ma-cortes
Agreeable and charming Holmes film with continuous suspense and intrigue . The motion picture sparkles with polish and wit and the ending results to be as exciting as moving and being decently directed by Boris Sagal . This is a nice tribute to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle , it is a stylish original Sherlock movie that has the sleuth rushing to America after the villainous scoundrel executes a twisted plot . It stars in Victoria Docks , London , on the 19th of March 1901 , where the uniquitous professor James Moriarty (John Huston was cast as Professor Moriarty after Oliver Reed passed on the role) , ruler of England's underworld and veritable emperor of international crime maintains his secret and impenetrable headquarter , there he meets Holmes with threats each other . After that , 221 B, Baker Street , London , on the 22nd of March 1901 , where Mr Sherlock (Roger Moore) , the world's first consulting detective and his companion and chronicler , John Watson (Patrick McNee) , M.D. maintain modest lodgings . Later on , 1901 , the 31st of March , in New York where the rest of this adventure takes place , there Moriarty has carried out the ultimate bank robbery , as he has imperiled the world's gold supply . Meanwhile, calculating Holmes enjoys a blossoming romance with Irene Adler (Charlotte Rampling) , his old flame . Then Adler becomes the target of a kidnap and Moriarty is threatening Holmes's long time love . Sherlock sets out in pursuit Moriarty and he goes to help his old flame from long time ago . Another film about Sherlock filled with intrigues , suspense and action but this time is added a new ingredient : romanticism . In this mystery we find the famous calculator sleuth confronting his arch-enemy Moriarty and he pursues him to New York . Holmes excursion brings the famed Victorian sleuth towards N.Y. , as Holmes along Watson will solve unanswered mysteries and Sherlock undergoes some risked experiences to resolve the cases using even his habitual disguise . This is a nice Holmes film with gripping London and N.Y.C. setting . A genuine ripping yarn and very intriguing . The movie blends suspense , thriller , detective action , cloak and dagger , mystery and being enough interesting . It packs an exciting amount of surprises with great lots of entertainment . This is a classy and effective romp with a strong cast . Roger Moore as whimsical detective is passable , he's in cracking form . He makes an unique perspective on his life , revealing a complex personality . He's finely matched in battle of wits with Moriarty/John Huston . Although Basil Rathbone will be forever identified as Holmes ; however , here Roger Moore/Holmes is also played as an intelligent , cunning , broody and impetuous pipesmoking sleuth but addicted to cocaine , his interpretation is likeness to Christopher Plummer (Murder by decree) , Nicol Williamson (Elemental Dr. Freud) or Peter Cushing and Jeremy Brett in television . While Dr. Watson isn't a bumbling and botcher pal generally represented by Nigel Bruce , but a clever and astute partner well incarnated by Patrick McNee of ¨The avengers¨ . In fact , this is first of three feature film collaborations of actors Roger Moore and Patrick Macnee . The movies include Sea wolves (1980), A view to kill (1985), and Sherlock Holmes in New York (1976), with the latter of the three the only one being made for television . Furthermore , the support cast is pretty well such as : David Huddleston as Inspector Lafferty NYPD , Signe Hasso as Fraulein Reichenbach , Gig Young as Mortimer McGrew , Leon Ames , John Abbott and the former child prodigy , Jackie Coogan . Atmospheric soundtrack , being first American television production scored by music composer Richard Rodney Bennett . Evocative cinematography by Michael Margulies . The motion picture was professionally directed by Boris Sagal , though with no originality . Sagal was a good craftsman who usually worked in TV , such as : ¨Ike: the war years¨ , ¨Masada¨, ¨Night Gallery¨ and occasionally made films as the successful Sci-Fi : ¨Omega man¨ .
Easyreader59
I watched this on its premiere on NBC back in 1976 when I was really starting to have a real interest in Sherlock Holmes. Roger Moore struck me as looking a bit young for the part (even though he wasn't), but his performance really impressed me. Patrick MacNee was very much my idea of Watson, and Charlotte Rampling was beautiful, dignified and ladylike as Irene Adler (although I really doubted the likelihood of Holmes actually being romantically involved with her). But the grandest part of the show was John Huston in the role of Moriarty. Here was a professor who reeked of evil, was fiendish, devilish, and to top it all off, wickedly brilliant. So with a cast this impressive (Gig Young and David Huddleston as well), a production this stylish, and a thorough sense of fun all the way through, it's a great oversight that the powers that are in control of this movie are not making it more widely available than just finding it on a TV schedule sometime (and I haven't found it lately myself) by releasing it to VHS or DVD (especially for us Holmes fans). If I am wrong here, please let me know and set me straight. So far, my hunts for a video release have come up empty and I really would like to see it again. My e-mail is as above: name, Philip Davis.
cosmocat
This may be the worst Sherlock Holmes film ever. I haven't seen the '70s version of "The Hound of the Baskervilles," but it's hard to imagine that it could be worse than this.The acting is awful, the dialog is horrible and the plot is rice paper thin. Why must we assume that whenever two characters have affection for one another they immediately jump in the sack and make a baby? How elementary could a crime committed by a 'criminal genius' be? Why must Watson, a physician, almost always be portrayed as a total idiot? Why, why, why must there be a romantic angle?I'll stop ranting now. I do give the film high marks for production design, but that's about it. The cinematography is amateurish at best and even the lighting and makeup are bad. Roger Moore is just awful as Holmes and Patrick MacNee was obviously poorly directed to act the moron. If you want a good Holmes film, check out "Murder by Decree." For my money, it's the best. If you want Holmes with a romantic bent, find the BBC TV series "A Scandal in Bohemia" episode. As for this bit of tripe, don't bother.
