Sherlock Holmes attaque l'orient-express

The Seven per cent solution was one of my favorite Childhood films. Nicol Williamson was to me Sherlock Holmes. He looked like Holmes and he sounded to me the way Holmes ought to sound. After Watching Basil Rathbone portray Holmes(Rathbone will always be Holmes) I saw several other Holmes but none did justice to the role like Williamson. The story is simple. Sherlock Holmes is addicted to cocaine a seven percent solution 7% Cocaine and 91% saline solution. This addiction renders Holmes mad and paranoid with certain secrets from his past coming to haunt him. Watson decides to take him to Vienna to find the one man who could Cure Holmes. Enter DR. Sigmund Freud wonderfully played by Alan Arkin HE MAKES THE MOVIE!! Holmes is sent to Vienna by remarkable Ruse concocted by Watson and Holmes older smarter brother Mycroft. Holmes meets Freud and is forced to confront his addiction and is forced to cure it. While in the middle of his cure Freud has a patient in his care disappear. Enter Holmes to find her and save her from a Criminal conspiracy the climax of the film is thrilling and exciting and it makes you wonder why Hollywood with it's new generation of filmmakers and writers and actors why can't they do this kind of film today? The Truth is they can't. This movie belongs to a era we will never see again a era in which Adventure didn't mean gore or action did not mean necessarily Blood and Guts and Shootings every five minutes. Nick Meyers Screenplay from his fantastic novel Is in my view perhaps the Greatest Sherlock Holmes ever told a masterpiece from beginning to end. And worthy of the title CLASSIC.

While the Seven Percent Solution may not appeal all fans of the legendary detective, it nevertheless gives us an interesting variation of the Conan Doyle character.

In order to cure his friend of his cocaine addiction, Dr. Watson (Robert Duvall) and brother Mycroft create a ruse to get Holmes to Vienna where Holmes(Nicol Williamson) meets Dr. Sigmund Freud (Alan Arkin). Arkin's Dr. Freud shows his own skills as a detective in a plot involving a kidnapped singer (Vanessa Redgrave).

Holmes and Freud work very well togeather. Freud points out that as a doctor he uses many of the same skills that Holmes uses in fighting crime, and in one scene demonstrates the same powers of observation and reasoning, while being careful not to upstage the great detective. There is not much mystery here, but the chemistry between Holmes and Freud keeps the movie interesting.

The clever twist concerns Holmes' archenemy Prof. Moriaity. Here we see Moriarty not as the villian, but as a timid schoolteacher harassed by Holmes because of a dark event in the lives of Sherlock and Mycroft.

This is a movie that is good fun. The only problem is that Dr. Watson isn't used very well. Freud makes a much better partner to Holmes.

Till the late sixties,Sherlock Holmes was the brilliant sleuth,whose deductions the audience was invited to admire respectfully.Then came Billy Wilder and his admirable "private life of Sherlock Holmes":this director was so ahead of his time the movie was not successful when it was released(it was even cut:one hour is lacking and we are still waiting for the whole film).But it spawned a whole lot of SH movies which continued the destruction of the myth :Herbert Ross's "7 per cent solution" but also "young Sherlock Holmes "aka "pyramid of fear" (1986) and "without a clue" (1989) to name but two.None of these movies equals Billy Wilder's opus which I urge everybody to see .

Herbert Ross had already tackled the detective story when he filmed "Seven-per-cent solution" but his "the last of Sheila" was more Agatha Christie influenced.Nicholas Meyer's screenplay was a very good idea:Sherlock Holmes meeting Freud ,why not? And there are a lot of details that show that Meyer loves Conan Doyle:he refers to several affairs the sleuth was involved in ,he introduces -for a very brief time- Moriarty's character and Even Mycroft Holmes.Billy Wilder had already used Holmes' brother :and to think that Mycroft only appears in ONE of Conan Doyle short stories!And the orient express dear to Agatha Christie is also here.

The film sets are marvelous,from Victorian England to Francis Joseph's Vienna.The first-rate cast (check the cast and credits) gives the movie substance.It's excellent entertainment.

Nicholas Meyer was to continue in th e same vein:not only he wrote another story pitting HG Welles against Jack the ripper,but he also directed the movie starring Malcolm McDowell and David Warner (time after time,1979)

I really enjoyed this little fantasy film about the supposed treatment Sherlock Holmes received for his cocaine addiction from Dr. Freud. This is awfully strange, having a real-life and fictional character interact together, but the writers were able to make it work.

Up front I should let you know that I am a huge Sherlock Holmes fan--having read all the stories several times. In most of my reviews for Holmes movies, I am very critical because they take such liberties with the stories--and almost always ruin the stories. At first, I was reticent to see this story because of this--after all, it's NOT based on a Conan Doyle story and the last such film I saw (THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES) was terrible in places because it took too many liberties with the character (especially at the end of the film). However, despite my reservations I saw the film and am glad I did.

At first it did bother me, as the film did SEEM to contradict many of the Holmes stories. However, through the course of the film, they were able to explain away all these differences very well--in particular, Holmes' hatred for Professor Moriarty. Additionally, having the fictional character be psychoanalyzed actually was pretty cool--though Freud's analysis almost always took months or years, not a few quick sessions.

Up until the last 10 or 15 minutes of the film, I was very pleased with the movie but then the film had a serious flaw that knocked off a point. The sword fighting scene at the end (interesting, by the way, in a Freudian sense) was totally unnecessary and totally distracting. It was like another writer took an intelligent script and added a macho idiot fight scene for no discernible reason. Had it been me, I would have had Holmes simply shoot the guy--not pad it out for no apparent reason. Additionally, while it was integrated into the story later, the whole tennis match sequence seemed contrived and silly. Still, with so much to like, both these scenes can be overlooked.

An excellent film for Holmes lovers. Additionally, psychology teachers and therapists will also appreciate the inclusion of Freud.

By the way, Charles Gray plays Holmes' brother, Mycroft in this film. A decade later, he played this same character in the Jeremy Brett series as well.

Sherlockians will no doubt grouse, but this is certainly the best Sherlock Holmes tale outside the "canon" and one of the best Holmes films ever. Although Conan Doyle never really combined his characters with historical figures, it's a great device. Alan Arkin gives one of his wonderful performances, employing one of his all purpose accents, and initially very understated. Holmes helps bring out heroic qualities you don't suspect in Sigmund Freud, pace, Anna Freud. Nicol Williamson looks and moves like Holmes, truly "hawk-like". Robert Duval is one of the best Watsons ever, outside of the BBC. Some characterizations of Watson make it hard to believe that he could possibly be a doctor, or even any kind of useful member of society. But this Watson is believable as a person, doctor and friend. The plot line also provides an answer as to who Holmes really is, and what makes him tick. Not THE answer, but an answer. A lot of fun, and very well done. Great period color. Don't go all serious, and you'll have a good time. Nice use of the cimbalom in the score during action sequences. Gives it that "Hungarian" flavor.