The last of 14 films released from 1939-46 based on Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional consulting detective Sherlock Holmes starring Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson. Rathbone was reportedly tired of playing the character. However, he would play Holmes on the stage, radio and television at various times the rest of his career.
During the UCLA Sherlock Holmes Restoration Project (1993-2003) they were unable to find any 35mm elements of the main title for this film. The restored version uses a blow-up from a used 16mm television syndication print which was dissolved into the proper point. The main title of the restored version shows a decrease in resolution, increased grain and a reduction in image registration.
One of several titles in the Sherlock Holmes series whose original copyrights were apparently not renewed and have thereby fallen into public domain; as a result, seriously inferior copies are presently being offered by a number of VHS and DVD dealers who do not have access to original studio masters.
Mention is made by Watson of two stories from the original canon; "A Scandal in Bohemia" and "The Solitary Cyclist."
The rabbit in a cabbage was made by Roullet & Decamps, a French toy manufacturing company operating in the 19th and 20th centuries, which specialized in automata.