Sherlock Holmes et le Collier de la mort

On paper, Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace looks like a sure fired winner. Christopher Lee as Holmes, Thorley Walters (who I swear seemed to be channeling Nigel Bruce at times) as Watson, the capable Terence Fisher directing, and Curt Siodmak writing the screenplay, - what could go wrong? It might have been great had the people behind this German/Italian/French co-production not messed with the script and hired a German co-director. The end result is middling at best. Even though the movie may be enjoyable at times, it bears little resemblance to the real Sherlock Holmes. Lee has described it as a "mess". As he put it in an interview, "It was a hodge-podge of stories put together by the German producers which ruined it".

In the movie, Holmes is once again hot on the trail of Moriarty. Holmes feels Moriarty is responsible for two recent murders related to a necklace believed to have once been the property of Cleopatra. Through disguise and trickery, Holmes will attempt to reclaim the necklace and put a stop to Moriarty's nefarious scheme.

The best part of Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace is easily the cast. Lee and Walters are both as good as you might expect. However, I'm not sure what brainiac decided not to hire either man to dub their own voice, but it was a huge, distracting mistake. The supporting cast is populated by a few familiar faces including the lovely (but terribly underused) Senta Berger and Leon Askin (known to most people as General Burkhalter on "Hogan's Heroes"). But Hans Sohnker, unknown to me before watching Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace, as Moriarty is the real standout. He goes toe to toe with Lee and comes out looking quite good.

If you're a fan of Sherlock Holmes, there may be some curiosity value to this movie. Or, if you're a Chirstopher Lee completist, it's worth checking out. Otherwise, skip it.

Am a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes and get a lot of enjoyment out of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories. Also love Basil Rathbone's and especially Jeremy Brett's interpretations to death. So would naturally see any Sherlock Holmes adaptation that comes my way, regardless of its reception.

Furthermore, interest in seeing early films based on Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories and wanting to see as many adaptations of any Sherlock Holmes stories as possible sparked my interest in seeing 'Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace' (aka 'Valley of Fear', although it bears very little resemblance to that story), especially one featuring Holmes' arch-nemesis Moriaty.

There are better Sherlock Holmes-related films/adaptations certainly than 'Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace', the best of the Jeremy Brett adaptations and films of Basil Rathone fit under this category. It's also not among the very worst, although one of the lesser ones overall, being much better than any of the Matt Frewer films (particularly 'The Sign of Four') and also much better than the abominable Peter Cook 'The Hound of the Baskervilles'.

'Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace' is not terrible. It just could have been much better. The best thing about it is Christopher Lee, who is an excellent imposing Holmes. Thorley Walters is equally very good as Watson, with signs of bumbling traits but also those of dignity and loyalty. In fact, the cast in general make the film watchable. Lovely Senta Berger, Leon Askin and suave but menacing Hans Sohnker are the standouts in support.

Evidence too of some nice expressionistic images created by the photography, suspense (especially with Holmes and Moriaty) and intelligent dialogue.

Unfortunately, there is a good deal wrong. The dubbing is atrocious, there was absolutely no need for it and sounded cheap and ill-fitting, robbing us of Lee's wonderful, distinctive voice. The production design instead of being handsome is pretty flat, the editing is choppy at times and Terrence Fisher's direction (who did a lot of good to great films and who directed the infinitely superior 'The Hound of the Baskervilles') is only workmanlike at best.

Dialogue mostly doesn't flow enough and hurt by the dubbing, the costumes are not always that attractive (am in agreement with those who found Lee's in the countryside sequence horrendous). Then there is the story which is convoluted to the point of incoherence and too often tediously paced.

Overall, watchable but disappointing. See it for the cast but for a good story there are far better Sherlock Holmes adaptations. 5/10 Bethany Cox

"Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace" is, among the twenty- something films by Terence Fisher that I have seen, one of his less accomplished works. A bit better than the boring "Night of the Big Heat", this is a production with motivations I don't fully understand: for a start I do not know why they decided to make a Sherlock Holmes movie starring Christophe Lee in German (although there is an English language version, the official version is in German, which is the one I opted to watch), with Lee's real voice absent in all versions. Then I cannot reason why in 1962, with moneys coming from German, French and Italian production companies, they decided to shoot an adventure movie in black and white. The decision seems even more uninspired given the uneven quality of Richard Angst's cinematography, ranging from attractive expressionistic images (as the scene where Holmes saves his life using a police whistle) to flat compositions (as the Baker Street apartment). Maybe the budget was low, but they had several names in the cast that were not highly expensive, but neither cheap to hire. And thirdly there is not a well-defined concept of what they wanted to do: producers, composer, writer and director seem to point into different directions. The German producers probably assumed it as one of the many cheap detective movies they were making by the dozen, composer Martin Slavin opted for a playful score, writer Curt Siodmak kept loyal to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's three main creations (Holmes, his nemesis Moriarty and his mate Dr. Watson) and Fisher… well, he had to keep everything going. However it would be unfair to deny that there are a few hints that suggest the intention of making some kind of photo-novel or a black-ink-on-cheap-white-paper comic book, and that would explain why the filmmakers could not care less what language characters spoke, the anachronisms (the more obvious being ladies' hair styles), Slavin's jingling-jangling cues, extensive use of maquettes, and a few disheveled art direction and wardrobe decisions, starting with the key prop, a very ugly and cheap looking necklace that supposedly once adorned Queen Cleopatra's neck. I am also sure that Lee never wore an uglier costume in his entire long career than the horrendous checkered suit he wears in the countryside sequence. The actor does his best as Doyle's creation (obviously not imagining the estrangement that dubbing would produce, resulting in an involuntary Brechtian effect of rejection to his participation in the movie), so we tend to go for the villains, played with gusto by Hans Söhnker as Moriarty and Leon Askin as his chauffeur-assistant Charles. But what we see is what we get, so we better not complain. We are warned very early into the film that we are going to watch a rather sloppy product, when the same shot of a longshoreman working on dock is repeated twice within minutes. Compared to this, Fisher's next project starring Pat Boone is a masterpiece.

Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace is a fine vehicle for Christopher Lee investigating weird murders in foggy London , packing an exciting deal of outstanding surprises with great lots of fun . After an intriguingly mysterious opening in a typically foggy London , the Great Detective Holmes (Christopher Lee) and Doctor Watson (Thorley Walters) are bogged down in a surprising and intriguing adventure by attempting to solve the case of the robbing of Cleopatra's necklace, found by archaeologists in Egypt . Sherlock finds plot and counter-plot , a real challenge for Holmes 's razor intellect , but his uncanny insights and deep observations are put to a test . Holmes helped by his colleague Doctor Watson discover a twisted plot and soon uncover that the nasty professor Moriarty is behind it all.

Passable Sherlock Holmes but neither excellent , nor notable , but acceptable , including evocative settings , thrills , plot twists , suspense , unanswered mysteries , secret undergrounds and an outstanding villain : Doctor Moriarty . As Holmes and Watson set out to investigate and doing battle with an old nemesis , over an ancient necklace attributed to Cleopatra .The atmospheric doings involve Egyptian tombs , a spectacular heist on a van , among others , in this rather tired and no excessively brilliant Sherlock Holmes mystery . A genuine ripping yarn with suspense , thrilling events and simple intrigue about stealing , murders , auction and red herrings . Pretty stale stuff , though Christopher Lee turns out to be a decent Holmes . It is all a bit elementary and no great challenge for Holmes's brain or even ours for the matter . This is a suspenseful and intriguing film in Arthur Conan wake , but very freely based on his splendid novels , in fact, it seems to be more similar to the usual ¨Krimi¨ mystery , that's why it was produced by the powerful and prolific Artur Brauner , an expert producer of this German sub-genre . Of course , Holmes solves the mystery at the end , including a surprising twist . Displaying functional settings , as well as appropriate and evocative cinematography . Sir Christopher Lee gives a nice acting as the immortal Sherlock Holmes , Lee starred in at least six Sir Arthur Conan Doyle shot renditions or related filmed productions. They are : Hound of Baskerville (1959) in which he played Baskerville himself , The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970) as Sherlock's brother : Mycroft , Sherlock Holmes and the prima donna (1991) as Holmes , Incident in the Victoria Falls (1992) as Sherlock . Lee's interpretation is pretty good but far from Basil Rathbone who played magnificently as an intelligent , obstinate , broody , pipesmoking sleuth , considered to be the best and most authentic Sherlock Holmes , as his acting is similar to subsequent actors as Peter Cushing and Jeremy Brett for TV or Nicol Williamson (Seven-per-cent-solution) or Christopher Plummer (Murder by decree) . Here Holmes/Christopher Lee is accompanied by notorious secondaries , though no too much known , such as : Hans Söhnker as Prof. Moriarty , Hans Nielsen , Senta Berger , Ivan Desny , Wolfgang Lukschy and Leon Askin .

It displays an atmospheric and adequate cinematography in black and white, shot on location in Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland ,London, England, UK and Spandau, Berlin, Germany . Sherlock Holmes und das Halsband des Todes(1962) was professionally directed by Terence Fisher , and inferior than precendent Hound of Baskerville (1959). Fisher was an expert on terror genre for Hammer production , his best films were the following ones : "So Long at the Fair", Portrait from Life (1948), "Dracula", ¨The Revenge of Frankenstein¨ (1958), ¨The mommy¨ (1959), The Stranglers of Bombay (1959), "Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll", ¨The brides of Drácula¨ (1960), "Curse of the Werewolf", ¨The phantom of opera¨(1962), "The Gorgon", "The Earth Dies Sceaming", "Dracula ,Prince of Darkness" and "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed".

It was always obvious, even before watching it, that this Sherlock Holmes movie wouldn't be as terrific and compelling as "The Hound of the Baskervillers" (the other Holmes movie directed by Terence Fisher and starring Christopher Lee – although not in the titular role), but I honestly didn't expect it to be *this* disappointing. The most major problems are noticeable on the surface already: an international co-production with two directors, a lesser interesting plot outline (at least in comparison with most of Doyle's stories), issues during the post-production phase and English-speaking actors whose voices are dubbed… in English! Yup, especially if you're a fan of the aforementioned Hammer film or – like myself – swear by the brilliant old Sherlock Holmes movie series starring Basil Rathbone, you might consider skipping this one or least lower your expectations drastically. Still, "S.H. and the Deadly Necklace" isn't entirely without merit, neither. Surely a lot of fans desperately crave to see the almighty Christopher Lee depict the greatest and most intelligent fictional detective who ever lived? Even though he doesn't sound like himself, Lee's charisma and impressive posture is exactly right for the character. With his inborn aura of superiority and stern grimaces, Lee is like a natural born Sherlock Holmes and it's regrettable that he was only offered to play the role once and in such lackluster conditions. Lee also receives excellent support from Thorley Walters (well cast as Dr. Watson) as well as a couple of lesser known performers. The film definitely also benefices from the masterful art direction and enchanting black-and-white cinematography, respectively courtesy of Paul Markwitz and Richard Angst. Last but not least there are some memorable moments to enjoy, including Watson's uncomfortable encounter with a prostitute and the multiple disguises of Sherlock Holmes. Sadly these aspects are merely just footnotes in an overall tedious, suspense-free and incoherent mystery/thriller.