The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (film)

The Seven-Per-Cent Solution
Film poster by Drew Struzan
Directed by	Herbert Ross
Written by	Arthur Conan Doyle (characters) Nicholas Meyer (novel)
Produced by	Stanley O'Toole Herbert Ross Arlene Sellers Alex Winitsky
Starring	Nicol Williamson Robert Duvall Alan Arkin Georgia Brown Samantha Eggar Charles Gray Jeremy Kemp Joel Grey Laurence Olivier Vanessa Redgrave
Cinematography	Oswald Morris
Edited by	Chris Barnes
Music by	John Addison
Distributed by	Universal Studios
Release date	24 October 1976 (1976-10-24)
Running time	113 min.
Countries	United Kingdom United States
Language	English

The Seven-Per-Cent Solution is a 1976 Universal Studios Sherlock Holmes film, directed by Herbert Ross and written by Nicholas Meyer. It is based on Meyer's 1974 novel of the same name and stars Nicol Williamson, Robert Duvall, Alan Arkin and Laurence Olivier.

Plot

Dr. John H. Watson (Robert Duvall) becomes convinced that his friend Sherlock Holmes (Nicol Williamson) is delusional—particularly in his belief that Professor James Moriarty (Laurence Olivier) is a criminal mastermind—as a result of his addiction to cocaine. Moriarty visits Watson to complain about being harassed by Holmes. Watson enlists the aid of Sherlock's brother, Mycroft (Charles Gray), to trick Holmes into traveling to Vienna, where he will be treated by Sigmund Freud (Alan Arkin). During the course of his treatment, Holmes investigates a kidnapping case with international implications and Freud uncovers a dark personal secret suppressed in Holmes's subconscious.

Cast

• Nicol Williamson as Sherlock Holmes
• Robert Duvall as Dr. Watson
• Alan Arkin as Dr. Sigmund Freud
• Laurence Olivier as Professor Moriarty
• Charles Gray as Mycroft Holmes (a role he reprised in the Jeremy Brett TV series)
• Samantha Eggar as Mary Watson
• Vanessa Redgrave as Lola Devereaux
• Joel Grey as Lowenstein
• Jeremy Kemp as Baron Karl von Leinsdorf (he later played Dr. Grimesby Roylott in the Jeremy Brett TV series)
• Jill Townsend as Mrs. Holmes (Townsend was Williamson's real-life wife)

Production

The film was made at Pinewood Studios with location shooting in the UK and Austria (including the Austrian National Library); the tennis match/duel between Freud and von Leinsdorf was filmed on one of the historic real tennis courts at the Queen's Club in West Kensington, London. The production designer was Ken Adam.

Stephen Sondheim wrote a song for the movie ("The Madame's Song") that was later recorded as "I Never Do Anything Twice" on the Side By Side By Sondheim cast recording.

Reception

The Seven-Per-Cent Solution was well received by critics and currently holds an 82% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune ranked it ninth place on his list of the top ten films of 1976.

Awards

The film received two Oscar nominations for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) (Nicholas Meyer) and Best Costume Design (Alan Barrettt) at the 49th Academy Awards.

Home media

Shout! Factory released the film on Blu-ray on January 22, 2013 along with a DVD in the package.

Meyer appeared in a 18-minute interview for the Blu-ray release by Shout Factory. Meyer discussed the genesis of the idea (his father was a psychiatrist and Meyer was a fan of Holmes' creator Arthur Conan Doyle) and how he took the opportunity to write the novel when the Writers Guild of America went on strike.

Meyer revealed that he had often fought with Ross because Ross was too faithful to Meyer's novel. He believed that the script would not be cinematic enough if it was too faithful with the source.

He discussed the casting including his push for Alan Arkin as Freud. He shared a story about how he and Ross decided to cast Duvall "in revolt" against Nigel Bruce's portrayal of Watson as a "Colonel Blimp" type character. Meyer and Ross wanted to try and capture Watson's intelligence that had so far not been portrayed on screen in Holmes movie adaptations.

External links

• The Seven-Per-Cent Solution at IMDb
• The Seven-Per-Cent Solution at AllMovie
• The Seven-Per-Cent Solution at the TCM Movie Database
• The Seven-Per-Cent Solution at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films