Sherlock Holmes und das Halsband des Todes

To my knowledge there are currently two versions of this available. One of them has been dubbed by Americans and the other is for German speakers only. Should neither of these options appeal please be assured that you are not missing much.

Christopher Lee has the unique distinction of being the only actor to have played both Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes. He had the great misfortune to be totally miscast as Mycroft in Billy Wilder's equally unfortunate 'Private Life of Sherlock Holmes' and is served no better as Sherlock in this Euro mishmash directed by Terence Fisher with additional scenes by someone named Frank Winterstein.

This is essentially a 'Krimi' in all but name and it is really only the cast that makes it bearable. Lee at least has a lighter touch that he usually exhibits and scene-stealer Thorley Waters as Dr. Watson has his customary twinkle. Ever dependable Hans Neilsen plays the man from the Yard and the much-respected, much-honoured Hans Soenker is an urbane Moriarty. Both Ivan Desny and Senta Berger have utterly thankless roles. Berger of course is utterly ravishing and it would not be long before Hollywood came to call.

Cinematography is by veteran Richard Angst. The direction is pedestrian whilst the score by Martin Slavin is atrocious.

Should you be a 'Holmesian' you will find this opus less than satisfactory. Should you not be then this is hardly likely to prompt you to become one!

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.

"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.

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.

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.