Search - The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG-13 Content Advisory: Mild Violence, Adult Situations, Questionable for Children, Adult Language Movie Release: 1970 DVD Release: 07/15/2003 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 2 hrs 5 mins Studio: MGM Members Wishing: 0 Genres: Mystery, Romantic Adventure, Comedy Thriller

In Billy Wilder's cinematic homage to the spirit of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, British stage luminary Robert Stephens plays Holmes, while Colin Blakely is his friend and chronicler Dr. Watson. This self-described "hitherto suppressed and thoroughly fascinating" tale concerns Holmes' search for a missing mining engineer -- a case that may have a far-reaching effect on the national security of England. Along the way, Holmes falls in love for the first time in his life, with enigmatic foreign beauty Gabrielle Valladon (Genevieve Page). In this 1970 film, Wilder emphasizes such then-current topics as homosexuality (notably during the film's prologue) and drug addiction. Christopher Lee, a former screen Holmes himself, has a cameo (minus toupee) as Sherlock's brother Mycroft Holmes. Heavily re-edited and rearranged both before and after its release, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes was a box-office disappointment when it came out in 1970. Since that time, its reputation has grown immeasurably, especially among those lucky enough to have seen a complete print. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Robert Stephens - Sherlock Holmes
Colin Blakely - Dr. John H. Watson
Irene Handl - Mrs. Hudson
Geneviève Page - Gabrielle Valladon
Stanley Holloway - 1st Gravedigger
Christopher Lee - Mycroft Holmes
Tamara Toumanova - Petrova

A complete version of Billy Wilder's The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970) is sort of the "Flying Dutchman" of modern movies, equivalent to a complete edition of Orson Welles's Magnificent Ambersons among 40's titles or a complete version of Von Stroheim's Greed in silent movies. There will likely never be one --we're "stuck" with the 125 minute version -- despite the fact that a nearly four-hour version of the movie did exist at one point, and a separate "answer print" of one of the missing segments was specifically prepared for the production company that financed the movie. The DVD edition, however, is the next best thing -- the producers of the MGM disc have expanded on work done for the special laserdisc version issued in the early 1990's, which contained a reconstruction of the "lost" segment "The Dreadful Business of The Naked Honeymooners." All of the missing segments have been reconstructed here using surviving audio, script pages, stills, and fragmentary film sections, though before watching any of this material, it is recommended that one first view the two featurettes shot for this release. The first of the supplements, entitled "Christopher Lee: Mr. Holmes, Mr. Wilder," is centered on Christopher Lee, who played Mycroft Holmes in the movie and credits Billy Wilder as the greatest of all of the directors with whom he ever worked, and his experience on The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes with changing his life completely. Lee delves into his intellectual relationship with the Holmes character, and his portrayals of the characters of both Sherlock Holmes and Mycroft Holmes at various times, and his friendship with one of Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's sons. Lee's section of the supplement is absorbing on both a personal and an intellectual level, and he ranges freely across literature, film, and personal biography, and this reviewer is only sorry that "Christopher Lee: Mr. Holmes, Mr. Wilder" doesn't run longer. The rather longer interview with editor Ernest Walker tells us a lot more about the production proper, the relationship between Wilder and screenwriter/co-author I.A.L. Diamond on the set (which evidently was akin to the collaboration between Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger in this instance). And he tells of the lost sequences from the film and the how and why of what was lost when the movie was cut, after the initial assembly of the film. He also tells a fascinating tale of his first formal meeting with Walter Mirisch, on a movie that was never finished, which resulted in his getting to work with Wilder on this movie -- this, in turn, leads to his memories of the original, lost introductory segment of the film. The supplementary section allows the missing sequences to be played straight through or to be selected one at a time from an easy to manipulate menu. The original prologue is represented by on-screen script pages, intercut with surviving stills, that advance gradually like a film clip. "The Curious Case of the Upside Down Room" is handled in somewhat similar fashion, except that there are audio portions (complete with score by Miklos Rozsa) to go along with the script excerpts from the missing sequence and the occasional relevant film clips. "The Adventure Of The Dumbfounded Detective: Holmes Recounts An Affair Of The Past" is made up of stills and script pages, while "The Dreadful Business of the Naked Honeymooners" has a beautiful picture but no audio, and the dialogue appears instead as subtitles below the letterboxed image. The movie itself has been given a very good, generally sharp and bright transfer with a letterboxed aspect ratio of 2.35-to-1, capturing the original release's Panavision image in gorgeous detail and rich color. Curiously, the audio level on the movie is set at a slightly higher level than that on the supplements, though both give excellent play to Miklos Rozsa's music. The chaptering is as generous as the supplementary section which, by itself, makes this an essential title to own for anyone who's ever enjoyed Wilder's work. The main menu opens automatically on start-up and the supplements run several layers deep, all of it well labeled and easy to use -- English, French, and Spanish subtitles are also available. The bonus materials will keep viewers busy at least as long as the movie will, and its a fascinating lesson in the way movies are conceived, devised, and completed, for better or worse. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide