles in early Universal horror films, including memorable appearances in classics like Dracula and Frankenstein.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes film series
Target entity description: The Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes film series is a collection of classic late-1930s and 1940s mystery films in which Basil Rathbone’s iconic portrayal helped define the screen image of Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective.

A. Basil Rathbone
Basil Rathbone was a British actor best known for his definitive film portrayals of Sherlock Holmes in the 1930s and 1940s.
B. William Powell
William Powell was a prominent American actor best known for his sophisticated roles in classic Hollywood films such as "The Thin Man" series.
C. Sidney Gilliat
Sidney Gilliat was a British screenwriter, director, and producer best known for his witty, tightly plotted thrillers and comedies in mid-20th-century British cinema.
D. Raymond Burr
Raymond Burr was a Canadian-American actor best known for his iconic television roles as defense attorney Perry Mason and wheelchair-bound detective Robert Ironside.
E. Edward Van Sloan
Edward Van Sloan was an American character actor best known for his roles in early Universal horror films, including memorable appearances in classics like Dracula and Frankenstein.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Sherlock Holmes film series ⓘ film series ⓘ
basedOn	Sherlock Holmes ⓘ linked to: Holmes
basedOnWorkBy	Arthur Conan Doyle ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
distribution	theatrical feature films ⓘ
earlyFilmsProducedBy	20th Century Fox ⓘ
era	late 1930s and 1940s Hollywood ⓘ
featuresCharacter	Dr. John Watson ⓘ linked to: Dr. Watson Inspector Lestrade ⓘ Professor Moriarty ⓘ linked to: Jim Moriarty Sherlock Holmes ⓘ linked to: Holmes
filmFormat	black-and-white ⓘ
firstFilm	The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939 film) ⓘ
genre	crime film ⓘ detective film ⓘ mystery film ⓘ
helpedDefine	screen image of Sherlock Holmes ⓘ
HolmesPortrayedBy	Basil Rathbone ⓘ
includesFilm	Dressed to Kill (1946 film) ⓘ Pursuit to Algiers ⓘ Sherlock Holmes Faces Death ⓘ Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon ⓘ Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror ⓘ Sherlock Holmes in Washington ⓘ Terror by Night ⓘ The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939 film) ⓘ The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939 film) ⓘ The House of Fear ⓘ The Pearl of Death ⓘ The Scarlet Claw ⓘ The Spider Woman ⓘ The Woman in Green ⓘ
influenced	later screen portrayals of Sherlock Holmes ⓘ
language	English ⓘ
laterFilmsProducedBy	Universal Pictures ⓘ
notableAspect	updated some stories to 1940s settings ⓘ
notableFor	Basil Rathbone’s iconic portrayal of Sherlock Holmes ⓘ
portraysHolmesAs	brilliant and analytical detective ⓘ
productionPeriodEnd	1946 ⓘ
productionPeriodStart	1939 ⓘ
secondFilm	The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939 film) ⓘ
setDuring	contemporary World War II era (for many Universal films) ⓘ
setIn	London ⓘ linked to: London, England
stars	Basil Rathbone ⓘ Nigel Bruce ⓘ
targetAudience	fans of classic mystery cinema ⓘ
WatsonPortrayedBy	Nigel Bruce ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (20)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939 film) → partOf → Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes film series ⓘ

Sherlock Holmes Faces Death → partOfSeries → Sherlock Holmes film series (Basil Rathbone) ⓘ