Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace

Last updated

Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace
Shdnpos.jpg
French film poster
Directed by Terence Fisher
Screenplay by Curt Siodmak
Based on The Valley of Fear
by Arthur Conan Doyle
(uncredited)
Produced by Artur Brauner
Starring Christopher Lee
Senta Berger
Hans Söhnker
Hans Nielsen
Ivan Desny
Leon Askin
Wolfgang Lukschy
Edith Schultze-Westrum
Thorley Walters
Cinematography Richard Angst
Edited by Ira Oberberg
Music by Martin Slavin
Production
companies
CCC Filmkunst
Critérion Films
Incei Film
Distributed by Constantin Film
Release dates
30 November 1962 (West Germany)
3 May 1963 (Italy)
20 May 1964 (France)
March 1968 (United Kingdom)
Running time
87 minutes
CountriesWest Germany
France
Italy
LanguagesGerman
English
Box office198,324 admissions (France) [1]

Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace (German: Sherlock Holmes und das Halsband des Todes [2] ) is a 1962 mystery film directed by Terence Fisher. It is a West German-French-Italian international co-production. The film starred Christopher Lee as Sherlock Holmes and Thorley Walters as Dr. Watson. Curt Siodmak wrote the screenplay, based on characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Contents

Plot

The film's plot has Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson attempting to recover a stolen necklace, formerly worn by Cleopatra, from Professor Moriarty. Holmes tries to convince the police that the professor is a criminal, but they are disbelieving.

Cast

Production

One-time Universal screenwriter Curt Siodmak ( The Wolf Man ) wrote the screenplay, based on the characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The film was intended to be an adaptation of Doyle's final Holmes novel, The Valley of Fear , but only minor elements of this story remained. [4] [5]

West German producer Artur Brauner originally conceived the film as the first of a German film series. The producers' contact with the Arthur Conan Doyle estate led to the estate vetoing their original schemes to set the film in the present day such as the Edgar Wallace German film series and have Dr. Watson played by German comedian Heinz Erhardt. Many scenes of the film had to be reshot due to the Doyle estate not approving the dailies. Director Terence Fisher wrote memos to Brauner complaining the film was too static and not cinematic enough, leading to many rewrites by various uncredited screenwriters. [6]

Filming took place in July and August 1962 in Ireland, London and the Spandau Studios in Berlin. [3]

Lee donned a false nose [7] to play the famous detective for the first time. (He later reprised the role on TV, in 1991's Incident at Victoria Falls and 1992's Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady ). Lee and the rest of the cast were dubbed. [4] Although Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace was originally filmed in English, the English language audio track was recorded post-production by different actors, mainly American. [7] The film has a jazz score by Martin Slavin. [7]

Thorley Walters again played Dr. Watson in The Best House in London (1969), The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975), and Silver Blaze (1977). [7]

Release

The film's German premiere was on 30 November 1962. The Italian version was released on 3 May 1963 and the French one (Sherlock Holmes et le collier de la mort) on 20 May 1964. [3] Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace was not released to theatres in the United Kingdom until March 1968, and it went directly to television in the United States. [4]

Reaction

Fisher and Lee were not happy with the film. Fisher called it "a film well worth left alone" [8] and Lee said of it, "I think it was a pity, this film, in more ways than one. We should never have made it in Germany with German actors, although we had a British art director and a British director. It was a hodge podge of stories put together by the German producers, who ruined it. My portrayal of Holmes is, I think, one of the best things I've ever done because I tried to play him really as he was written, as a very intolerant, argumentative, difficult man, and I looked extraordinarily like him with the make-up. Everyone who's seen it said I was as like Holmes as any actor they've ever seen both in appearance and interpretation." [4]

Segnalazione Cinematografiche criticised the film for reducing the tale to banalities and for being a sloppy adaption with modest performances by director and actors. [9] However, the German Lexikon des internationalen Films called it "an amusing detective game" set at the turn of the century that came quite close to recreating "the strange attraction" of Conan Doyle's Holmes adventures. [10]

The Monthly Film Bulletin said of the film that "apart from some startling anachronisms the period detail was on the whole nicely done", [11] but Marjorie Bilbow of Cinema and T.V. Today said, "As a story woven around an unknown detective it would have been forgiveable, but classic characters demand more accurate handling than this." [11] A more recent review from George R. Reis of DVDdrive-in.com called the film "an enjoyable little mystery" and Lee "a wonderful Holmes". [12]

Charles Prepolec of the Holmes fan website BakerStreetDozen.com wrote, "There are some amusingly broad characters that add an element of humour, including a sadly Nigel Bruce-like performance from Thorley Walters. Comedic turns abound in a pub sequence with Holmes in his thug disguise. There are some well played scenes between Lee and Hans Söhnker, played out on a bench that echo the fantastic exchange between Holmes and Moriarty recorded in The Final Problem . Great stuff, but unfortunately not frequent enough in this film." [13]

Home video

Retromedia Entertainment released Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace on DVD in 2005. In 2006, Alpha Video released a double feature DVD including Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace and the 1931 film The Speckled Band , starring Raymond Massey. In 2021 the film was released on Blu-Ray by Severin Films in the collection "The Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee".

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Final Problem</span> Short story by Arthur Conan Doyle featuring Sherlock Holmes

"The Final Problem" is a short story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle featuring his detective character Sherlock Holmes. It was first published in The Strand Magazine in the United Kingdom, and McClure's in the United States, under the title "The Adventure of the Final Problem" in December 1893. It appears in book form as part of the collection The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">221B Baker Street</span> Address of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes

221B Baker Street is the London address of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, created by author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In the United Kingdom, postal addresses with a number followed by a letter may indicate a separate address within a larger, often residential building. Baker Street in the late 19th century was a high-class residential district, and Holmes's apartment would probably have been part of a Georgian terrace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Adventure of the Speckled Band</span> Short story by Arthur Conan Doyle featuring Sherlock Holmes

"The Adventure of the Speckled Band" is one of 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the eighth story of twelve in the collection The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It was originally published in Strand Magazine in February 1892.

<i>The Valley of Fear</i> Sherlock Holmes novel by Arthur Conan Doyle

The Valley of Fear is the fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. It is loosely based on the Molly Maguires and Pinkerton agent James McParland. The story was first published in the Strand Magazine between September 1914 and May 1915. The first book edition was copyrighted in 1914, and it was first published by George H. Doran Company in New York on 27 February 1915, and illustrated by Arthur I. Keller.

<i>The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes Smarter Brother</i> 1975 film by Gene Wilder

The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother is a 1975 American musical comedy film with Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn, Dom DeLuise, Roy Kinnear, and Leo McKern. The film was Wilder's directorial debut, from his own original script.

Sherlock Holmes has long been a popular character for pastiche, Holmes-related work by authors and creators other than Arthur Conan Doyle. Their works can be grouped into four broad categories:

<i>The Spider Woman</i> 1943 mystery film directed by Roy William Neill

The Spider Woman is a 1943 mystery film starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson, the seventh of fourteen such films the pair were involved in. As with all of the Universal Studios films in the series, the film is set in then-present day as opposed to the Victorian setting of the original stories. This film incorporates elements from the 1890 novel The Sign of the Four, as well as the short stories "The Final Problem", "The Adventure of the Empty House", "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" and makes explicit reference to "The Adventure of the Devil's Foot".

<i>The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes</i> (film) 1939 film by Alfred L. Werker

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is a 1939 American mystery adventure film based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes detective stories. Although claiming to be an adaptation of the 1899 play Sherlock Holmes by William Gillette, the film bears little resemblance to the play.

<i>Sherlock Holmes</i> (1932 film) 1932 film

Sherlock Holmes is a 1932 American pre-Code film starring Clive Brook as the eponymous London detective. The movie is based on the successful stage play Sherlock Holmes by William Gillette, in turn based on the stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, and is directed by William K. Howard for the Fox Film Corporation. Brook had played Holmes previously in The Return of Sherlock Holmes and the "Murder Will Out" segment of Paramount on Parade.

<i>Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon</i> 1943 film by Roy William Neill

Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1942) is the fourth in the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce series of 14 Sherlock Holmes films which updated the characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to the then present day. The film is credited as an adaptation of Conan Doyle's 1903 short story "The Adventure of the Dancing Men," though the only element from the source material is the dancing men code. Rather, it is a spy film taking place on the background of the then ongoing Second World War with an original premise. The film concerns the kidnapping of a Swiss scientist by their nemesis Professor Moriarty, to steal a new bomb sight and sell it to Nazi Germany. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson have to crack a secret code in order to save the country.

<i>The Sign of Four</i> (1983 film) British TV series or programme

The Sign of Four is a 1983 British made-for-television mystery film directed by Desmond Davis and starring Ian Richardson and David Healy. The film is based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 1890 novel of the same name, the second novel to feature Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson.

<i>Sherlock Holmes</i> (1965 TV series) TV series or program

Sherlock Holmes and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes are two British series of Sherlock Holmes adaptations for television produced by the BBC in 1965 and 1968 respectively. The 1965 production, which followed a pilot the year before, was the second BBC series of Sherlock Holmes adaptations, after one starring Alan Wheatley in 1951.

Sherlock Holmes is a film series running from 1931 to 1937. Arthur Wontner portrayed Sherlock Holmes in five films.

Silver Blaze is a 1977 British/Canadian television film directed by John Davies and starring Christopher Plummer and Thorley Walters. It is based on Arthur Conan Doyle's 1892 short story The Adventure of Silver Blaze.

<i>Sherlock Holmes</i> (play) Four-act play by William Gillette & Arthur Conan Doyle

Sherlock Holmes is a four-act play by William Gillette and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, based on Conan Doyle's character Sherlock Holmes. After three previews it premiered on Broadway November 6, 1899, at the Garrick Theatre in New York City.

The Hound of London is a television film directed by Peter Reynolds-Long and starring Patrick Macnee as Arthur Conan Doyle's character Sherlock Holmes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Professor Moriarty in other media</span>

Professor James Moriarty is the fictional archenemy of Sherlock Holmes in some of the stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He has appeared in several forms outside of the original stories.

Sherlock Holmes is a German 1967 television series featuring Erich Schellow as Sherlock Holmes and Paul Edwin Roth as Dr. Watson.

The Three Garridebs is a 1937 television presentation that aired on NBC, based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 1924 story "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs". Louis Hector played Sherlock Holmes, the first actor to do so on television.

References

  1. Box office information for Terence Fisher films in France at Box office Story
  2. Barnes, Alan (2002). Sherlock Holmes on Screen. Reynolds & Hearn Ltd. p. 168. ISBN   1-903111-04-8.
  3. 1 2 3 "Filmportal: Sherlock Holmes und das Halsband des Todes" . Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Davies, David Stuart (1978). Holmes of the Movies: The Screen Career of Sherlock Holmes' . Bramhall House. p.  130. ISBN   0-517-23279-0.
  5. Bunson, Matthew (1997). Encyclopedia Sherlockiana: an A-to-Z guide to the world of the great detective. Macmillan. p. 237. ISBN   0-02-861679-0.
  6. Bergfelder, Tim (2005). International Adventures: German Popular Cinema and European Co-productions in the 1960s. Berghahn Books. pp. 130–131. ISBN   978-1-57181-539-2.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Barnes, Alan (2002). Sherlock Holmes on Screen. Reynolds & Hearn Ltd. p. 171. ISBN   1-903111-04-8.
  8. Davies, David Stuart (1978). Holmes of the Movies: The Screen Career of Sherlock Holmes' . Bramhall House. pp.  129-130. ISBN   0-517-23279-0.
  9. Segnalazione Cinematografiche. Volume 54, 1963
  10. Katholisches Institut für Medieninformation (ed.) (1991). Lexikon des internationalen Films, Band 7 (German). Rowohlt. p. 3436. ISBN   3499163225.{{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  11. 1 2 Davies, David Stuart (1978). Holmes of the Movies: The Screen Career of Sherlock Holmes' . Bramhall House. p.  132. ISBN   0-517-23279-0.
  12. Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace review – dvddrive-in.com
  13. Sherlock Holmes and Christopher Lee: An Overview