Pursuit to Algiers 1945

On the verge of leaving London for a much-needed holiday, Sherlock Holmes Basil Rathbone and Dr. Watson Nigel Bruce receive a cryptic invitation. Intrigued, Holmes is greeted by the Prime Minister of Rovenia, Frederick Worlock, who begs him to escort Prince Nikolas Leslie Vincent home after his father has been assassinated; as the heir, Nikolas is now king, and the mission carries a heavy sense of duty.

An airplane is already arranged for the trip, but engine trouble forces a smaller craft to take only the Prince and Holmes, leaving Watson behind. When Watson protests, Holmes suggests he follow on a passenger ship bound for Algiers, and the two men separate with a tense but shared resolve.

On the voyage, Watson reads that the plane crash in the Pyrenees likely left no survivors, yet Holmes, who dislikes plans laid out by others, boards the ship with Nikolas. He instructs Watson to introduce the prince to the other passengers as his nephew, while Holmes keeps a wary eye on everyone. Watson’s suspicions fall on a mix of passengers—the glamorous singer Sheila Woodbury [Marjorie Riordan], the iron-willed Agatha Dunham [Rosalind Ivan], and a secretive pair who later turn out to be archaeologists—but the real danger lies in the arrival of three operatives who join the ship at Lisbon: Gregor [Rex Evans], the knife-throwing Mirko [Martin Kosleck], and a hulking mute named Gubec [William ‘Wee Willie’ Davis].

The tension escalates quickly. Mirko tries to eliminate Holmes by hurling a knife through a porthole, while Gregor substitutes an explosive party favor in another sabotage attempt. Holmes, ever one step ahead, foils both plots with calm, precise measures. When the ship reaches Algiers, the villains manage to kidnap the prince, but Holmes reveals a far more intricate deception: the supposed prince was a decoy, and the real Nikolas had been posing as a steward, hidden in plain sight all along. The decoy Nikolas is recovered unharmed, and Holmes’ sharp deductions leave no room for doubt about who truly held the throne’s fate in their hands.