| Young Sherlock Holmes | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster byDrew Struzan | |
| Directed by | Barry Levinson |
| Screenplay by | Chris Columbus |
| Based on | Characters by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle |
| Produced by | Mark Johnson |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Stephen Goldblatt |
| Edited by | Stu Linder |
| Music by | Bruce Broughton |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 109 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $18 million |
| Box office | $63.7 million |
Young Sherlock Holmes (also known with the title card name ofYoung Sherlock Holmes and the Pyramid of Fear) is a 1985 Americanmysteryadventure film directed byBarry Levinson and written byChris Columbus, based on the characters created bySir Arthur Conan Doyle. The film depicts a youngSherlock Holmes andJohn Watson meeting and solving a mystery together at aboarding school.[1]
The film is notable for being the first full-length film to feature a completelycomputer-generated character, created by Lucasfilm's Graphics Group. This was a historical landmark inspecial effects history and influenced other CGI future films such asPixar'sToy Story.[2][3]
At the58th Academy Awards for films produced in 1985, the film was nominated forBest Visual Effects (Dennis Muren,Kit West,John R. Ellis, andDavid W. Allen).
Following the closure of his old school in the countryside, a youngJohn Watson enrolls atLondon's Brompton Academy, whereSherlock Holmes befriends him immediately. Holmes's mentors there include Rupert Waxflatter, an eccentric retired professor to whom the school has given a large attic space for his inventions, which include a flying machine. Waxflatter's niece, Elizabeth, and Holmes, are in love.
Elsewhere in the city, a hooded figure with a blowgun shoots two men with thorns that induce nightmarish hallucinations, causing their apparent suicides. Holmes brings his suspicions of foul play to Scotland Yard detective Lestrade, who rebuffs him.
After rival student Dudley frames him for misconduct, Holmes is expelled from Brompton. He has one last duel with Professor Rathe, the fencing instructor. While Holmes says goodbye to Watson, Waxflatter is shot with a thorn and stabs himself. Dying, he whispers the word "Eh-Tar" to Holmes.
Holmes, Watson and Elizabeth secretly investigate the murders, uncovering the existence of Rame-Tep, an ancient Egyptian cult ofOsiris worshippers. The trio track the cult to a London paraffin warehouse and a secret underground wooden pyramid, where they interrupt the sacrifice of a young girl. The Rame-Tep shoot them with thorns and they escape to a cemetery to endure the hallucinations.
Back in Waxflatter's loft, Holmes and Watson find a drawing of six men, including the three victims and a fourth man, Chester Cragwitch, who is still alive. That night, Holmes and Watson go to see Cragwitch, who explains that in his youth, he and the other five men were in Egypt, where theylooted an undergroundpyramid containing the tombs of five Egyptian princesses. The resulting protest was violently put down by theBritish Army. A local boy named Eh-Tar and his sister vowed to seek revenge for their parents' deaths in the protests, and replace the bodies of the five princesses. As they return to the school, a chance remark by Watson causes Holmes to realize that Eh-Tar is none other than Professor Rathe.
Rathe and his sister, school nurse Mrs. Dribb, abduct Elizabeth to use as the final sacrifice. Using Waxflatter's flying machine, Holmes and Watson reach the warehouse just in time to rescue Elizabeth and burn the pyramid down. When Rathe tries to shoot Holmes, Elizabeth shields Holmes with her body and is mortally wounded. In a resulting duel, Rathe falls into the frozenRiver Thames.
Holmes transfers to another school, and Watson gives him an antiquepipe that he bought during the investigations as a Christmas/farewell present.
An end-credits scene reveals that Rathe survived. Checking in at a hotel in Switzerland, he signs under a new name, "Moriarty", foreshadowing his role as Holmes's future nemesis.
While the film is based on characters created bySir Arthur Conan Doyle, the story is an original one penned by Chris Columbus. Though he admitted that he was "very worried about offending some of the Holmes purists", Columbus used the original Doyle stories as his guide. Of the creation of the film, Columbus stated:
"The thing that was most important to me was why Holmes became so cold and calculating, and why he was alone for the rest of his life," Mr. Columbus explains. "That's why he is so emotional in the film; as a youngster, he was ruled by emotion, he fell in love with the love of his life, and as a result of what happens in this film, he becomes the person he was later."[4]
WhenSteven Spielberg came aboard the project he wanted to make certain the script had the proper tone and captured theVictorian era. He first had notedSherlockian John Bennett Shaw read the screenplay and provide notes. He then had English novelistJeffrey Archer act asscript doctor toanglicize the script and ensure authenticity.[5]
The cast includes actors with previous associations to Sherlock Holmes. Nigel Stock, who played Professor Waxflatter, portrayed Dr. Watson alongside bothDouglas Wilmer andPeter Cushing in theBBC series of the 1960s.[6] Patrick Newell, who played Bentley Bobster, played both PC Benson in 1965'sA Study in Terror[7] as well as Inspector Lestrade in 1979'sSherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson.[8] As well, cast member Alan Cox's father, actorBrian Cox, would later have a connection: he would play Dr. Joseph Bell, the inspiration for Holmes, in the television filmThe Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes & Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Stop motion was used for the harpy sequence,[9] while the pastry creatures that attacks Watson were rod puppets shot against a blue-screen.[10] The pastries were live action, but filmed with fewer frames per second, sometimes as low as eight.[11]
The film is notable for including the first fullycomputer-generated photorealistic animated character, a knight composed of elements from a stained glass window. This effect was the first CG character to be scanned and painted directly onto film using aRGB laser.[12] The effect was created byLucasfilm'sIndustrial Light & Magic andJohn Lasseter.[13]
The fencing scenes were shot atPenshurst Place inKent.[14]
In theUnited Kingdom andAustralia, the film was titledYoung Sherlock Holmes and the Pyramid of Fear;[15] while inItalian "Pyramid of fear" (Piramide di paura), inSpanish and inFrench "The secret of the pyramid" (El secreto de la pirámide,Le secret de la pyramide), and in German "The Secret of the Hidden Temple" (Das Geheimnis des verborgenen Tempels) there was no hint to Sherlock Holmes.
The film music was composed and conducted byBruce Broughton, who has a long-standing history of scoring orchestral film soundtracks.[citation needed]
MCA track listing:
Intrada track listing, with tracks on the original release in bold:
Disc 1
Disc 2
The film was a box office disappointment domestically,[16] grossing $19.7 million against an $18 million budget[17] and ranking 46th for the year at the box office.[18] Internationally it performed better, grossing $44 million for a worldwide total of $63.7 million.[19]
OnRotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 71% based on reviews from 21 critics. The site's consensus states: "Young Sherlock Holmes is a charming, if unnecessarily flashy, take on the master sleuth."[20] OnMetacritic the film has a score of 65% based on reviews from 15 critics.[21]
Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, and wrote: "The elaborate special effects also seem a little out of place in a Sherlock Holmes movie, although I'm willing to forgive them because they were fun."[22]Gene Siskel of theChicago Tribune wrote: "The production is first-rate in all technical ways imaginable, but the villain that Holmes and Watson chase is not worth their intellect or time or ours."[23]Christopher Null ofFilmcritic.com called the film "great fun".[24]Reviewing the film forThe New York Times, Leslie Bennetts called it "a lighthearted murder mystery that weds Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to the kind of rollicking action-adventure that has made Steven Spielberg the most successful movie maker in the world".[4]
Colin Greenland reviewedYoung Sherlock Holmes forWhite Dwarf #77, and stated that "Conan Doyle's creation is reduced to an irritating sequence of in-jokes about deerstalkers, violins and pipes. Instead of sleuthing we get swashbuckling in the blazing temple and swordplay on the frozen Thames; creditable acting, but a crass production from start to finish."[25]
John Nubbin reviewedYoung Sherlock Holmes forDifferent Worlds magazine and stated that "Paramount Pictures has done an admirable job with the version of a young Holmes which they freely admit has been cut from whole cloth [...] they built a solid premise, constructed nothing but authentic settings for it, and people it with characters one has no trouble believing in."[26]
Pauline Kael wrote, "This sounds like a funnier, zestier picture than it turns out to be. ... As long as the movie stays within the conceits of the Holmesian legends, it's mildly, blandly amusing. But when one of the imperilled old men gives an elaborate account of the background of the villainy ... your mind drifts and you lose the plot threads. And when the picture forsakes fog and coziness and the keenness of Holmes' intellect – when it starts turning him into a dashing action-adventure hero – the jig is up. ... the movie lets you down with a thump when Holmes and his companions enter a wooden pyramid-temple hidden under the London streets. ... There's a resounding hollowness at the center of this picture – Levinson's temple of doom".[27]
R.L. Shaffer writing forIGN in 2010, felt the film "doesn't hold up all that well" and that ultimately "the film shall remain a cult classic – loved by some, but forgotten by most."[28] DVD Verdict stated that the film was both "a reimagining of the detective's origin story, but it is also respectful of Arthur Conan Doyle's work" and "a joy from beginning to end."[29]
A video game based on the film was released in 1987 for theMSX calledYoung Sherlock: The Legacy of Doyle released exclusively inJapan byPack-In-Video. Although the game is based on the film, the plot of the game had little to do with the film's story.[34]
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