The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970 Billy Wilder)

Extensive thoughts here. Rozsa's score gives the whole thing an eccentric and mournful quality, and it has a mythbusting air about it - Holmes comments that Watson is always exaggerating his character, and the fact that this is one of his least successful cases.

Have to mention Geneviève Page, who's absolutely wonderful. (She was also in Belle De Jour). And Mollie Maureen as a no-nonsense Queen Victoria.

Chris Challis's extremely diffused cinematography is even more evident on the Blu-Ray.

The best thing though about the Eureka release is it enables us to 'see' the entire film, with its prologue featuring Blakely as Watson's grandson, with John Williams the bank manager (and massive Holmes enthusiast).

The main then follows a four movement symphony structure. The first is Drama, starting with a scene in which Holmes deduces the identity of an Italian railway passenger, then the mind-bending Case of the Upside-Down Room (containing great line about the corpse - "Maybe he fell out of bed"). Then Watson threatens to move out as he can't put up with Holmes' self-destructive drug habit - Holmes pretends to destroy the drugs but has hidden them in his violin case. This also plants Watson's attempts to hide his medical bag, the payoff being shown in the unedited finale, where it's disguised as files. And it gives voice to Holmes' affectionate feelings for Watson which when you consider the film as a whole as it would have been gives much more depth to their relationship than anything had before.

In a very funny second movement, Comedy, Holmes allows Watson to solve the Case of the Naked Honeymooners on board a ship - this one actually exists still as film, but with a missing soundtrack. We can see Stephens being particularly funny in this as he encourages Watson with his various deductions and theories.

Farce then follows. and is in the original, the ballerina scene and the remaining sequence, and finally Romance is pretty much as is, though we also are shown a great flashback story (told to Madame Valladon / Mrs. Ashdown) of Holmes' infatuation for a young girl (Jenny Hanley), who turns out to be a prostitute.

I think that if the whole was restored and re-released it would be hailed as a masterpiece. Alexander Trauner's amazing (and amazingly expensive) sets are much to be admired - George Lazenby, also shooting at Pinewood, was one enthusiastic visitor.

I've become rather obsessed by it.