In London, Vivian Vedder (Renee Godfrey) verifies that a carpenter has completed a coffin for her recently deceased mother's body, which she is transporting to Scotland by train. She boards the train that evening, as do Lady Margaret Carstairs (Mary Forbes), who owns and is transporting the famous Star of Rhodesia diamond; Lady Margaret's son Roland (Geoffrey Steele); Holmes, whom Roland has hired to protect the diamond; Inspector Lestrade (Dennis Hoey), who is also worried about the diamond's safety; and Watson and his friend Major Duncan-Bleek (Alan Mowbray). Holmes briefly examines the diamond.
When several women are murdered and their forefingers severed, Holmes and Watson are called into action, but Holmes is baffled by the crimes at the start. Widower Sir George Fenwick (Paul Cavanagh), after a romantic night alone with his girlfriend Lydia Marlowe (Hillary Brooke), is hypnotized into believing that he is responsible for the crimes. He is certain that he is guilty after he awakes from a stupor and finds a woman's forefinger in his pocket. His daughter comes to Holmes and Watson without realizing that Moriarty's henchman is following her. She tells Holmes and Watson that she found her father burying a forefinger under a pile of soil. She has dug up the forefinger and shows it to them.
Dr. John H. Watson (Robert Duvall) becomes convinced that his friend Sherlock Holmes (Nicol Williamson) is delusional—particularly in his belief that Professor James Moriarty (Laurence Olivier) is a criminal mastermind—as a result of his addiction to cocaine. Indeed, Moriarty visits Watson to complain about being harassed by Holmes. Watson enlists the aid of Sherlock's brother, Mycroft (Charles Gray), to trick Holmes into traveling to Vienna, where he will be treated by Sigmund Freud (Alan Arkin). During the course of his treatment, Holmes investigates a kidnapping case with international implications, and Freud uncovers a dark personal secret suppressed in Holmes's subconscious.
Rio de Janeiro, 1886. Actress Sarah Bernhardt performs at the city's Municipal Theater, captivating the local audience enthralled by French culture. The city is at her feet, and even the Emperor Pedro II comes to pay his respects. He confides a secret to her: the disappearance of a precious Stradivarius violin presented by him to the charming widow Baroness Maria Luiza. The actress suggests to the monarch to hire her friend, the legendary British detective Sherlock Holmes, to solve the case. Subsequently, a brutal murder shocks the city, and leaves the police superintendent Mello Pimenta: a prostitute had been killed and mutilated, her ears cut off and a violin cord strategically placed on her body by the perpetrator. Later, under the heat of the tropical sun, the lives of Holmes and Doctor Watson are changed forever, as they find themselves neck-deep in a cultural milieu that portrays all standard Brazilian stereotypes.
Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) pretends to be a Nazi spy to aid scientist Dr. Franz Tobel (William Post Jr.) and his new invention, a bombsight, in escaping a Gestapo trap in Switzerland. Holmes and Franz fly to London, where Holmes places him under the protection of his friend, Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce). The scientist slips away against Holmes' instructions for a secret reunion with his fiancee, Charlotte Eberli (Kaaren Verne), and gives her an envelope containing a coded message. He tells Charlotte to give it to Holmes if anything should happen to him. Leaving Charlotte's apartment, an attempt to abduct him by German spies is foiled by a passing London bobby.
Although it is based on Conan Doyle's characters, the story is an original one, which has the famous detective on the trail of Jack the Ripper. In the dark alleys of nineteenth century London, the notorious Jack the Ripper committed a series of gruesome murders. The story of A Study in Terror challenges Sherlock Holmes to solve these horrific crimes. This leads Holmes through a trail of aristocracy, blackmail, and family insanity. Unlike Scotland Yard, and the real-life story, Holmes exposes the identity of the Ripper.
In London, an unseen criminal begins masterminding his "perfect plot on paper" which starts with a robbery taking place and three cats stealing a pink diamond. Three constables spot them and give chase, but the cats escape to the rooftops and glide off into the night, giving the stolen diamond to a mysterious horseman. The next day Dr. Watson rushes to 221B in Baker Street and informs his colleague Sherlock Holmes of the robbery. Holmes calls Jerry Mouse to bring him a copy of the Times. Jerry heads out to buy it, bumping into Tom Cat on the way, who has something for Holmes. Jerry sends a pile of bricks on Tom and Tom gives chase. Jerry returns to Holmes' flat and hands him the paper or what was left of it after the chase. Reading a letter Tom had given to them, for the night, Holmes and Watson decide to go to the Bruce Nigel Theatre and see a lady named Red. Holmes is told that she is being blackmailed and Holmes suggests the perpetrator might be - Professor Moriarty. Holmes deduces that the Star of Punjab, a diamond that is sensitive to the light of a solar eclipse which was to happen the following day, is to be stolen by the mastermind of the blackmail.
The Baker Street Irregulars investigate as several of their members go missing, while also trying to prevent Sherlock Holmes — who is undergoing a personal crisis — being convicted of murder.
Sherman Holmes, un motard du LAPD a été blessé à la tête quand sa moto lui est tombé dessus alors qu'il était en train de lire les œuvres complètes de Sherlock Holmes. Lorsqu'il se réveille du coma, il se prend pour Sherlock Holmes au point de se vêtir comme lui, et il semble aussi avoir acquis un grand esprit de déduction. Le docteur Joan Watson, la psychiatre qui doit l'aider, va être entraînée par lui dans la résolution d'affaires criminelles impliquant un juge...
The film begins with a title card describing Holmes and Watson as "ageless", as an explanation as to why the film is set in the 1940s rather than Holmes' era of 1881–1914, as the preceding 20th Century Fox films were. Though there is a nod to the classic Holmes in a scene where Holmes and Watson are leaving 221b Baker Street, and Holmes picks up his deerstalker. Watson protests, and Holmes reluctantly puts on a fedora instead.
Le Major Sholto a jadis pris possession du trésor caché par un Rajah, avec la complicité d'un de ses hommes et les informations données par Jonathan Small, un détenu. Mais il est rentré en Angleterre avec tout le butin.