The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
by Billy Wilder
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Christopher Lee, Genevi?ve Page, Irene Handl, Robert Stephens, Stanley HollowayDirector: Billy Wilder
Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
Cinematographer: Christopher G. Challis
Composer: Miklos Rozsa
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 125 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-07-15
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Movie Reviews of The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
Movie Review: Miklos Rozsa Tunes this Private Life of Holmesian Drama
Summary: 4 Stars
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes is perhaps one of the better "pastiche" movies that made a tangent from the Sherlockian Canon by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The screenplay is delightful, the scenery excellent and the acting extraordinary. However, the real gem of the picture is the brilliant Violin Concerto by Miklos Rozsa , in particular the Lento cantabile. The opening scene gives proper credit but the theme is shown as a concerto for Violin written by Sherlock Holmes dedicated to the beautiful Prussian spy in this production.
There is also an admirable section on the Russian Ballet performing "Swan Lake". Sherlock Holmes drinking Vodka mixed with Hot red pepper, and a great dance done to the tune of traditional Russian Balalaikas that are played brilliantly in an ever faster pace.
It is this music, along with interesting scenes involving Loch Ness, "Trappists caught in a Trap" and humor that is subtle but funny that help to make this movie the exception that it is. Billy Wilder did a great job here and the scenes that were cut out perhaps should have been included in the original release at the movies. Those scenes are provided on this DVD as part of the special features and you will probably be in agreement along with a legion of fans that a longer movie would have been even better. Especially the mystery of the upside down room! If we could take it with "Gettysburg" we could certainly be as patient with our hero Sherlock Holmes! A great piece of entertainment that should be seen at least once, especially by Holmes fans.
Summary of The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
The acting, photography and score are tops (Leonard Maltin) in this lively satirical homage from seven-time Academy Award?(r) winner* Billy Wilder (Sunset Boulevard) and his long-time writing partner I.A.L. Diamond (The Apartment). When a beautiful woman claims that her dear husband has disappeared, the investigation takes Sherlock Holmes (Robert Stephens) and Dr. Watson (Colin Blakely) to Scotland, whereto their surprisethey uncover a plot involving clandestine society, Her Majesty's Secret Service and the Loch Ness Monster! But before he can deduce matters to the elementary, Holmes makes an error that may jeopardize the national safety of Britain and ruin his reputation! *1960: The Apartment (Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay (with I.A.L.Diamond)); 1950: Sunset Boulevard (Original Screenplay (with Charles Brackett and D.M. Marshman, Jr.)); 1945: The Lost Weekend (Director, Adapted Screenplay (with Charles Brackett)); 1987: Irving G. Thalberg Memorial AwardThis 1970 Billy Wilder comedy-drama about a major defeat in the career of Sherlock Holmes may have little to do with the legacy of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but in its uncut form it happens to be one of the finest films of the decade. Robert Stephens makes a perfectly splendid Holmes, brilliant, sophisticated, and deeply flawed, while Colin Blakely plays Dr. Watson as a drinker and ladies' man with more personality and intelligence than is often granted him by filmmakers. The case (which has some echoes of Doyle's story "The Bruce-Partington Plans") begins with Holmes aiding the distressed Madame Valladon (Genevi?ve Page), who is searching for her missing husband. The inquiry shifts to Scotland, and despite a stern warning from the hero's brother, Mycroft Holmes (Christopher Lee), Sherlock pursues events that reveal a top-secret government plan. Lush, energetic, funny, gorgeous to look at, and ultimately tragic, the film is layered with Wilder's familiar collision of cynicism and yearning, hope and betrayal, grace and isolation. --Tom Keogh
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