Murder By Decree (Sherlock Holmes) [DVD]

Though by no means a perfect Sherlock Holmes film, Bob Clark's Murder By Decree is an intelligent pastiche in which the Great Detective tracks down real-life murderer Jack the Ripper. This premise also informed the earlier A Study in Terror (1965), though this later movie is far more effective in terms of both suspenseful storytelling and emotional impact. That is manages to achieve this whilst subscribing to the most outlandish and unlikely of Ripper theories (it goes for the hoary `Royals and Freemasons' angle) makes it even more impressive. Those who write about this movie seem to either love or hate it; they either take exception to the characterisation of Sherlock Holmes and the attempts to weave him in amongst real-life events, or praise the opulent sets, direction, witty script, and outstanding performances. And though a Holmes fan, I can say that I fall firmly into the latter category; although Christopher Plummer doesn't look or talk like the more obviously faithful portrayals by Peter Cushing or Jeremy Brett, the fact is that their interpretations simply wouldn't have worked within the context of this story, in which Holmes is required to display a social conscience and feel outrage at the authority figures he holds responsible for the Ripper murders. Also, the film scores highly with an absolutely first-rate Dr. Watson from James Mason, who not only avoids making the character a figure of fun, but also invests him with an innate, old-world decency that increases in importance as the movie progresses. Fine performances are given by Frank Finlay as Lestrade, David Hemmings, and Anthony Quayle, and though Donald Sutherland is rather oddly cast as an introverted medium, he is nowhere near as bad as some writers would have you think. The production design is consistently impressive, and Clark stages the murder scenes in horrific fashion, the raddled whores meeting their doom in a realistically squalid Whitechapel. A superior period thriller that overcomes the absurdity of its premise to make some telling comments about the abuse of power, Murder By Decree's proposed solution to the Whitechapel murders ensures that it isn't beloved of Ripperologists, but it still stands as the most intelligent film made on the subject.

I can imagine that ‘Murder By Decree’ looks a bit ropey on paper. A Sherlock Holmes flick about the Whitechapel murders? But it does work. The plot mixes fiction with fact well, Holmes being brought in to investigate the handiwork of Jack the Ripper by a bunch of locals, concerned about the damage that the crimes may do to local businesses as well as public safety. Holmes and Watson are drawn into a world of political intrigue, clairvoyance, prostitution, anti-Semitism and secret societies in their search for the Ripper in an excellent, twisting plot.
There are some really good performances here; Christopher Plummer and James Mason are in top form as Holmes and Watson, Anthony Quayle snarls through his role as Charles Warren and David Hemmings is good too as Foxburgh but it’s the cameos that really grabbed my attention. John Gielgud is great as the Prime Minister and Donald Sutherland is brilliantly creepy as the medium, Robert Lees. But the scene-stealer is Genevieve Bujold in her brief, moving performance as Annie Crook that makes for the best scene in the whole film. Only niggles are some over-the-top Cockney accents by some of the supporting cast and extras and one or two poor sets. On the whole though, this is a really good view: a thriller that takes one of the most famous crimes in history and adds a touch of dash with the most famous fictional detective in history. Thoroughly recommended.

The New York Daily Post referred to this movie as the "greatest Sherlock Holmes movie ever made" and who am I to disagree with their esteemed reviewer. Well, I write reviews for a large metropolitcan newspaper also, but I have to say I can find no qualms with their opinion.
I grew up watching the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes movies on quiet Saturday mornings on BBC2 in my native Scotland, so I am probably always going to enjoy sitting down to a couple of hours with my longtime detective friend and his faithful sidekick Dr. Watson. Although for me Rathbone will always be the definitive Sherlock Holmes (never really cared for Jeremy Brett)I have to admit to finding Christopher Plummer as an entertaining, if somewhat unusual, Holmes in this late 1970s movie.
Based not on one of the Conan Doyle books but on a notion that the Baker Street detective investigated the Jack the Ripper murders (much like in the lesser production "Study in Terror" a decade earlier) this sceenplay moves along at a fair speed and examines the actual evidence collected at the time to weave together a theory not unlike that of the more recent Johnny Depp movie "From Hell."
What really makes this movie stand out is the quite incredible cast that Clark (yes, incredibly the same guy behind "Porky's") put together in this Canadian production. Alongside Plummer is none other than James Mason as Watson. We also have Anthony Quayle, John Gielgud, Donald Sutherland, Susan Clark, Frank Finley and Genevieve Bujold. Put these actors in a handsomly presented production design (quite incredible actually) and combine it with the intriguing and fast paced script and you have what (I would have to concur with the Post is the best Holmes movie ever put to film.