MissSimonetta Never having read the Sherlock Holmes stories, I cannot say whether or not this is a good adaptation of the character and spirit of the original material. I can say that I enjoyed it immensely and believe it is Billy Wilder's unsung masterpiece of his late career.The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970) manages to be both satirical and melancholy in equal turns. There is an autumnal sadness to the whole thing. It has been called an elegy for the Victorian era's values of honor, but I believe it is also an elegy for an older, more classical style of filmmaking. It certainly feels old-fashioned when placed beside the New Hollywood films from the young directors of the late sixties and seventies. The lush scenery and achingly beautiful Rosza score make it feel a little older than it is.The film explores Holmes not as a superhuman thinking machine, but as a lonely man afraid to let anyone in. His sexuality is brought up throughout, but whether he is homosexual, heterosexual, asexual, or even bisexual is never specified. The nature of his feelings for Dr. Watson and the woman Gabrielle are left ambiguous even within the downbeat ending.It's a wonderful film and I only wish the missing fifty minutes could be discovered.

JamesSaintRave Director Billy Wilder and co-writer I.A.L. Diamond fashioned a wild take on the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle characters in 1970. Within the first half an hour, they tackle Holmes addiction to cocaine and his mysterious sexual ambiguity, as well as drop references to "Jamaican cigars" and give us a very funny "turn of events", if you will, with Dr. Watson dancing with several male ballet dancers. The rest of the film concentrates on a pretty good-but not very dangerous mystery. This is a very character driven film, so the casting is everything. They almost got it right! Robert Stephens is perhaps the best Holmes ever on screen (sorry Basil and Robert Downey!)A great British stage actor, this is one of his only starring roles on film, shame, he is darn good. Colin Blakely, usually a supporting character in films, enjoys second billing as Dr. Watson, and he is simply incredible. His Watson is funny, but never a buffoon, a mistake made by Nigel Bruce, Jude Law, and too many others. Everyone's favorite Christopher Lee proves here that Holmes brother Mycroft IS smarter, but suffers from a lack of compassion. The only weak link here is Genevieve Page. She never connects with Stephens-which is a major part of the story. Page is a good actress, but Britt Ekland or Elke Sommer at this time would have provided a little sexual twist to role of Gabrielle Valladon. There has never been a film in which the musical score is so perfect and so haunting--it is almost as if the music is a role itself, quite excellent--should have won an Oscar. This was Wilder's last great film, and you can tell it was a personal project for him, directed with skill and care (and a love of Holmes)--Sir Arthur would have loved it--and you will too.

Rick Brands Beautifully shot (particularly the parts in Scotland), magnificently acted (especially by the two leads, but also kudos for Ms. Page and Holmes-veteran Christopher Lee) and a pretty nifty mystery make for a movie that qualifies as far more than just 'good', but I certainly wouldn't call it great. Wilder obviously applied his knack for snappy dialogue, and he brilliantly managed to merge his own particular style with the classic British Victorian tongue-in-cheek humour, so there are many chuckles to be had. It's also great to catch a glimpse of the more romantic, less calculating side of the Great Detective.Nevertheless, it's abundantly clear that the studio brutally edited more than one hour out of the film, which makes for a good detective mystery, but it doesn't tell us anything really 'new' about Sherlock Holmes, the man and his motives, as the title implies. I would have loved to see the finished product the way Wilder intended it; he himself was appalled by the cuts, as he considered this his 'most elegant picture'. Still, it's a very good, if somewhat inconsistent, movie.

ma-cortes When a bored Holmes (Robert Stephens who also played Holmes on the stage and in TV series 'The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes') eagerly takes the case of Gabrielle Valladon (Genevieve Page) after an attempt on her life , the search for her missing husband leads to Sherlock and Watson (Colin Blakely) towards Loch Ness and the legendary monster. This affectionate story reveals the secret allegedly hidden by Holmes and Watson .Atypical Holmes movie , resulting to be a extremely personal pastiche of the Arthur Conan Doyle stories and takes a melancholic point of sight at famous eye private . It is packed with intrigue , thrills , emotion , taste , wit , and of course ,intrigue . In the flick appears the usual of the Arthur Conan Doyle's novels : Mycroft (Sherlock's brother , well played by Christopher Lee) , Mistress Hudson (Irene Handl) , and as always Doctor Watson (Colin Blakely). Furthermore , a notorious secondary cast as Clive Revill , Stanley Holloway as an undertaker , Catherine Lacey in her last cinema film and the classic dancer Tamara Toumanova . The film has an enjoyable atmosphere , it's in wonderful color that originates a glamorous setting created by the magnificent cameraman Chistopher Challis , and filmed at Pinewood Studios , Buckinghamshire, and Inverness , Highland , Scotland . Production design by the expert Alexandre Trauner is of first rate , the movie is very atmospheric , 221 Baker Street home , the streets of London , castles are very well designed .Robert Stephens's interpretation is magnificent, he's one of the best Sherlock Holmes in the cinema , likeness to Peter Cushing and Jeremy Brett in television. Robert Stephens as Holmes plays in a clever , broody and impetuous manner . Colin Blakely plays as Watson with humor, goofy and joy , he's the perfect counterpoint to Holmes . However , initially Peter O'Toole was going to play Sherlock Holmes with Peter Sellers playing Dr. Watson, but Billy Wilder decided to go with lesser known stars instead . Originally, the scenes featuring the Loch Ness Monster were intended to be filmed in the actual Loch , a life-size prop was built which had several Nessie-like humps used to disguise flotation devices , the humps were removed, however, at Billy Wilder's request. Unfortunately, during a test run in Loch Ness, the Monster-prop sank and was never recovered ; a second prop was built, but was only filmed inside a studio tank . At the request of director Billy Wilder, composer Miklós Rózsa adapted music from his own Violin Concerto , opus 24 , as the basis for the film score, supplementing this with further original music. This special Billy Wilder movie takes melancholy look at Holmes . Apparently, he had been a fan of Sherlock Holmes for many years prior to making this picture. Wilder said of this flick in the book 'Conversations with Wilder' by 'Cameron Crowe' : " when I came back from Paris, it was an absolute disaster, the way it was cut. The whole prologue was cut, a half-sequence was cut , in fact it was intended as a 3 and half hour film . I had tears in my eyes as I looked at the thing. It was the most elegant picture I've ever shot ¨ . The motion picture was panned by the critics whose reputation should soar in future years , being recently a 12 minutes restored . Rating : Better than average , 7/10 . Well worth watching .