The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother

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The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother

Promotional movie poster
Directed by Gene Wilder
Produced by Richard A. Roth
Written by Gene Wilder
Starring Gene Wilder
Madeline Kahn
Marty Feldman
Dom DeLuise
Leo McKern
Roy Kinnear
Aubrey Morris
Music by John Morris
Cinematography Gerry Fisher
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date(s) December 14, 1975 (1975-12-14)
Running time 91 min.
Country United States / United Kingdom
Language English

The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother is a 1975 English/American comedy film with Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn, Dom DeLuise, Roy Kinnear and Leo McKern.[1] The film was Wilder's directorial debut.

Douglas Wilmer and Thorley Walters appear as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, respectively. Wilmer had previously appeared as Sherlock Holmes in the 1960s BBC TV series, and Walters played Watson in three other films: Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace (1962), The Best House in London (1969), and Silver Blaze (1977).

Contents

[edit] Plot

The hero is Sigerson Holmes (Wilder), the younger and "smarter" brother of Sherlock "Sheer-Luck" Holmes. Jealous of his more famous brother, Sigerson teams up with a Scotland Yard records clerk (Feldman) and a would-be opera singer (Kahn) to solve a case that Sherlock is unable to attend to, putting him up against both Moriarty (McKern) and a blackmailer (De Luise).

[edit] Title

The film's title and premise are a joke referring to the character of Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock Holmes' older brother, who was by both of their estimates a good deal smarter than Sherlock. He was, however, too lazy to become a detective, and did indispensable work for the British government. Mycroft was described by Sherlock in conversation with Watson:

One has to be discreet when one talks of high matters of state. You are right in thinking that he is under the British government. You would also be right in a sense if you said that occasionally he is the British government.

[...] Mycroft draws four hundred and fifty pounds a year, remains a subordinate, has no ambitions of any kind, will receive neither honour nor title, but remains the most indispensable man in the country.

Sigerson's name refers to an alias used by Sherlock Holmes in "The Adventure of the Empty House".

[edit] Cast

[edit] DVD release

This was released on DVD on April 4, 2006.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Variety film review; December 3, 1975, page 22.

[edit] External links

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