The Sherlock Holmes Collection: Volume 3 (2004)

BUILDING A MYSTERY The charming ''Sherlock Holmes Collection: Volume 3''

Some Sherlockians never forgave Universal for transporting their hero from Victorian times to the 1940s (or for making Dr. Watson into a dim-witted stooge). Still, many believe Basil Rathbone, with his chiseled profile and haughty grace, to have been the definitive on-screen Holmes. The Sherlock Holmes Collection: Volume 3 collects the final four films in the series: ''The Woman in Green,'' ''Pursuit to Algiers,'' ''Terror by Night,'' and ''Dressed to Kill.'' While not the best of the batch (those, including ''The Scarlet Claw'' and ''The House of Fear,'' are on Volume 2, as it happens), these slackly plotted shorts still hold considerable charm -- especially ''Woman,'' which concerns blackmail, hypnotism, and severed fingers. And Nigel Bruce's endearingly bumbling Watson really grows on you if you give him half a chance.

EXTRAS An audio commentary track on ''Woman,'' vintage footage of Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a few photos and movie posters -- purely elementary.