Sherlock Holmes And The Deadly Necklace — Sherlock Holmes And The Deadly Necklace(Blu Ray)
Originally released as part of Severin’s excellent The Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee, a collection featuring five of the classic horror movies Lee made in continental Europe during the 1960s and 70s. Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace was originally released in 1962, it was a Franco/ German / Italian production with an English star (Lee) and an English director, a man Lee worked with on a number of occasions, Terence Fisher (Horror of Dracula, Curse of Frankenstein and The Devil Rides Out).
This was to be Lee’s only portrayal of Arthur Conan Doyle’s quick-witted detective on the big screen and is particularly interesting for that very reason. Unfortunately, on both the original German language track and the English dub, Holmes’ voice is not that of Lee but someone else, although it doesn’t spoil the movie, it does feel like the filmmakers missed a trick. Perhaps Lee was unavailable when the tracks were recorded, however, it feels very odd, considering Lee was fluent in German and English was his native language. Alongside Lee, Thorley Walters (Frankenstein Created Woman, Dracula: Prince of Darkness and Twisted Nerve) stars as Doctor Watson, Hans Söhnker (The Horror of Blackwood Castle, Film Without A Name and Model Husband) as Moriarty, and Hans Nielsen (Titanic, the 1943 version, Treasures of the Aztecs and Mistress of the World) as Inspector Cooper.
The film has a fairly straightforward plot, Holmes and Watson, are attempting to recover a necklace belonging to Cleopatra, the necklace had been uncovered by archaeologists and stolen by Holmes’ nemesis Professor Moriarty, however, Moriarty has an alibi. Holmes and Watson must first work out how he did it, and second work out how Peter Blackburn (Wolfgang Lukschy, A Fistful of Dollars, the Zurich Engagement and Dr Mabuse Vs Scotland Yard), his wife, Ellen (Senta Berger, Cross of Iron, Puzzle and The Terror of Dr Mabuse) and their friend, and their friend Paul King (Ivan Desny, The marriage of Maria Braun, Red Rings of Fear and Guns for San Sebastian) are tied up in the whole mystery.
Whilst this is certainly not one of the better Holmes titles, it’s not as bad as many believe it to be. Firstly, there is Lee, who is the main reason for watching it. His performance is excellent, only spoiled by the fact that, as mentioned earlier, he is dubbed by someone other than himself, so we miss out on his iconic voice. Secondly, the rest of the cast is pretty good, Thorley Walters makes a great Watson and Hans Söhnker is a good Moriarty, and whilst the whole thing seems to have been a pretty cheap effort, there is some really nice atmospheric photography.
This new release has been lovingly put together by Severin Films, featuring a new 2k scan from the original German negatives. The film looks better than it probably ever has and features an audio commentary from writers and Holmes aficionados Barry Forshaw and Kim Newman, as well as an interview with Terence Fisher by Tony Dalton and the obligatory trailer.
Overall, this is a very good release for a movie, whose main point of interest for many will be the performance of Christopher Lee. It’s not the finest Holmes movie by any stretch of the imagination, however, it is an enjoyable way to spend eighty-six minutes of your life.