Patrick Macnee played Watson three times, and Christopher Lee played Sherlock three times. In the last two times for each they were paired together, in a couple of TV movies in the 1990s:
By the way, speaking of updated and gender-flipped Holmes, I recently binged the whole first season of MISS SHERLOCK and really dug it.
I'd rate it as better than ELEMENTARY buy not quite as good as the first season of the BBC SHERLOCK.
There's also S (HER) LOCK, with a female Holmes and a trans Watson.
https://v.kickstarter.com/1606842769...-h264_high.mp4
That's the Kickstarter promo but they actually made two... the Dancing Men and (I think) the Resident Patient.
I have never seen a movie with Christopher Lee as Holmes. But, back when I was reading the Doyle books, I was picturing him as Holmes. I was picturing James Mason as Watson, having seen "Murder by Decree". Considering the friendship of Lee and Cushing, Cushing would have also made a great visual image of Watson.
Power with Girl is better.
Christopher Lee as Sherlock in the 1962 German movie Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace:
Speaking of "Murder by Decree"....does anyone else think that Alan Moore's "From Hell" owes some of it's story to this screenplay? It's been a while since I've watched either one but when I saw "From Hell" I got a distinct sense of deja vu and thought of the earlier film.
It's because they're both riffing on Steven Knight's book about the Ripper.
In the case of Murder by Decree, the imdb credits list another book Steven Knight book in the writing credit, the Ripper File. So at least this film made in 1979 did acknowledge the author's work/research for the screenplay.
Last edited by Iron Maiden; 11-30-2020 at 02:23 AM.
Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace is a decidedly average film, enlivened only by Lee's performance (although Lee himself says he regretted doing the movie). Interestingly, the film puts a big focus on Holmes' abilities as master of disguise, and Lee dons several different disguises over the course of the film. It actual gives a good idea of how Holmes' talent could have worked. Despite, Lee is almost unrecognisible at some points; certainly to the point that a casual observer, or someone as unobservant as Watson, could walk be him without recognizing him.
But as for the rest of the film? The plot is forgettable, Thorley Walters plays a Watson who is a little too buffoonish for my taste, and Hans Söhnker is a weak Moriarty (and his scheme falls far short of what I expect from the Napoleon of Crime).
Interestingly, it is directed by Terrence Fisher who directed many of the great Hammer horror films with Lee, and written by Curt Sidomak, whose credentials scarcely need outlining. I generally expect better things from these gentlemen, so it seems that nobody's heart was in this work for hire.
^^^thats a shame. On paper that would seem a bit of a dream team collaboration.