Sherlock Holmes und das Halsband des Todes

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.

I had my doubts about this film when I bought it, at the time I had become fan of Sherlock Holmes because of TV- series starring Jeremy Brett. Before that I had seen only few Basil Rathbone movies, which were enjoy ables but not as great as Brett's work. But I had to see Christopher Lee as Sherlock Holmes.

Well, first I was disappointed, because film is placed at 1910's instead of late 1800's. But jazz background music, great atmosphere that these black and white pictures have, and of course Christopher Lee as world's greatest detective saves a lot. Also Thorley Walters gives a good performance as Dr. Watson. The scenes where Holmes and prof. Moriarty are having an intellectual war between each other's and Homes showing how much the police has not seen on this case are must seen scenes for every Sherlock Holmes- fans.

Film is directed by Terence Fisher and I think it is even better then he's Hammer- film "the Hound of the Baskervilles" also starring Lee as a romantic hero. I only wish they would have cast also some British Hammer- actor as Moriarty.

There are several criminal aspects to this sub-krimi German co-production, first among them being the fact that the filmmakers neglected to get Christopher Lee and Thorley Walters in to loop their own dialogue. It's somewhat jarring to watch an actor with so readily identifiable a voice as Mr Lee speaking, yet the words come out of his mouth spoken by what sounds like a Transatlantic drawl. Or an American dubbing artiste doing a poor Lee imitation.

If one can get past this surreal experience however there is fun to be had. Lee and Walters are ideally cast as Holmes and Watson, at times certain shots looked like Sidney Paget illustrations come to life. Hans Sohnker does a creditable job projecting a sinister air as Moriarty, despite the handicap of dubbing even more atrocious than that of the English-speaking cast. He's no Eric Porter or even George Zucco, but better than some lesser efforts. The direction, however, co-credited to the masterly Terence Fisher of many a Hammer classic fame, is somewhat workmanlike. Perhaps Fisher's heart wasn'tin it, or he was held back by his Teutonic cohort, but it's not in the same league as his and Lee's earlier essaying of "The Hound of the Baskervilles".

The supporting cast are more than adequate, with the lovely Senta Berger in an early role adding some class and beauty to a female cast of East End slatterns played by burly hausfraus. It really is a shame though that Lee's icily incisive portrayal of the great detective, perfect for the role in every way, was only seen in this film and a couple of early '90s productions. Still, there's always the consolation of being the only actor (so far as i know) to have played bot Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes, as well as Sir Henry Baskerville. That's got to count for something.

By the way, i saw this under the title "Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace" (somewhat reminiscent of the Basil Rathbone series, the middling entries of which it is on a par). The alternate title of "The Valley of Fear" is somewhat misleading, as apart from characters such as Holmes, Watson and Professor Moriarty this film has very little in common with the Conan Doyle novel of the same name. However, for a Holmes fan wanting a diverting hour and a half on a rainy afternoon, this more than does the trick.

Most of the joint efforts between European countries that speak different languages are awful. Usually it is two directors with two different points of view that are only made worse by the language barriers, and the end result is edited together mish-mash of the best scenes from each director. By comparision, while this movie is a bit rough and choppy, it gets to all the points and ends well.

Christopher Lee is excellent as Sherlock Holmes. Until recently (Jeremy Brett, Robert Downey, Jr., and Cumberbatch) most Sherlock Holmes movies were low budget. Basil Rathbone was great as Sherlock Holmes, but his movies usually had no props and very little action besides the great acting and the great stories. It was all low budget.

Professor Moriarty has an outstanding home office which is full of excellent Egyptian artifacts and serpent memorabilia. Moriarty is now a world known archaeologist as the cover for his crime syndicate. I thought that was a creative twist that made Moriarty a lot more interesting. While Hans Söhnker, playing Moriarty, was not as nefarious as George Zucco, Lionel Atwill, or Henry Daniell; he was no slouch either.

Thorley Waters as Dr. Watson tries hard to look and act like Nigel Bruce. Compared to Nigel Bruce, Waters is very wooden. His performance is a bit creepy. There are a couple of scenes were Waters is literally recreating remarks and gestures that are straight from Nigel Bruce. As a big fan of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, seeing Waters mimicking Nigel Bruce was a bit too much. I give Waters credit for good intentions, but he is way short of the Dr. Watson that Nigel Bruce was.

Overall, the story is better than a lot of other movies that are not based on original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stories. It has some good ideas, some good acting, and some good action. I appreciate that the actors did their best to create a united artistic effort between two nations that were bitter enemies during World War II.

very difficult to watch German Holmes film.

Christopher Lee is excellent in a role he wanted to play throughout his life (returning to it late in a couple mini-series) - this despite the fact that his voice was unnecessarily dubbed by someone else. He plays the great detective as an intense young crime-fighter with wit and chutzpa.

The problems are the script and direction. The story is too convoluted, in a manner familiar to anyone who has suffered through other German mysteries of the same period, such as the Dr. Mabuse films. This was a Germany still dealing with the fact that they had a murderously criminal government only two decades previous - consequently there is considerable suspicion of the police in these films, evil seems omnipresent, the moral center is hard to find. A similar atmosphere, for completely different reasons, crept into British popular culture only in the 1970s, appearing in a British Sherlock Holmes film only in "Murder by Decree."

But the German film also suffers from the evident fact that the director can't decide whether he wants to make a Sherlock Holmes film or a Sherlock Holmes parody - there are all sorts of misfired jokes and bits poking fun at a "Sherlock Holmes superhero" image that doesn't really exist - a problem for other directors who have tried spoofing the detective, including the great Billy Wilder. The fact is, Doyle was careful NOT to make his hero an 'Uebermensch,' just a closet Nietzschean - a common romantic British type of the day.

Finally, all existing prints I know of are in shoddy condition.

Worth a view, especially for Holmes fans, but sub-par for this sub-genre of mystery film.