Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady

SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE LEADING LADY looks great on paper. It's an epic 3-hour TV miniseries featuring Holmes and Watson as old men, still trotting the globe and sorting out criminals wherever they meet them. The narrative features the return of two fan favourites (Mycroft and Irene Adler) in a brand new adventure. The film was made by veteran producers Harry Alan Towers and Egypt's Frank Agrama (DAWN OF THE MUMMY), among others, and shot in Luxembourg - no doubt due to the tax breaks available there. The director was Peter Sasdy, a seasoned Hammer veteran who certainly knows his stuff. Finally, and best of all, it features Christopher Lee and Patrick Macnee as the intrepid twosome.

Unfortunately, such a production could never meet the standards expected from the sheer quantity of talent involved, and this turns out to be an entirely middling affair. It's watchable, certainly, but also long-winded, and the insistence on throwing real-life characters in the mix, like Sigmund Freud and, most bizarrely, Elliott Ness, is an odd one. There were two scriptwriters, one British and one American, and I blame the latter for the annoying US-centric elements, not least Morgan Fairchild's presence as Irene Adler. Talk about out of place...

Still, it's not all bad. Lee is, as you'd expect, excellent as the famous detective, bringing him ably to life in his twilight years. Macnee is the closest we've got to the lovable Nigel Bruce yet, and the supporting cast features some experienced British character actors like John Bennett and Ronald Hines; the presence of Engelbert Humperdinck is more of a mystery. Speaking of mystery, the plotting is perfectly adequate, but there's little true deductive reasoning for Holmes to carry out; the whole thing seems beneath him, and occasionally he seems a bit stupid and a far cry from the original Conan Doyle creation.

Some readers seem to think Morgan Fairchild was wrong as Irene Adler ( Norton) but I think she was just right. Irene is an American and she is supposed to be a looker and a flamboyant actress. Morgan has those qualities in spades. Despite age differences ( which may have existed in the original story too), I think Lee and Fairchild have a chemistry. The rest of the plot was also not bad. MacNee is a little too goofy as Watson. I prefer the more dignified portrayals of John Mills, David Burke, Edward Hardwicke and even Colin Blakely. MacNee is too much in the Nigel Bruce mold. I wish that more "Golden Years" stories about Holmes had been made. As it is we must content ourselves with this one and "Victoria Falls". The mix of real characters with the fictional was very "Ragtime". Lee was outstanding as Holmes

Morgan Fairchild as Irene Adler? Who's bright idea was that? The story line was okay, her performance was awful. The image of Irene Adler was never written to be portrayed as a whining floozy. Ruined what could have been a fine movie. Perfomances by the rest of the cast were tolerable.

Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady was an enjoyable movie, and I thought it was well made. I haven't seen many Sherlock Holmes productions and I'm not really familiar with the specifics of the original stories or the history of the character, so I can't say how well this movie stands up as a Sherlock Holmes production. However, considered by itself as an individual movie it's definitely worth viewing.

I'm not generally a fan of movies produced for television, but Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady didn't suffer from the problems common to most TV productions. Sets and costumes were numerous and elaborate, and the sound was full, unlike many TV productions with flat sound that is clearly from a set. The plot was well laid out and easily followed, unlike the second production in this series (Incident at Victoria Falls), which I think is a bit convoluted and confusing. One small warning-- this movie was apparently originally broadcast in segments as a small mini-series, and the total run-time is about 3 hours. You'll need to set aside some time if you plan to watch it all in one go.

Patrick Macnee was fun as Watson, and Christopher Lee plays a convincing Holmes. Morgan Fairchild seemed to be a good fit as the Leading Lady, though there were a couple singing scenes with poor lip-syncing, which might be partially her fault but could also be attributed to the editor and director. The cast is quite large for a television production, with lots of secondary and minor characters, and good performances throughout the movie.

Overall, Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady is a nice period piece and I enjoyed watching it.

The British government is about to buy the plans to a revolutionary bomb detonator when its plans are stolen and its Austrian inventor murdered. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson go to Vienna to track down the plans. They walk into a tangled web of international intrigue with the agents of several governments trying to get hold of the plans.

Not based on a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle work and it shows. Lacks the tension and tightness of an original Holmes story. Plus the writers feel the need to throw in some historical figures - Sigmund Freud, Eliot Ness - as characters just to engage modern audiences. Even then they botch it as the real Eliot Ness was seven years old at the time this film was set, not the 20-something portrayed here.

At three hours long it's also a bit of a grind to get through. Quite a lot of padding, sub-plots and needless detours.

This said, the main plot is reasonably interesting. The Irene Adler sub-plot does add a different dimension to Sherlock Holmes. Moreover, Christopher Lee is great as Holmes, giving him the required level of gravitas and intelligence.