Review of The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970) by Brad S — 04 Dec 2009

I've only seen a few of the older, black & white, more sinister Sherlock Holmes movies. I enjoyed the occasional laughs this story provided and how Wilder was unafraid to show some aspects of Sherlock Holmes that were not traditionally portrayed.

In the special features on my DVD I learned that Wilder and Diamond intended the movie to be in four parts, four mysteries Watson had supposedly locked up and not revealed to the public during his life.

The movie was too long so the original full length preface describing this had to be scrapped as well as two of the mysteries and a flashback segment. As the movie stands today, Clive Revill is a Russian ballerina's assistant who sends for Holmes and his services in the first part.

The services required are not what you'd expect, but then this is a Billy Wilder movie and you shouldn't expect the sort of mysteries of the old days. The second larger part is closer to a traditional mystery and brings Genevieve as Ms.

Valladon into the picture. She provides a good steady third leg to Stephens as Sherlock and Blakely as the Doctor for the majority of the film. Christopher Lee also appears as Sherlock's brother Mycroft who works for the government and adds ambivalence to whether Her Majesty's government may be involved in a cover up.

The three main characters follow the clues to Scotland and a few castles around Loch Ness. The ending with Queen Victoria is satirical, but pretty silly. Still it is a fun movie with great production values recreating the time period!