Le signe des 4

The four Sherlock Holmes movies by Hallmark are just good fun versions for kids. Don't even try to take 'em seriously folks. Don't expect them to be artistic masterpieces based on literary classics. These TV movies were made for a family audience and there's plenty of comedy for kids in these things. Frewer's Holmes must be seen to be believed! He's a hoot! He's the most eccentric Holmes EVER! Kids will love this guy! Kenneth Welsh is much more traditional in his role and he makes a very fine Watson. These Frewer Holmes flicks are sure to entertain the kids and will hopefully encourage them to read more about The Master Detective. They certainly wont get bored watching any of these with the ultra-intense and comedic Frewer on the screen.

Matt Frewer has played Sherlock Holmes in four TV movies: The Hound of the Baskevilles, The Sign of Four, The Royal Scandal, and The Whitechapel Vampire. I purchased a DVD set of all four of Frewer's Holmes films to share with friends and family. We planned to watch only one movie per evening, but we ended up watching all four in one weekend. It was just too much fun! Matt Frewer's performance as Sherlock Holmes is extremely humorous and Kenneth Welsh is the perfect straight-man for Frewer's highly eccentric Holmes. These are fun adventures for the entire family. Frewer and Welsh should make more movies as Holmes and Watson. They are a blast!

I bought the four movie mini series from my local DVD store. I didn't watch it for about 5 months. It sat on my table collecting dust. I threw out my back and had nothing to do but watch movies. When I popped this in i expected an okay movie. I was treated to a very humorous take on the classic character. When I read Sherlock I always had the vision of him prancing around baker street very restless. Doyle even refers to him as feline at several points. In my opinion there hasn't been a more fun version of Holmes done yet, though I haven't seen them all. Serious fans don't seem to enjoy it because of the humor brought to the film, yet in his stories Holmes always seems to be on top of things and has a very slight dry sense of humor which they magnified in this movie. All together a enjoyable film. In response to the person who thinks watson is too old, remember that watson had time to go to med school, finish it up and go to a war, come back and live in a bottle for a while before he met holmes who was still at school if i remember correctly.

This was the worst Holmes film I have ever seen, and I see there are more of the same to come.

The Main players, with the exception of Thaddeus Sholto were badly miscast, Frewer, who I quite like, and who was excellent as the Trash Cam Man in The Stand, borough a silly zany quality to Holmes that just shouldn't be there.

Watson, who is about the same age as Holmes, appeared old enough to be his father.

THe accents were somewhere between poor and awful, especially inspector Athenly Jones, he seemed to be a cross between English/Scottish/Welsh/Irish Jewish and Red Indian, it was awful.

In all, a wasted Exercise, and down there with 'The evil beneath Loch Ness' in the really crappy film stakes.

This is an adaptation of the second Arthur Conan Doyle novel featuring Sherlock Holmes. In 1856 India, there's a Sepoy rebellion near Agra. Prince Achmet with a box of jewels seeks protection from a trusted British Captain. Three Indian auxiliary soldiers and British soldier John Small murder the prince and hide the box. They are questioned by Captain Sholto. Back in London decades later, Mary Morstan seeks help from Sherlock Holmes (Matt Frewer) and Dr. Watson (Kenneth Welsh). Her father Captain Morstan had vanished in 1881 six years earlier after his supposed return to London. She began receiving individual pearls and finally a letter claiming that she had been wronged. Dr. Watson finds an obituary for Captain Sholto who was the source of the mysterious gifts.

The production is cheaper. It's a TV movie and not theatrical level. Frewer is a bit light for the role. His personality leans more towards the humorous side and he doesn't have the needed intensity for a darker movie. I'm not sure how closely this follows the Arthur Conan Doyle classic. This one story does have fewer adaptations. This seems to be trying to be faithful but it's a struggle. The production, the directing, the acting are all second tier level.