Sherlock Holmes meets Jack the Ripper! Here comes the original caped crusader!
When Watson reads from the newspaper there have been two similar murders near Whitechapel in a few days, Sherlock Holmes' sharp deductive is immediately stimulated to start its merciless method of elimination after observation of every apparently meaningless detail. He guesses right the victims must be street whores, and doesn't need long to work his way trough a pawn shop, an aristocratic family's stately home, a hospital and of course the potential suspects and (even unknowing) witnesses who are the cast of the gradually unraveled story of the murderer and his motive.
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Character
Classical in form, resolved, cool and plot-driven.
- classical in formformally daring
- resolvedopen-ended
- cooloverwhelming
- character-ledplot-driven
- contemporarynostalgic
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“Is the nostalgia doing the heavy lifting?”
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“Is John Neville miscast as Sherlock Holmes?”
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“Is A Study in Terror better than its reputation?”
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- Wuchakon TMDB · Jun 20266/10
**_What if Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson took on the 1888 Ripper case?_** This was the first of two films that had this plot. The second one, “Murder By Decree,” came out fourteen years later and featured Christopher Plummer and James Mason in the roles of Holmes & Watson whereas this features John Neville and Donald Houston. It’s more colorful and arguably has a superior cast of women, led by raven-haired Georgia Brown as the notable singer at the tavern with Edina Ronay showing up in the last act as Mary Kelly. “Murder by Decree” is a half hour longer, more convoluted, and has a muted palette. Yet they’re both of about the same overall quality. They fill the bill if you're in the mood for a Victorian milieu, black coats, London fog, cobblestone streets, horse-drawn carriages, gas lamps, taverns, Whitechapel women, ghastly murders and old-fashioned detective work. Neither are as sordid & gory as Klaus Kinski’s 1976 rendition or Anthony Perkins’ “Edge of Sanity” (1989) nor as entertaining as “From Hell” (2001). You could call them respectable versions of The Ripper case that are dialogue-driven and eschew exploitation. I’d compare them to Jack Palance’s “The Strange Case of Dr. Jeky
Read the whole review on TMDB - CinemaSerfon TMDB · Sep 20246/10
Now, in my humble opinion there will never be a better "Sherlock" than Basil Rathbone, nor can "Watson" be anyone other than Nigel Bruce. That's not to say that others ought not to try, though - and here John Neville and Donald Houston turn in OK performances as our sleuthing duo. This time, they are charged with solving the mother of all crime mysteries - the identity of "Jack the Ripper". A lot of attention to detail has been incorporated into the superior production, the film evokes well the sense of seedy Victorian Whitechapel with it's lively nightlife and ladies of "ill repute". It actually has just a shade of "Hammer" about it. I did think, though, that the extensive cast diluted the potency of the thing though. There are too many characters and aside from Anthony Quayle, they sort of served to clutter up the story. The writing isn't bad, it tries it's hand at a little humour now and again, but it is frequently wordy - a little too descriptive denying us much opportunity to do any investigation along with them, ourselves. It's a decent watch, an authentic postulation of what might have happened, but Neville just isn't "Holmes" material for me, sorry...
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Cast
- John NevilleSherlock Holmes
- Donald HoustonDoctor Watson
- John FraserLord Carfax
- Anthony QuayleDoctor Murray
- Barbara WindsorAnnie Chapman
- Adrienne CorriAngela
- Frank FinlayInspector Lestrade
- Judi DenchSally
- Barry JonesDuke of Shires
- Robert MorleyMycroft Holmes
Crew
- James HillDirector
- Donald FordScreenplay
- Derek FordScreenplay
- Desmond DickinsonDirector of Photography
- John ScottOriginal Music Composer
- Henry RichardsonEditor
- Michael KlingerProducer
- Henry E. LesterProducer
- Sam WaynbergProducer
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Pairings
Companions we picked from the closest works, and how to take them.
Similar in taste
Closest on the same fourteen dimensions, from everything scored on Tastebuds Other media included when they land close.
The Scarlet Claw 194481% alikeBoth classical in form, resolved, unpretentious.
Both classical in form, resolved, grave.
Farewell, My Lovely 197579% alikeBoth classical in form, cool, grave.
Both classical in form, resolved, cool.
Death on the Nile 202276% alikeBoth classical in form, resolved, grave.
El Dorado 196676% alikeBoth classical in form, resolved.
The House on Carroll Street 198876% alikeBoth classical in form, resolved, plot-driven.
Coogan's Bluff 196876% alikeBoth classical in form, resolved, cool.
Game · Both classical in form, plot-driven, grave.
Game · Both classical in form, cool, resolved.
Often watched with
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