Sherlock Holmes: Christopher Lee (yes, that Christopher Lee)
Dr. Watson: Thorley Walters
Year: 1962
Case: The Valley of Fear
Borrowing heavily from elements contained with The Valley of Fear, Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace pits Holmes against Moriarty as Holmes tries to recover Cleopatra’s stolen necklace while solving two mysterious but related murders. The film was originally filmed in German and later dubbed in English.
Christopher Lee as Sherlock Holmes
As hard as it is to picture Saruman as Sherlock Holmes, Christopher Lee is actually quite endearing as the Great Detective. Sadly, despite speaking fluent English, Lee was not available for the English recording, and so his voice was dubbed over by a second-rate English actor. Still, his performance is noteworthy, particularly the unusual blend of self-depreciating cockiness which found in almost all of his scenes.
Thorley Walters
Like Lee, Walters’ voice was dubbed over by a second-rate English actor, and so it is impossible to know what his original performance would have been like. Appearance wise, Walters is positively pimptastic. In fact, at times he looks like a 1960s porn star just past his prime. Still, it is quite refreshing to see a Watson who only managed to bungle Holmes’ investigation a handful of times.
Delightful Elements
We begin, of course, with the sets, for this film features one of my favourite Baker Street recreations. The attention to detail is quite apparent; the recreation almost flawless, without looking overdone. Indeed, only Granada’s set surpasses the set used in The Deadly Necklace.
The costumes, too, are quite stunning; Holmes and Watson constantly dressed in their finest (and despite the era change, Holmes and Watson still maintain a sense of Victorian elegance). I must also confess that Holmes’ plaid country outfit (complete with cap and deerstalker) triumphs over Rathbone’s pimp hat for the most pimptastic costume ever.
Despite the dubbing (and hence we have ignored tone) the film is quite slashy. Holmes and Watson touch frequently, with Holmes smirking at Watson whenever Watson says something of interest. The interaction between them is really quite adorable. At one point, Holmes and Watson are even forced to tussle with one another in the forest. Truly, they are quite the cute couple in this film.
It helps that the film goes out of its way to show Watson (who is apparently a married man in this film, though where Mrs. Watson is, we cannot say) floundering under the assault of a woman. Poor Watson looks so helpless and frightened that one can almost hear the ewww, girls! echoing in his head. That this scene concludes with Holmes rescuing Watson (or dragging Watson away from potential competition) only adds to the subtextual nature of the film.
Quibbles
It is quite apparent, right from the credits, that the film’s budget was lacking. In fact, had I not known that this film was produced in 1962 I could have easily mistaken it for a first generation Holmes story (circa 1930).
Even without the poor production quality, the plot itself is not enough to carry the film. The story borrows elements from The Valley of Fear, and yet the elements borrowed are not the elements which made The Valley of Fear such a memorable tale. The rest of the script is original, and it shows; in fact, the story is so beneath Doyle’s work that I am surprised Doyle’s estate didn’t sue.
The plot is long-winded, confusing, muddled, obvious, at times quite cheesy, and quite pointless. In fact, of all the original Holmes adaptations I’ve seen, I think this film wins for the worst original plot.
The score was also poorly handled. In fact, what little atmosphere the film could have claimed is vanquished by the often too cheery, somewhat pop-oriented score. The use of background music was also misplaced, creating an all around sense of confusion.
As mentioned above, the original actors were unavailable for dubbing, and so English actors were brought in to read for the parts. While the dubbing itself was actually quite well done (the film appears quite seamless) the actors chosen to represent Lee and Walters were woolen, their monotonous voices completely out of place in the film.
Finally, and perhaps most glaring of all, was the blatant product placement of The Times. Holmes spends more time extolling the virtues of this newspaper than he does making deductions. I almost anticipated an advertisement for the paper to pop up during the (non existent) commercials.
Overall, this film could have been a lot better than it actually was. It is for this reason that the film earns a mere two out of five pipes.