Starring Robert Stephens, Colin Blakely, Christopher Lee, Genevieve Page, Tamara Toumanova

(9-Great Film)

Romantic. Colorful. Overlooked.

Years after his death, the letters of Dr. John H. Watson, one of literature’s most famous narrators and chronicler of the eminent Sherlock Holmes are found. In them, he relates a Sherlock Holmes story theretofore untold, deemed too private for the public. In Sherlock’s most personal case of his career, a strange and beautiful woman with amnesia winds up on his doorstep. Deducing that she’s looking for a missing husband, Sherlock sets out to solve the mystery, all the while falling for the woman. This is a later work from Billy Wilder, and probably his last great film. It’s beautifully, lavishly constructed sets, wit, and style belie the poignant sadness at its core which makes it a special take on the character. A late sequence featuring a Morse code message by way of an umbrella is an indelible, agonizing image.

-Walter Tyrone Howard-

(481)