Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace
Encyclopedia
Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace (German: Sherlock Holmes und das Halsband des Todes) is a 1962
black-and-white
film
directed by Terence Fisher
and Frank Winterstein
. It was a German
-French
-Italian
co-production. It stars Christopher Lee
as Sherlock Holmes
and Thorley Walters
as Dr. Watson. One-time Universal screenwriter Curt Siodmak
(The Wolf Man) wrote the screenplay, based on the characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
.
The film's plot has Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson attempting to recover a stolen necklace, worn by Cleopatra, from Professor Moriarty
. Holmes tries to convince the police that the professor is a criminal, but they are disbelieving.
, but only minor elements of this story remained. Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace was not released to theatres in England until 1968, and it went directly to television in the United States.
Lee donned a false nose to play the famous detective for the first time. (He later reprised the role on TV, in 1991's Incident at Victoria Falls
and 1992's Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady
). Lee and the rest of the cast were dubbed. Although Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace was filmed in English, the audio track was recorded post-production by different actors, mainly American. The film has a jazz
score
by Martin Slavin
.
Thorley Walters again played Dr. Watson in The Best House in London
(1969), The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother
(1975), and Silver Blaze
(1977).
The Monthly Film Bulletin
said of the film that "apart from some startling anachronisms the period detail was on the whole nicely done", but Marjorie Bilbow of Cinema and T.V. Today said, "As a story woven around an unknown detective it would have been forgiveable, but classic characters demand more accurate handling than this." A more recent review from George R. Reis of DVDdrive-in.com called the film "an enjoyable little mystery" and Lee "a wonderful Holmes."
Charles Prepolec of the Holmes fan website BakerStreetDozen.com wrote, "There are some amusingly broad characters that add an element of humour, including a sadly Nigel Bruce-like performance from Thorley Walters. Comedic turns abound in a pub sequence with Holmes in his thug disguise. There are some well played scenes between Lee and Hans Söhnker, played out on a bench that echo the fantastic exchange between Holmes and Moriarty recorded in The Final Problem. Great stuff, but unfortunately not frequent enough in this film."
released a double feature DVD including Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace and the 1931 film The Speckled Band
, starring Raymond Massey
.
1962 in film
The year 1962 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May - The Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards are officially founded by the Taiwanese government....
black-and-white
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed by Terence Fisher
Terence Fisher
Terence Fisher was a film director who worked for Hammer Films. He was born in Maida Vale, a district of London, England.Fisher was one of the most prominent horror directors of the second half of the 20th century...
and Frank Winterstein
Frank Winterstein
Frank Winterstein is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who currently plays for the Crusaders Rugby League in the European Super League competition...
. It was a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
-French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
-Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
co-production. It stars Christopher Lee
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
as Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
and Thorley Walters
Thorley Walters
Thorley Walters was an English character actor.He is probably best remembered for his comedy film roles such as in Two-Way Stretch and Carlton-Browne of the FO...
as Dr. Watson. One-time Universal screenwriter Curt Siodmak
Curt Siodmak
Curt Siodmak was a novelist and screenwriter. He made a name for himself in Hollywood with horror and science fiction films, most notably The Wolf Man and Donovan's Brain...
(The Wolf Man) wrote the screenplay, based on the characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
.
The film's plot has Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson attempting to recover a stolen necklace, worn by Cleopatra, from Professor Moriarty
Professor Moriarty
Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character and the archenemy of the detective Sherlock Holmes in the fiction of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Moriarty is a criminal mastermind, described by Holmes as the "Napoleon of Crime". Doyle lifted the phrase from a real Scotland Yard inspector who was...
. Holmes tries to convince the police that the professor is a criminal, but they are disbelieving.
Production
The film was intended to be an adaptation of Doyle's final Holmes novel, The Valley of FearThe Valley of Fear
The Valley of Fear is the fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The story was first published in the Strand Magazine between September 1914 and May 1915, and the first book edition was published in New York on 27 February 1915.- Part I: The Tragedy of Birlstone...
, but only minor elements of this story remained. Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace was not released to theatres in England until 1968, and it went directly to television in the United States.
Lee donned a false nose to play the famous detective for the first time. (He later reprised the role on TV, in 1991's Incident at Victoria Falls
Incident at Victoria Falls (1991 TV film)
Incident at Victoria Falls was the second and final film in the proposed series of television films Sherlock Holmes the Golden Years written by Bob Shayne. It starred Christopher Lee and Patrick Macnee as Holmes and Watson in old age...
and 1992's Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady
Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady (1992 TV film)
Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady was the first of two TV films made in late-1990 under the banner Sherlock Holmes the Golden Years. Harry Alan Towers was executive producer...
). Lee and the rest of the cast were dubbed. Although Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace was filmed in English, the audio track was recorded post-production by different actors, mainly American. The film has a jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
score
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
by Martin Slavin
Martin Slavin
Martin Slavin was a British composer and music director.Slavin was born in London. He served in the army as a Band Sergeant, and after demobilization formed his own seven piece band, working with musicians such as Eddie Calvert and Kenny Baker.In the 1960s, Slavin composed the musical Nancy Wake...
.
Thorley Walters again played Dr. Watson in The Best House in London
The Best House in London
The Best House in London is a 1969 British comedy film directed by Philip Saville and starring David Hemmings, Joanna Pettet, George Sanders, Warren Mitchell, John Bird, Maurice Denham and Bill Fraser.-Cast:...
(1969), The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother
The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother
The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother is a 1975 English/American comedy film with Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn, Dom DeLuise, Roy Kinnear and Leo McKern. The film was Wilder's directorial debut....
(1975), and Silver Blaze
Silver Blaze (1977 film)
Silver Blaze is a British/Canadian television film directed by John Davies and starring Christopher Plummer and Thorley Walters. The movie is based on Arthur Conan Doyle's story of the same name.-Production:...
(1977).
Reaction
Fisher and Lee were not happy with the film. Fisher called it "a film well worth left alone" and Lee said of it: "I think it was a pity, this film, in more ways than one. We should never have made it in Germany with German actors, although we had a British art director and a British director. It was a hodge podge of stories put together by the German producers, who ruined it. My portrayal of Holmes is, I think, one of the best things I've ever done because I tried to play him really as he was written, as a very intolerant, argumentative, difficult man, and I looked extraordinarily like him with the make-up. Everyone who's seen it said I was as like Holmes as any actor they've ever seen both in appearance and interpretation."The Monthly Film Bulletin
Monthly Film Bulletin
The Monthly Film Bulletin was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a narrow arthouse release. The MFB was edited in the mid-1950s by David Robinson, in the late...
said of the film that "apart from some startling anachronisms the period detail was on the whole nicely done", but Marjorie Bilbow of Cinema and T.V. Today said, "As a story woven around an unknown detective it would have been forgiveable, but classic characters demand more accurate handling than this." A more recent review from George R. Reis of DVDdrive-in.com called the film "an enjoyable little mystery" and Lee "a wonderful Holmes."
Charles Prepolec of the Holmes fan website BakerStreetDozen.com wrote, "There are some amusingly broad characters that add an element of humour, including a sadly Nigel Bruce-like performance from Thorley Walters. Comedic turns abound in a pub sequence with Holmes in his thug disguise. There are some well played scenes between Lee and Hans Söhnker, played out on a bench that echo the fantastic exchange between Holmes and Moriarty recorded in The Final Problem. Great stuff, but unfortunately not frequent enough in this film."
Home video
Retromedia Entertainment released Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace on DVD in 2005. In 2006, Alpha VideoAlpha Video
Alpha Video is an entertainment company, based near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that specializes in the manufacturing and marketing of public domain movies and TV shows on DVD...
released a double feature DVD including Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace and the 1931 film The Speckled Band
The Speckled Band (1931 film)
The Speckled Band is a 1931 British film directed by Jack Raymond and an adaption of Arthur Conan Doyle's story The Adventure of the Speckled Band.- Plot summary :...
, starring Raymond Massey
Raymond Massey
Raymond Hart Massey was a Canadian/American actor.-Early life:Massey was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Anna , who was born in Illinois, and Chester Daniel Massey, the wealthy owner of the Massey-Ferguson Tractor Company. Massey's family could trace their ancestry back to the American...
.
External links
- Review of Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace at DVDdrive-in.com
- Sherlock Holmes and Christopher Lee: An Overview at BakerStreetDozen.com