Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, The (1970)
Billy Wilder directed and co-wrote (with collaborator I.A.L. Diamond, The Apartment (1960)) this somewhat mistitled comedy mystery drama which features Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's characters. Robert Stephens plays the titled detective, Colin Blakely humorously plays his enthusiastic lady's man assistant Dr Watson, and Christopher Lee plays Holmes's brother Mycroft, employed by British intelligence who surreptitiously utilize Club Diogenes locations throughout the world for their operations. With an introduction that purports to reveal a series of previously untold stories about the detective, written by Holmes but locked away for 50 years per their personal and/or unflattering portrayal of his master, the film's story really only contains one case to be solved. Though there is a brief sequence at its beginning featuring a Russian ballerina (played by Tamara Toumanova, naturally) that wants to marry Holmes, and there is mention of the detective's cocaine 'habit' (and a question about his sexuality), the plot primarily deals with a missing husband case that turns out to be something much more, and even includes the Loch Ness monster! Genevieve Page plays the delirious woman, ostensibly Gabrielle Valladon, that arrives at the detective's residence one night seeking to find her French husband. Though Mycroft warns him not to get involved, Sherlock helps the woman, who mysteriously opens and closes her parasol. They make their way by train to Scotland, traveling as husband and wife (Mr. & Mrs. Ashford) with Watson as their valet, encountering silent monks, midgets, a gravedigger played by Stanley Holloway, and even Queen Victoria (Mollie Maureen) during their exploits.
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