| Description |
Mellow and romantic, Billy Wilder's mutilated late masterwork is more an intimate portrait of Arthur Conan Doyle's famed coke-sniffing, violin-loving, super-rational detective than a straightforward mystery. Shooting elegantly in England, Wilder and longtime co-writer I.A.L. Diamond mine humor from Holmes's suspect sexuality and make plain his drug habit. As played by Robert Stephens, their Holmes is a figure of melancholy and regret. His impossible romance with a woman who is his intellectual match reveals the incompatibility between a life of reason and a life of feeling, yet the poignant end of their relationship renders emotionally palpable what Holmes has lost by being a great detective. Episodic in structure and originally intended to be over three hours long, Sherlock Holmes was drastically cut after a disastrous preview; most of the cut footage is presumed lost. One hour shorter, it was a failure in 1970, but its critical reputation has since flourished due to its visual beauty and fine performances from Stephens, Colin Blakely as Dr. Watson, and Genevieve Page as Holmes's love. The laser disc version contained 12 minutes of restored footage.
Cast:
Robert Stephens - Sherlock Holmes
Colin Blakely - Dr. John H. Watson
Irene Handl - Mrs. Hudson
Geneviève Page - Gabrielle Valladon
Stanley Holloway - 1st Gravedigger
Christopher Lee - Mycroft Holmes
Tamara Toumanova - Petrova
Clive Revill - Rogozhin
George Benson - Inspector Lestrade
Catherine Lacey - Old Lady
Mollie Maureen - Queen Victoria
Peter Madden - Von Tirpitz
Robert Cawdron - Hotel Manager
Michael Elwyn - Cassidy
Michael Balfour - Cabby
Frank Thornton - Porter
Kenneth Benda - Minister
Graham Armitage - Wiggins
John Garrie - First Carter
Godfrey James - 2d Carter
Philip Anthony - Lieutenant Commander
Anne Blake - Madame
Penny Brahms
Martin Carroll
James Copeland - Guide
Ina DeLa Haye - Petrova's Maid
Eric Francis - 2nd Gravedigger
John Gatrell - Equerry
Paul Hansard - Monk
Annette Kerr - Secretary
Wendy Lingham
Alex McCrindle - Baggageman
Kynaston Reeves - Old Man
Philip Ross - McKellar
John Scott - Scientist
Paul Stassino
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