AmateurMovieReviews.com

Review by Garnet Brooks

This is a feature film produced by Granada Media. It is like the television series starring Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwick as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. This is a later entry in the Holmes timeline and occurs after he has pursued Moriarty over the Falls. Jeremy Brett is my favorite Holmes. His characterization of the detective is unconventional and may take a little getting used to for some. This was my experience of it also. When I first saw Brett in this role I thought him a little over the top, a little overly dramatic compared to the portrayals I had seen. Holmes as written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is all rationality and is dry and emotionless. Brett retains the Holmes peculiarities but adds something that makes him a more interesting character than the one as written by Conan Doyle. This film is taken from the story called "The Nobel Bachelor."

Visually, the film begins with the fog dimmed streets and gaslights of Victorian London. The television series begins with London streets and the clippity-clip of horses hooves and they convey a carriage down the street. London in this era is full of gentlemen in top hats but because it is a mystery series it is also set in the dangerous, out of the way back streets. There is a scene like this and a woman seemingly drunk laughing.

The scene changes to the country. We see a country estate set like a jewel in the lush green landscape. A couple appear on horseback and they stare across a body of water at the looming estate. She is an American heiress and he is the eligible bachelor in question. Her name is Hettie and his is Lord St. Simon. Hettie is a spirited girl and the Englishman is all attentiveness. The isolated and rarely visited estate has a private zoo and the tiger there is as entranced with Hettie as is the Lord. A woman companion with her later remarks that Hettie stared down a bear near the mining camp back in America. Her father owns the mines and is American-in-Europe wealthy. He is there in a later scene making sure his daughter is taken care of before the planned wedding. When Hettie meets the bachelor's family they are all genuine smiles and approval.

Back in London Holmes is in a funk. He is puffy faced and pale. He has been using cocaine again and is withdrawn even more profoundly from humanity than usual. Mrs. Hudson is afraid to test him and Dr. Watson has been away. He comes back to find Holmes ill and bored. No worthy opponent has presented himself or herself in Moriarty's absence. Thus, Holmes' drug use. The uber-rationalist Holmes is having peculiar dreams. He dreams of a woman all wild and beastlike who is trapped and clawing to get out. He dreams of a torn red chair. The dreams seem to have special significance to him and he sketches the dreams as he dreams over and over. Later the dreams appear to have been premonitions. Holmes has taken to haunting the dangerous streets of London at night when he cannot sleep.

Two visitors spark him into action again. Lord St. Simon visits asking for help. At first Holmes in his dressing gown lets Dr. Watson take the information and Holmes does not put in an appearance. The English lord is a bit disparaging but is impressed when he finds that Holmes has been consulted by a European monarch. Holmes is less than impressed with St. Simon. It is the appearance of a veiled woman who causes Holmes to put in an appearance. He follows her out into the street in the rain--in his dressing gown but she has gone leaving a meager clue.

There is another major player in the action. Flora Miller a well-known stage actress is St. Simon's mistress. He has cast her off after many years for the lovely Hettie. She is drinking too much and is angry at St. Simon's betrayal. Flora wants revenge. She is not the only one. The veiled woman is Lord St. Simon's sister-in-law. Few know of his previous two marriages. His first wife was killed shortly after the ceremony took place. The second wealthy wife is Helena's sister. The woman was declared mad and disappeared. It is unclear whether or not Helena's sister is alive. She cannot find out for herself and learns of the upcoming wedding. She wears a veil to conceal her disfigured face. There is another person who is deeply involved in this mystery. This individual is not yet known to most.

The stage is set for the usual murder. But a usual murder does not happen. Instead Holmes is swept up in the horror of an individual's suffering. Solving the mystery leads him to his worst nightmare and as close as we ever come to seeing Holmes feeling for another. That other engenders his deepest respect. Later in life Conan Doyle became interested in the paranormal and became a sort of believer despite his background of scientific rationalism. Unlike earlier Holmes stories this one has a seemingly paranormal event.

This is a worthy production. Giving away more would undoubtedly spoil the experience of the moviegoer. This film is available on DVD in an MPI digitally restored version. Many of these Brett as Holmes stories are available on video. Some of the video episodes are of average quality and some are of less than average quality. The DVD version is a nice clear print