MURDER BY DECREE is a pretty good exploration of what might have happened had Sherlock Holmes encountered Jack the Ripper. The story had already been done previously in the 1965 film A STUDY IN TERROR, which I found to be this movie's superior, but MURDER BY DECREE still has a lot going for it. It's got a heady atmosphere and some truly sinister moments, like the close-up of the killer's black-iris eyeball, which come courtesy of Bob Clark, the famed director who made the creepy slasher film BLACK Christmas. The look and feel of Victorian London is spot on.
It also boasts the finest Watson put on screen to date: James Mason. Mason is one of those impeccable English gentlemen – Peter Cushing was another – who has the ability to make us believe in any character, no matter what film he appears in. His Watson is humorous, kindly, but exceedingly tough, too, a real force to be reckoned with. Christopher Plummer's Sherlock Holmes is less successful. He's not likable, but the neither was the literary Holmes; Plummer is a fine actor, but I don't know. He just doesn't seem as painstaking as some of the actors who have portrayed Holmes on television. He's good, but not Rathbone.
The story of the Jack the Ripper murders is very familiar. I've seen plenty of films about him, and most of those have a detective as the central character anyway, so the presence of Holmes doesn't really make much sense here. The main drawback with this film is the running time: it's far too long. When it's moving, with the scenes of detection, of carriages flying past, and the excellent, chase-focused climax, it's good fun; when it slows down, as in the drawn-out asylum sequence, it's a bore. The plot elements don't really go anywhere and the various elements of the mystery – Freemasons, the royal family, etc. – don't gel too much. So this is a film that gets by on atmosphere alone.
There are other strengths, though. The supporting cast is fine, with David Hemmings and Anthony Quayle great as stuffy officials, and Frank Finlay splendid as Lestrade. There are some notable cameos from the likes of John Gielgud as the prime minister, Genevieve Bujold as a madwoman, and Donald Sutherland as an eccentric psychic. The comic interplay between Plummer and Mason is splendid, and for me the film's highlight is the small matter of a pea on Watson's plate! As a whole, though, the Johnny Depp-starrer FROM HELL was more to my liking, despite the flashiness and obvious attempts to appeal to the modern audience.
It also boasts the finest Watson put on screen to date: James Mason. Mason is one of those impeccable English gentlemen – Peter Cushing was another – who has the ability to make us believe in any character, no matter what film he appears in. His Watson is humorous, kindly, but exceedingly tough, too, a real force to be reckoned with. Christopher Plummer's Sherlock Holmes is less successful. He's not likable, but the neither was the literary Holmes; Plummer is a fine actor, but I don't know. He just doesn't seem as painstaking as some of the actors who have portrayed Holmes on television. He's good, but not Rathbone.
The story of the Jack the Ripper murders is very familiar. I've seen plenty of films about him, and most of those have a detective as the central character anyway, so the presence of Holmes doesn't really make much sense here. The main drawback with this film is the running time: it's far too long. When it's moving, with the scenes of detection, of carriages flying past, and the excellent, chase-focused climax, it's good fun; when it slows down, as in the drawn-out asylum sequence, it's a bore. The plot elements don't really go anywhere and the various elements of the mystery – Freemasons, the royal family, etc. – don't gel too much. So this is a film that gets by on atmosphere alone.
There are other strengths, though. The supporting cast is fine, with David Hemmings and Anthony Quayle great as stuffy officials, and Frank Finlay splendid as Lestrade. There are some notable cameos from the likes of John Gielgud as the prime minister, Genevieve Bujold as a madwoman, and Donald Sutherland as an eccentric psychic. The comic interplay between Plummer and Mason is splendid, and for me the film's highlight is the small matter of a pea on Watson's plate! As a whole, though, the Johnny Depp-starrer FROM HELL was more to my liking, despite the flashiness and obvious attempts to appeal to the modern audience.