Movies - The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

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	Movies - The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes is a 1970 film directed and produced by Billy Wilder, and starring Robert Stephens as Sherlock Holmes. The film offers an affectionate, slightly parodic look at the man behind the public facade, and draws a distinction between the real Holmes and the character portrayed by Dr Watson in his stories for Strand magazine.

The film was co-written by Wilder with his long-time collaborator I.A.L. Diamond, and featured Colin Blakely as Dr Watson, Irene Handl as Mrs Hudson, Christopher Lee as Holmes's brother Mycroft Holmes, and Genevieve Page.

The film was originally intended as a roadshow attraction, touring major cities only on its initial run. However, it was heavily edited on its original release, and significant sections of the film are now missing.

The story

The film is divided into two separate stories. In the first Holmes is approached by a famous Russian ballerina, who proposes that they should conceive a child together. Holmes manages to extricate himself from the situation by claiming that he is homosexual and that he and Dr. Watson are lovers.

In the second part of the film, a Belgian woman is found in the River Thames and brought to Baker Street. The film then follows the developing relationship between her and Holmes, and their search for her missing husband, an investigation that leads them to the highest levels in British society.

The Missing Scenes

The film originally contained another two separate stories, and a further flashback sequence showing Holmes in his university days. These were all filmed, but later cut from the final release print. One sequence, in which Holmes investigates the seemingly impossible case of a corpse found in an upside down room, has been recovered and restored to the film's laser disc release.

Cast

Robert Stephens
(Sherlock Holmes)
Colin Blakely (Dr John H Watson)
Genevieve Page (Gabrielle Valladon)
Christopher Lee
(Mycroft Holmes)
Irene Handl
(Mrs Hudson)
Clive Revill
(Rogozhin)
Tamara Toumanova (Petrova)
Stanley Holloway
(1st Gravedigger)
Mollie Maureen (Queen Victoria)
Catherine Lacey (Old Woman)

References to other movies

Stanley Holloway
appears in a cameo as a gravedigger, in a reference to his role in Laurence Olivier
's 1948 version of Hamlet.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes ]

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