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The Private Life of
Sherlock Holmes (1970)
Rate:
3
Viewed:
4/13
4/13:
Add The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes to the long disappointing list of failed Sherlock Holmes pictures.
What shocks me the most is Billy Wilder wrote the screenplay and directed it. I expected more from him and thought he would
do the characters justice after reading the original stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. But no...the sight of one mere
buffoonery by "Dr." Watson ruins it all. Moreover, I hate the character sketch of Mycroft Holmes. It won't ever happen.
Mycroft was corpulent, and he trusted his brother in all matters.
Also, there's no way in hell Sherlock Holmes is hoodwinked like that. In fact, the real Holmes would've
figured it out within a day through the usual routine by checking with his sources via underground channels and
producing photographs of the couple for verification. But here, he never bothers using any of the Holmesian techniques and
just strolls along, making observations from a distance. That's when I knew the film died.
The way Watson treated Sherlock Holmes is both appalling and unacceptable. Not once it ever happened in Arthur Conan
Doyle's stories. And if it did, Holmes would've never stood for it. He always had a commanding presence in every situation
and was respected all the time, even if one or two initially refused to believe in his methods. Hence, the fake Watson
needs to shut the hell up or be thrown into the Thames River.
The mystery as presented isn't worthy of Sherlock's time. He would've stayed home while sending off Watson on a
fact-checking trip. By the time he's back to tell what Holmes needed to know, the case will be solved in mere
seconds. You see, he thought it all out in his head the whole time. No, he's only interested in the hardest and
most exotic cases. On the other hand, Robert Stephens has done a great job, and it's a fine portrayal of the famous detective.
All in all, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes is a disappointment coming from Billy Wilder.