The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970)

Réalisateur:

Billy Wilder

Scénaristes:

Arthur Conan Doyle (characters)
Billy Wilder (written by) ...

Date de sortie:

29 octobre 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Aventure | Comedie | Crime | Mystère | Romance | Thriller

Accroche:

What you don't know about Sherlock Holmes has made a great motion picture. [USA Theatrical]

Intrigue:

When a bored Holmes eagerly takes the case of Gabrielle Valladon after an attempt on her life, the search for her missing husband leads to Loch Ness and the legendary monster.

Plot Keywords:

Loch Ness | Monk | Sherlock Holmes | Castle | Loch Ness Monster

Récompenses:

2 nominations

Avis des utilisateurs:

DVD treasures

Ensemble

Robert Stephens	...	Sherlock Holmes
Colin Blakely	...	Dr. Watson
Geneviève Page	...	Gabrielle Valladon (as Genevieve Page)
Christopher Lee	...	Mycroft Holmes
Tamara Toumanova	...	Madame Petrova
Clive Revill	...	Rogozhin
Irene Handl	...	Mrs. Hudson
Mollie Maureen	...	Queen Victoria
Stanley Holloway	...	Gravedigger
Catherine Lacey	...	Woman in wheelchair
Peter Madden	...	Von Tirpitz
Michael Balfour	...	Cabby
James Copeland	...	Guide
John Garrie	...	First carter
Godfrey James	...	Second carter

Durée:

125 min | Germany:120 min (TV version)

Pays:

UK

Langue:

Anglais | Russe | Français

Couleur:

Couleur

Rapport de forme:

2,35 : 1

Son:

Mono

Classification:

Iceland:L | USA:PG-13 (certificate #22200) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1988) | USA:GP (original rating) | West Germany:6 | Singapore:PG

Lieux de tournage:

Drumnadrochit, Loch Ness, Highland, Scotland, UK

Société:

Compton Films

Anecdotes:

With a 260-page script and a budget of $10 million, this was set to be a 165-minute Road Show picture with an intermission for comfort. It was to be the "Big One" for Billy Wilder. The shooting schedule ran for six months and resulted in a rough-cut that came in at three hours and 20 minutes. The film was originally structured as a series of very specifically structured linked episodes, each with a particular title and theme. The opening sequence was to feature Watson's grandson in London claiming his inherited dispatch box from Cox & Co. and there was also a flashback to Holmes' Oxford days to explain his distrust of women. All were shot, but deleted from the final print. So what happened? Well, it appears that United Artists suffered a number of major film flops in 1969 that pretty much scuppered the road show format for Wilder's massive project. Studio execs ordered the film to be cut to fill a regular theatrical running time, whittling it down to a 125-minute version. The episodic format made the pruning process relatively simple, so cut were the opening sequence, the Oxford flashback and two full episodes entitled "The Dreadful Business of the Naked Honeymooners" at 15 minutes and "The Curious Case of the Upside Down Room" at 30 minutes. We can only hope that the full footage can one day be restored, although a full print is not currently thought to exist.

Goofs:

Erreurs dans la géographie: When Holmes, Watson and Gabrielle get off the train at Inverness, the train goes forward to another destination. The railway station at Inverness is a terminus.

Guillemet:

Holmes: Look at this: an urgent appeal to find some missing midgets.
Watson: Did you say "midgets"?
Holmes: Six of them, the Tumbling Piccolos, an acrobatic act of some circus.
Watson: [Reading the letter] Disappeared between London and Bristol. Well don't you find that intriguing?
Holmes: Extremely so. You see, they're not only midgets, but also anarchists.
Watson: Anarchists?
Holmes: By now, they have been smuggled to Vienna, dressed as little girls in organdy pinafores. They are to greet the czar of all the Russias when he arrives at the railway station. They will be carrying bouquets of flowers, and concealed in each bouquet will be a bomb with a lit fuse.
[...]

Connexions De Film:

Référencé sur Christopher Lee: Mr. Holmes, Mr. Wilder (2003) (V)

DVD treasures

This has always been one of my favorite movies. A good take on Holmes, a witty story, a bittersweet ending and music by Miklos Rozsa that sets the tone perfectly. When I saw it had become available on DVD I rushed out and bought it, without even checking to see the extras on the disc. The quality of the print is all right, but there are times it should have been better. The extras just kept getting better. Christopher Lee remembers his times playing Holmes in other films as well as Mycroft in this movie. Then there's the film editor who mentions parts of the movie I never heard of. Then the disc shows the deleted scenes in various forms and it's amazing what was cut. There is only one little bit I feel would have explained things in the movie better, but all the scenes are interesting. A must for people who love this film and want a wealth of information.