Best movie ever!

As Good As It Gets

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

This is regarded as one of the best Sherlock Holmes films of all time. I admit that I realize I'm not really a big fan of Sherlock. Still, this was definitely a good movie. I had no idea that was Christopher Lee, he looks so amazingly young! Well, he was one of the most prolific actors ever. As the title suggests, this movie really does focus on the private life of Sherlock Holmes. We especially see his attitudes towards women and Watson.We even get the implication that he could be gay. I think the classic depiction of Sherlock Holmes was for him to be asexual. The main plot doesn't appear until 40 minutes in, which was a little distracting. We still get a very complex story here complete with great religious imagery, amazing machines and characters with strange backstories. The film's length is also perfect. This was a fairly unique look at the character. ***

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.

Some prefer movies based upon famous novels of Arthur Conan Doyle to follow the story lines of the famous novels on which they are based. This is an alternate approach because the plot is an entirely new fantasy case melding a classical ballet company, circus performers reported gone missing and a woman fished out of the Thames uncertain of who she is. There are unusual references to risqué subjects not generally approached in the classic murder mystery realm of Holmes. Should you be expecting a classic Sherlock movie this is not the case,. The photography, editing, pace of the movie and silliness of the humor add a Wilder depth many will enjoy but some will not.

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes is directed by Billy Wilder who co-writes the screenplay and story with I. A. L. Diamond. Based on characters created by Arthur Conan Doyle, it stars Robert Stephens, Geneviève Page, Colin Blakely, Christopher Lee & Irene Handl. Miklós Rózsa scores the music and cinematography is by Christopher Challis.There were cases that Sherlock Holmes worked on that were deemed of a "scandalous nature" and not for public knowledge. But Dr. Watson made journals, and as Watson's private deposit box is opened some 50 years later, one such journal now sheds light on one particular tricky case, and one that also delved deep into the private life of the greatest of sleuths.Billy Wilder film's rarely need an introduction, with a CV that contains Stalag 17, The Apartment, Sunset Boulevard and Some Like It Hot, his output, it's safe to say, is mostly remembered and quite rightly is often praised. The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes is not forgotten by Wilder fans, but it most certainly is his most underrated. Originally made as a three hour movie, the film was taken from Wilder and snipped to a two hour picture. So where once there was a four story narrative, weaved together as an episodic humanisation of the "consultant detective", now sits a two story movie. That's it's still a fabulous movie is a towering credit to Wilder and his long time associate, I. A. L. Diamond. With Wilder declaring his displeasure at the final cut of the film, it promptly bombed at the box office. Further lending weight to its reputation as something of a stinker. But time has been kind to it, where the advent of various home format releases and internet discussion forums has seen its stock rise considerably. And rightly so.Wilder deals an irreverent take on Sherlock Holmes, but one that is not disrespectful to the world created by Arthur Conan Doyle. It's a loving recreation that simply portrays the man as a flawed, yet still genius like, human being: one with his own hang ups and insecurities. Once this has been established in the first third of the movie, and hopefully accepted by the audience, Wilder and co then take us into familiar "case to be solved" territory. Once a bedraggled Geneviève Page turns up at 221B, suffering from amnesia and clearly in need of help, we are whisked along with our intrepid duo on a journey involving canaries, midgets, Trappist monks, Queen Victoria and the Loch Ness Monster. With Sherlock's mysterious brother, Mycroft (Lee), front, centre and very involved too. It may not be a mystery to appease purists of the Holmes literature, but it's real good fun and contains one or two twists and revelations along the way.Robert Stephens plays Holmes as fey yet articulate, intelligent yet complex, but always with a nod and a wink that surely pleased his knowing director. Colin Blakely is pure effervescence as Watson, excitable and exuberant and perfect comic foil for his more mannered partner. Lee is utterly splendid as the straight laced Mycroft, Page adds a simmering sexuality to the proceedings and Handl is joyously sarcastic as Housekeeper Mrs.. Hudson. Look out, too, for celebrated stage and screen actor Stanley Holloway as a gravedigger. Rózsa's score is very upbeat, even for the more reflective moments, further evidence of Wilder having tongue nicely nestled in cheek, and the score sits snugly with Challis' pleasing photography around the Scottish Highlands. Major bonus here is the marvellous sets by Alexandre Trauner, particularly the recreation of Baker Street, for here be a sometimes forgotten cinema art at its grandest.A crisp script is crisply executed by all involved, this film deserves the credit that is now finally coming its way. 8.5/10