Sherlock Holmes: The only way to nab our man is to catch him in the act - catch him so that there's no escape, no alibi. And that means gambling with Sir Henry's life.
Dr. Watson: [horrified] But...
Sherlock Holmes: Gambling to save his life. But we've got to take that chance.


--Basil Rathbone (as Sherlock Holmes) in The Hound of the Baskervilles

Sherlock Holmes: The young lady is taking her mother to Scotland for burial.
Inspector Lestrade: In a coffin?
Sherlock Holmes: That is the customary method, I believe.


--Basil Rathbone (as Sherlock Holmes) in Terror by Night

Sherlock Holmes: There are still some gaps to be filled, but all in all, things are becoming a little clearer.
Dr. Watson: Not to me, I assure you; it's all a hopeless jumble. Stapleton, Franklin, the Barrymans - put it all together and what have you got?
Sherlock Holmes: Murder, my dear Watson. Refined, cold-blooded murder.
Dr. Watson: Murder?
Sherlock Holmes: There's no doubt of it in my mind. Or perhaps I should say, my imagination. For that's where crimes are conceived and they're solved - in the imagination.


--Basil Rathbone (as Sherlock Holmes) in The Hound of the Baskervilles

Sherlock Holmes: This is a most unique case. Instead of too few we have too many clues and too many suspects. The main pattern of the puzzle seems to be forming, but the pieces don't fit in.
Dr. John H. Watson: Muddy waters, eh, Holmes?
Sherlock Holmes: Too muddy. As if someone were constantly stirring them up.
Dr. John H. Watson: Why should they stir them up?
Sherlock Holmes: To confuse me. There's intelligence behind this business, Watson. Cold, calculating, ruthless intelligence.


--Basil Rathbone (as Sherlock Holmes) in The House of Fear

Sherlock Holmes: This man pervades Europe like a plague, yet no one has heard of him. That's what puts him on the pinnacle in the records of crime. In his whole diabolical career, the police have never been able to pin anything on him. And yet, if there be a crime without a motive, I'll show you Giles Conover! If I could free society of this sinister creature, I should feel my own career had reached it's summit.


--Basil Rathbone (as Sherlock Holmes) in The Pearl of Death

Sherlock Holmes: Well, if one isn't willing to pay the penalty, one shouldn't play the game.


--Basil Rathbone (as Sherlock Holmes) in Pursuit to Algiers

Sherlock Holmes: Whatever Watson has found out, you'll know inevitably. I have unbounded confidence in his lack of discretion.


--Basil Rathbone (as Sherlock Holmes) in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Elsa von Frankenstein: What a dreadful storm and awful lightening.
Baron Wolf von Frankenstein: It's magnificent. Nothing in nature is terrifying when one understands it. Darling, my father drew that very lightening from heaven and forced it for his own will to bring life to a being he created with his own hands. Why should we fear anything?


--Basil Rathbone (as Baron Wolf von Frankenstein) in Son of Frankenstein

Doctor Watson: Holmes, the girl waiting. What an extraordinary thing.
Sherlock Holmes: Elementary, my dear Watson.
Doctor Watson: No, no, no. It's an amazing deduction. How on earth did you arrive at it?
Sherlock Holmes: Barham told me.


--Basil Rathbone (as Sherlock Holmes) in Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror

Dr. John H. Watson: Holmes? But your plane crashed!
Sherlock Holmes: It was shot down, Watson.


--Basil Rathbone (as Sherlock Holmes) in Pursuit to Algiers