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The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
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The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

1970
Comedy
Drama
2h 5m
Director Billy Wilder adds a new and intriguing twist to the personality of intrepid detective Sherlock Holmes. One thing hasn't changed however: Holmes' crime-solving talents. Holmes and Dr. Watson take on the case of a beautiful woman whose husband has vanished. The investigation proves strange indeed, involving six missing midgets, villainous monks, a Scottish castle, the Loch Ness monster, and covert naval experiments. Can the sleuths make sense of all this and solve the mystery? (imdb)
Directed by:
Billy Wilder Billy Wilder
Written by:
Billy Wilder Billy Wilder I.A.L. Diamond I.A.L. Diamond Arthur Conan Doyle
+2 more
Starring:
Christopher Lee Christopher Lee Clive Revill Clive Revill Robert Stephens Robert Stephens Geneviève Page Stanley Holloway Stanley Holloway Tamara Toumanova Colin Blakely Colin Blakely Irene Handl Irene Handl Catherine Lacey Michael Balfour Michael Balfour Peter Madden Mollie Maureen
More
Genres:
Comedy, Drama, Suspense/Thriller, Crime, Adventure, Mystery
Country:
UK
Languages:
English, French, German, Russian
imdb More information at IMDb
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The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

1970
Comedy
Drama
2h 5m
Your probable score
Ratings & Reviews Cast Collections Similar Stats Trailer
Avg Percentile 53.72% from 406 total ratings
Ratings & Reviews Cast Collections Similar Stats Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

(405)
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paxtonPaxton
Rated 27 Jan 2021
58
34th
"Holmes, let me ask you a question. I hope I'm not being presumptuous, but… there have been women in your life, haven't there?" "The answer is yes, you're being presumptuous. Good night."
Rated 27 Jan 2021
davidthomsonDavidThomson
Rated 09 Sep 2012
30
14th
This is a famous tragedy. Censorship gave up and said, virtually, Do what you like. A case can be made that such opponents of censorship as Hitchcock, Preminger, and Wilder were suddenly lost. They had specialized in being naughty - now they could be frank. And I suspect that Wilder was not ready to make and open film about gayness. The casting was wrong. Alexandre Trauner did the sets and spared nothing, but the sets are inert, not fun, and not often explored by the action.
Rated 09 Sep 2012
nobambanobamba
Rated 21 May 2020
60
62nd
Rather inconsequential first act. Mysterious middle, then a nice twist with Queen Victoria, and a great ending to tie things up without making any drastic changes to Sherlock lore. Fav scene: Holmes spreading the rumor that Watson's gay and his dance companions slowly turning male, then the director talking about how it's okay.
Rated 21 May 2020
glumpy99glumpy_99
Rated 10 Mar 2013
84
73rd
Fascinating exploration of Holmes, which brings to mind Nolan's BATMAN BEGINS, in its deconstruction of a previously cardboard, square jawed archetype in order to give the character a deeper, more intriguing personality, helped immeasurably by Stephens' eccentric, Higgins-ish portrayal of the detective. Blakely also fares well as a buffoonish Watson, and the mystery itself provides a satisfactory through-line for what is ultimately a character study.
Rated 10 Mar 2013
muutanetmuutanet
Rated 14 Jan 2009
31
22nd
I do not remember when I saw last time this bad casting, characterizing and written story. There's a lot of interesting sides of Mr. Holmes, but the film itself is an almost complete disapointment. After so much of ludicrousness the story appears to conclude everything very nicely and I have to add quite much of extra points for good ending and a general ideas of the story. But still majority of the film is baloney.
Rated 14 Jan 2009
mwgerbmwgerb
Rated 20 Oct 2013
69
84th
Highly enjoyable and entertaining mix of comedy and intrigue. It dives into the workings of the Holmes mythos, taking a deeper look into Sherlock's character. The plot is sufficiently engaging (I do love when Holmes mysteries make it all the way to the top of the British government) and the scene at the end is heartbreaking. Possibly a precursor to what I consider the best modern Holmes interpretation, BBC's Scandal in Belgravia.
Rated 20 Oct 2013
martintellerMartinTeller
Rated 28 Jun 2010
73
45th
Billy Wilder takes a few liberties, but for the most part stays true to the character and produces an entertaining mystery/thriller. It's not especially funny, and the opening is squandered on what is essentially a half-hour long "LOL GAY" joke, but other than that it's sufficiently enjoyable. Robert Stephens makes a decent Holmes, and Colin Blakely's Watson is preferable to Nigel Bruce's bumbling buffoon portrayal. Some nice shots of the Scottish landscape, too.
Rated 28 Jun 2010
spleenspleen
Rated 11 May 2014
79
65th
Seems more about the private life of Billy Wilder than Sherlock Holmes. Still the mystery is pretty engrossing by the time it finally gets started.
Rated 11 May 2014
sellissellis
Rated 04 Mar 2011
91
90th
What Altman did for Philip Marlowe, Wilder did for Sherlock Holmes.
Rated 04 Mar 2011
sirrobbieSirRobbie
Rated 09 May 2012
80
81st
If there's one thing Wilder can do, is to make a well paced, entertaining movie.
Rated 09 May 2012
peaceanarchyPeaceAnarchy
Rated 30 Mar 2009
88
90th
The first half hour is absolutely brilliant comedy writing, but from there it turns into a more standard Holmes mystery and loses some, though far from all, of what makes it special. The obviousness of the mystery is a bit disappointing but it's still a lot of fun and well conceived.
Rated 30 Mar 2009
wetwillieswetwillies
Rated 29 Mar 2013
80
37th
A good but flawed deconstruction of the legendary detective. It's kept afloat by strong performances from Stephens as Sherlock and Blakely as Watson, as well as the typically great and hilarious Wilder/Diamond dialogue.
Rated 29 Mar 2013
theyshoot07theyshoot07
Rated 02 Mar 2008
55
28th
# 905
Rated 02 Mar 2008
hotsakehotsake
Rated 03 Aug 2016
50
34th
The whole extended gay joke was not in the least bit funny. Dr, Watson appears smarter here and Holmes seems quite a bit dumber. While this wasn't horrible or even bad it was kind of dull and not a very good mystery. Not a good spoof and most of the casting choices are questionable at best. Ultimately not the worst version of Sherlock Holmes I've seen but it leaves a lot to be desired.
Rated 03 Aug 2016
yiannosYiannos
Rated 22 Jan 2017
68
66th
Along with Murder By Decree, this is one of the better films about the legendary Scotland Yard sleuth. It is a bit long, but it is well crafted in a traditionalist style despite being somewhat unconventional in how it explores the character compared to previous interpretations. It works best when it focuses on the mystery of Holmes rather than the actual mystery at the centre of the film, which is decidedly average and rather routine. More psychological probing wouldn't have gone astray.
Rated 22 Jan 2017
anarchisticaanarchistica
Rated 13 Mar 2017
40
22nd
Even with an hour cut out this movie feels overlong, more like several episodes of a tv-series. The circus plot of the first half hour has no bearing on the rest of the film, i can only imagine what other filler it originally contained. Aside from obvious plotholes it also suffers from the same problem as "Raiders of the Lost Ark" - everything would've played out almost the same way if the main character hadn't existed. And seriously, a midget submarine?
Rated 13 Mar 2017
luna6ixLuna6ix
Rated 01 Jul 2009
77
62nd
Relies too heavily on things Holmes himself cant deduce--which really is the biggest plus about a holmes story, his logical deduction. It's a watchable movie that with a less grandiose culmination could have better shown off both Holmes' and Wilder's abilities.
Rated 01 Jul 2009
billkerwinbillkerwin
Rated 29 Jan 2010
89
80th
Underestimated. Probably the best Sherlock Holmes movie of all time. Funny, with a plot that is both improbable and--at least for the life of the film--credible as well.
Rated 29 Jan 2010
murrayMurray
Rated 15 Apr 2012
65
13th
Lacks the wit and cleverness that is required for an entertaining Holmes.
Rated 15 Apr 2012
perrystroikaPerryStroika
Rated 20 Sep 2010
70
85th
My favorite Sherlock Holmes picture and my favorite Billy Wilder one.
Rated 20 Sep 2010
theyshoot08theyshoot08
Rated 19 Dec 2008
60
20th
796
Rated 19 Dec 2008
stainStain
Rated 01 Apr 2007
70
55th
Billy Wilder does Sherlock. The results are not ideal, but they're worth seeing
Rated 01 Apr 2007
lonewolf2003Lonewolf2003
Rated 13 Jul 2020
72
51st
Wilder's deconstruction of the legendary Sherlock character. The mystery unfortunately isn't all that intriguing. But Wilder main interest wasn't in the mystery after all, he was mostly interested in diving into Sherlock as romantic melancholic character. And in that he succeeds, he makes Sherlock a human flawed characters, who I at the end felt deep sorrow for.
Rated 13 Jul 2020
napolenbradynapolenbrady
Rated 12 Mar 2019
82
14th
81.50
Rated 12 Mar 2019
glm01glm01
Rated 10 Oct 2013
84
79th
84.000
Rated 10 Oct 2013
astfglAstfgl
Rated 13 Jun 2009
60
35th
A little aimless, but not terrible.
Rated 13 Jun 2009
moraesfelipemoraesfelipe
Rated 24 Feb 2012
70
72nd
Here, Sherlock is a gay (or not), cocaine-driven and daredevil detective, both strange and classy, dealing with a case that might reveal a lot about himself. I could complain about many things here -- good casting, sub-Hitchcockian script --, but this is an original and fresh piece of biography (?) by Wilder -- and Colin Blakely's Watson is perfect as the father (?) of George Costanza; I mean it.
Rated 24 Feb 2012
nathan_sNathan S
Rated 06 Oct 2009
3
45th
A well-written, cleanly made, often funny and sometimes outrageous bit of mystery. It's hard to find any major faults, but it doesn't thrill me quite like most of Wilder's pictures.
Rated 06 Oct 2009
driscarpindriscarpin
Rated 15 Jun 2014
83
73rd
Engenhosa e divertida releitura de Sherlock Holmes, onde temos uma segunda Irene Adler a atravessar o caminho do detetive.
Rated 15 Jun 2014
quintonjaminQuintonjamin
Rated 22 Mar 2020
60
51st
I enjoyed this version of Sherlock Holmes, but it was nothing groundbreaking. I specifically liked Christopher Lee's Mycroft. It's very funny, but the mystery is shown way too early for the ending to have much of an impact.
Rated 22 Mar 2020
parcalihamparcaliham
Rated 09 Feb 2008
80
64th
2006 silivri'de, cnbc-e'de & Robert Stephens'in Sherlock Holmes karakterine cok iyi burundugunu ve tam kitaptaki gibi bir karakter halini aldigini hatirliyorum -bir kac yil once izledim-. Holmes'un metaryalist dusunceleri on planda.Canavarin, gercekten canavar olabilecegine seyirci inansa bile, Holmes, gercekciligi elden birakmiyor.Ayrica Holmes'un neden kadinlara karsi temkinli davrandigi cok guzel aciklanmis.Bill Wilder'dan bence cok guzel bir uyarlama...
Rated 09 Feb 2008
pompousasspompousass
Rated 19 Oct 2009
60
85th
Wilder's drilling into Holmes's hush-hush side (his cocaine addiction, his rumored homosexuality, his broken heart) has a feeling of special privilege and intimacy, rather than irreverence and iconoclasm as it might have had. The opening examination of the deceased detective's personal effects is practically breath-taking; and for a while the movie looks as though it might hold up.
Rated 19 Oct 2009
vandelay1Vandelay1
Rated 24 Apr 2009
66
70th
Not My Favourite Billy Wilder Movie But It Is Okay
Rated 24 Apr 2009
theyshoot10theyshoot10
Rated 15 Jan 2010
63
26th
742
Rated 15 Jan 2010
theyshoot11theyshoot11
Rated 01 Dec 2011
65
30th
#693
Rated 01 Dec 2011
davidkahaneDavidKahane
Rated 24 Oct 2009
63
42nd
This original tale of London's greatest detective is muddled at times, largely a victim of the bloat that struck Hollywood productions when dragging out their running time was the chief tactic for making them feel like events. The plotting, languid as it may be, is still rock solid. There are nice performances by Robert Stephens as Holmes and Colin Blakely as Watson.
Rated 24 Oct 2009

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