SnoopyStyle It's 1891 London. Sherlock Holmes (Nicol Williamson) is suffering delusions from his cocaine use and convinced of Professor James Moriarty (Laurence Olivier) as a master criminal. A concerned Dr. John H. Watson (Robert Duvall) decides to create a fictional case for Sherlock to chase to Vienna where he could get treatment from experimental psychotherapist Dr. Sigmund Freud (Alan Arkin). He recruits Mycroft Holmes to force Moriarty to lead Sherlock on the chase. Sherlock arrives at Sigmund's office and is convinced to be treated by his 7% solution. As he recovers from withdrawal, Sherlock deduces Freud's patient Lola Deveraux (Vanessa Redgrave) had escaped from an abductor and recalls a memory of buried secrets.It's a compelling reimagining of the fictional characters. The journey to Vienna is a bit of Sherlock fun. His treatment slows the movie down. It would be more compelling to have Sherlock investigate the case while fully in withdrawal and the delusional snake montage can be trimmed down. The investigating trio is rather intriguing. The acting is generally excellent. The case is circuitous and sometimes muddled. The bad guys are obvious from the start. For a Sherlock Holmes mystery, it needs to be better. The final reveal isn't quite as shocking as the movie wants it to be. Otherwise, this is a great concept.

jacobs-greenwood Produced and directed by Herbert Ross, novelist Nicholas Meyer used Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's characters to write an interesting crime mystery involving Sherlock Holmes, his loyal and trusty companion Dr. Watson, and Dr. Sigmund Freud!Though the drama begins as an exploration into the destructive nature of cocaine addiction (the title refers to the concentration of cocaine Holmes self-injected), and how it almost leads to the famous detective's undoing, it devolves into a comedy adventure of sorts after Freud helps Holmes fight this weakness.The cast, which is excellent, includes Nicol Williamson as Holmes, Robert Duvall as Dr. Watson (and the film's occasional narrator), Alan Arkin as Dr. Freud, Laurence Olivier as Holmes's nemesis Professor Moriarty, plus Vanessa Redgrave, Joel Grey, and Jeremy Kemp, who figure in the mystery. Samantha Eggar appears briefly as Watson's wife, Morstan. Screenplay writer Meyer and Costume Designer Alan Barrett received their only Oscar nominations for their work on this film.Watson (Duvall) is naturally concerned that his friend, the eminent detective Sherlock Holmes (Williamson), has become a paranoid recluse that believes that Professor Moriarty (Olivier) is out to get him. In fact, it is Moriarty, who Holmes is stalking, that makes Watson aware of the detective's irrational obsession.Upon investigation, Watson discovers that Holmes is under the influence of cocaine. He'd also learned that there is some tragedy in the two's shared past beyond the fact that Moriarty was a difficult calculus instructor of Holmes's; Moriarty refused to reveal anything else. Watson decides to visit Holmes's brother Mycroft (Charles Gray) who is able to use this secret past against Moriarty to get him to lead his brother to Vienna, where Dr. Freud (Arkin) has been able to help those with similar addictions.The most incredible display of the great detective's powers of perception and deductive reasoning occurs shortly after Holmes meets Freud - merely by walking through the doctor's flat, Holmes is able to tell Freud's life story to date!After a long and arduous 'drying out' period, wrought with hallucinations, and assisted by some hypnosis from Dr. Freud, Holmes is introduced to one of the doctor's former patients, a famous actress named Lola Deveraux (Redgrave). Deveraux had been 'cured' of her cocaine addiction by Freud, but she is found in a hospital, partially under its influence again, after allegedly trying to kill herself. Holmes deduces that she'd been bound and forced into using the drug, and had actually been trying to escape.This leads the three men (Holmes, Watson, & Freud) to follow a strange little man (Joel Grey, playing Lowenstein) that fits Deveraux's brief description of her abductor. After this man leads them into a trap in which they're almost killed, Holmes realizes to late that they'd been distracted so that the perpetrator could recapture Ms. Deveraux.It turns out that the man responsible for her abduction is Baron von Leinsdorf (Kemp), who had earlier made an antisemitic comment to Freud at their club and lost a real tennis (not what you think) match to the doctor, who'd wanted satisfaction. Assisted by Deveraux, who'd dropped flowers like 'bread crumbs' enabling them to follow her, the three men capture Lowenstein and figure out that the Baron is responsible.It is at this point in the story that the film becomes a wild, cross continent chase more than anything else, with predictable results. However, one does finally learn, while Freud has Holmes under hypnosis, the root causes of the detective's cocaine addiction and the reason why Moriarty was involved in his fantasies.

movie-enthusiast I can't believe that this film is forgotten by the general public. I had to buy a region 4 disc to get this in widescreen. Thank the Muses for this disc! Any Sherlock Holmes fan will love this. A beautiful film with scenes shot in Austria and England, and at Pinewood Studios located just outside of London. We have a comedy full of serious issues - taken seriously. Women as property: tie them up and force-feed them drugs then you can take them anywhere. Hazing and dueling: a men's club can be treacherous for a psychiatrist with new ideas. Drug addiction: friends helping friends stop drugs. And of course, there is murder. Vanessa Redgrave is a French "mezzo-soprano" and the heroin (pardon the pun) of the subplot. I have to admit that I was not receptive to the idea of Williamson as Sherlock Holmes, but before the end of the first scene I was won over. Laurence Olivier is terrific as usual, as Professor Moriarty. Alan Arkin is superb! I am not his greatest fan, but this is Arkin's best performance (Yes, I am counting Get Smart.)! He is fabulous as Sigmund Freud. PLEASE NOTE: I was lucky enough to have seen the film in the theater before I knew who Robert Duvall was. I remember thinking that he was younger and more fit than previous Watsons, but I thought he was very good. Perhaps he is closer to the character in Sir Arthur's books than other "Watsons" are. Mr. Duvall has since demonstrated his acting prowess as some very strong American characters. That is why I encourage American viewers to think of him as his British cousin of the same name. Otherwise you'll never get used to the accent. Watson is our narrator. He begins by telling us of Holmes' addiction to cocaine and it is time to stop it. He and Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock's brother, make a plan to help Sherlock stop taking cocaine. Professor Moriarty, who is actually a professor rather than the supreme criminal mastermind of other episodes, is talked into helping... and the game is afoot. Sherlock and Watson follow Professor Moriarty to Venice, but it's just a trick to get Sherlock to Sigmund Freud. Freud is a recovered addict himself and offers to guide Sherlock through the process. Mrs. Freud assists while Sherlock goes through withdrawals, Freud and Watson pass the time by going to a men's club. While there, Freud is insulted and threatened by Baron Von Leinsdorf and Freud demands satisfaction. Instead of a traditional duel, Sigmund challenges him to a game of squash. Both survive (I'm not going to tell who won.) and all is well for the time being. Sherlock can't be kept inside all the time so Sigmund takes he and Watson to see another patient, Lola Deveraux. Holmes quickly determines that Lola was abducted and then escaped from her abductors. Previous to her abduction she was a recovered addict, but she was force-fed drugs by her kidnappers. What abomination! It's just what Holmes needs to keep his mind off cocaine. The three men go off to solve the crime. Occasionally, Freud takes some pointers from Sherlock on how to deduce. Holmes sees that a man, Lowenstein, meets Lola's description and they follow him. It's not long before they realize that "The Pasha" and the Baron are involved. Lola is kidnapped again and the three sleuths pursue the kidnappers. Someone is murdered. They catch up with Lowenstein and get some answers. Soon, the three are on a train chasing The Pasha's train. Well... I can't tell you the whole story now can I. Happy sleuthing. To the industry: get this film ready for Blu-Ray with the original soundtrack and put in subtitles. Put widescreen and full screen on the same disc. Issue it in regions 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and 8! Make good on the crime.

MartinHafer I really enjoyed this little fantasy film about the supposed treatment Sherlock Holmes received for his cocaine addiction from Dr. Freud. This is awfully strange, having a real-life and fictional character interact together, but the writers were able to make it work.Up front I should let you know that I am a huge Sherlock Holmes fan--having read all the stories several times. In most of my reviews for Holmes movies, I am very critical because they take such liberties with the stories--and almost always ruin the stories. At first, I was reticent to see this story because of this--after all, it's NOT based on a Conan Doyle story and the last such film I saw (THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES) was terrible in places because it took too many liberties with the character (especially at the end of the film). However, despite my reservations I saw the film and am glad I did.At first it did bother me, as the film did SEEM to contradict many of the Holmes stories. However, through the course of the film, they were able to explain away all these differences very well--in particular, Holmes' hatred for Professor Moriarty. Additionally, having the fictional character be psychoanalyzed actually was pretty cool--though Freud's analysis almost always took months or years, not a few quick sessions.Up until the last 10 or 15 minutes of the film, I was very pleased with the movie but then the film had a serious flaw that knocked off a point. The sword fighting scene at the end (interesting, by the way, in a Freudian sense) was totally unnecessary and totally distracting. It was like another writer took an intelligent script and added a macho idiot fight scene for no discernible reason. Had it been me, I would have had Holmes simply shoot the guy--not pad it out for no apparent reason. Additionally, while it was integrated into the story later, the whole tennis match sequence seemed contrived and silly. Still, with so much to like, both these scenes can be overlooked.An excellent film for Holmes lovers. Additionally, psychology teachers and therapists will also appreciate the inclusion of Freud.By the way, Charles Gray plays Holmes' brother, Mycroft in this film. A decade later, he played this same character in the Jeremy Brett series as well.