Do you want to see ‘The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes’?

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 7.6/10
Reviews Counted: 21
Fresh: 20 | Rotten: 1

No consensus yet.

Average Rating: 7/10
Critic Reviews: 5
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 1

No consensus yet.

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Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 3,602

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Movie Info

In Billy Wilder's cinematic homage to the spirit of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, British stage luminary Robert Stephens plays Holmes, while Colin Blakely is his friend and chronicler Dr. Watson. This self-described "hitherto suppressed and thoroughly fascinating" tale concerns Holmes' search for a missing mining engineer -- a case that may have a far-reaching effect on the national security of England. Along the way, Holmes falls in love for the first time in his life, with enigmatic foreign beauty

PG-13, 2 hr. 5 min.

Action & Adventure, Romance, Classics, Comedy, Drama, Mystery & Suspense

Directed By: Billy Wilder

Written By: Arthur Conan Doyle, Billy Wilder, I. A. L. Diamond

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1970 Wide

On DVD: Jul 15, 2003

MGM

Cast

Robert Stephens
Sherlock Holmes
Colin Blakely
Dr. John H. Watson
Genevi�ve Page
Gabrielle Valladon
Irene Handl
Mrs. Hudson
Stanley Holloway
1st Gravedigger
Christopher Lee
Mycroft Holmes
Tamara Toumanova
Petrova
Clive Revill
Rogozhin
George Benson
Inspector Lestrade
Catherine Lacey
Old Lady
Mollie Maureen
Queen Victoria
Peter Madden
Von Tirpitz
Robert Cawdron
Hotel Manager
Michael Elwyn
Cassidy
Michael Balfour
Cabby
Frank Thornton
Porter
Kenneth Benda
Minister
Graham Armitage
Wiggins
John Garrie
First Carter
Godfrey James
2d Carter
Anne Blake
Madame
Penny Brahms
James Copeland
Guide
Wendy Lingham
Alex McCrindle
Baggageman
Kynaston Reeves
Old Man
Paul Stassino
Eric Francis
2nd Gravedigger
Ina DeLa Haye
Petrova's Maid
Paul Hansard
Monk
Martin Carroll
John Gatrell
Equerry
Annette Kerr
Secretary
Philip G. Ross
McKellar
Philip Anthony
Lieutenant Commander
John Scott
Scientist

Critic Reviews for The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

All Critics (21) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (20) | Rotten (1) | DVD (5)

It is in large part old-fashioned, in that it's mile-wide and ancient-history Sherlock Holmes, but it's also handsomely produced and directed with incisiveness by Wilder.

August 14, 2007 Full Review Source: Variety

| Comment

Variety Staff

Variety

Top Critic

Wilder's second most underrated masterpiece.

September 29, 2005 Full Review Source: New York Observer

| Comment

Andrew Sarris

New York Observer

Top Critic

Before the movie is 20 minutes old, Wilder has settled for simply telling a Sherlock Holmes adventure.

October 23, 2004 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times

| Comment

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Top Critic

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes is comparatively mild Billy Wilder and rather daring Sherlock Holmes, not a perfect mix, perhaps, but a fond and entertaining one.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comment

Vincent Canby

New York Times

Top Critic

Affectionately conceived, chock-full of marvelous subtleties, this meticulously constructed adventure-romance shouldn't be missed.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

| Comment

Don Druker

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

This existing version is still fascinating, funny and clever.

August 18, 2008 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid

| Comment

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

Billy Wilder's endearingly romantic The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes is...worth seeing just for Alexandre Trauner's sets, especially a magical Baker Street.

August 14, 2007 Full Review Source: Guardian [UK]

| Comment

Guardian [UK]

This unjustly forgotten Billy Wilder film takes on the much-loved character of Sherlock Holmes and attempts to humanize him by examining his vulnerabilities.

August 14, 2007 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

| Comment

TV Guide's Movie Guide

A true evocation of the spirit of the Strand Magazine, this is the best Holmes movie ever made and sorely underrated in the Wilder canon.

December 30, 2006 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine

| Comment

Kim Newman

Empire Magazine

Stage actor Robert Stephens brilliantly plays Holmes with a nod and a wink.

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews

| Comment

Dennis Schwartz

Ozus' World Movie Reviews

A wonderful, cruelly underrated film.

February 9, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out

| Comment

Geoff Andrew

Time Out

Billy Wilder's psychological angle on Holmes is compelling.

June 12, 2005 Comment

Steve Crum

Video-Reviewmaster.com

Wilder's after something more profound than a simple mystery tale here and to a large extent he succeeds in his quest to cast the man in relief when held up against The Legend

October 25, 2004 Full Review Source: MovieMartyr.com

| Comment

Jeremy Heilman

MovieMartyr.com

The setup is brilliant. The central mystery -- concerning the Loch Ness Monster -- is less rewarding, and its shaggy sea-monster solution somewhat less than that.

August 14, 2003 Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

| Comment

Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

A mismatch of flavours (Holmes, Wilder) the thought of which doesn't so much turn your stomach as lead to speculation, and the taste of which is soured only by a foreknowledge of missed opportunities.

July 9, 2003 Full Review Source: Film Freak Central

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Bill Chambers

Film Freak Central

Billy Wilder stamps his own inimitable mark on to the strange case of Arthur Conan Doyle's greatest invention.

May 24, 2003 Full Review Source: Film4

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Daniel Etherington

Film4

You wouldn't expect anything directed by Wilder and scripted by his long-time associate IAL Diamond to be anything less than funny and watchable, and this is both.

December 10, 2002 Full Review Source: Guardian [UK]

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian [UK]

While it never achieves what the lost three hour print could have accomplished, this is still one of the sparkiest adventures that the private detective ever left 221b Baker Street for.

November 22, 2002 Full Review Source: BBC

| Comment

Jamie Russell

BBC

The story keeps accumulating disparate and baffling developments in a way that Conan Doyle would have been proud of

September 24, 2002 Full Review | Comment

Shane Burridge

rec.arts.movies.reviews

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

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Holmes: We all have occasional failures. Fortunately Dr. Watson never writes about mine.�"My private life is my own affair."The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes is a interesting and thoroughly entertaining mystery from the great Billy Wilder. The first half hour is about as much into the private life of Sherlock Holmes

October 25, 2011

Melvin White

Super Reviewer

Would you be willing to know Sherlock Holmes's dark side? Or, better said... would you care to meet a less aristocratic, but more human and more fun Holmes? If you ever wondered, you now have the opportunity to find out who Sherlock Holmes really is, which is his past, what are his relationships with Watson, how he

January 14, 2010

Alice Smith

Super Reviewer

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