HCF may be one of the newest voices on the web for all things Horror and Cult, and while our aim is to bring you our best opinion of all the new and strange that hits the market, we still can not forget about our old loves, the films that made us want to create the website to spread the word. So, now and again our official critics at the HCF headquarters have an urge to throw aside their new required copies of the week and dust down their old collection and bring them to the fore….our aim, to make sure that you may have not missed the films that should be stood proud in your collection. The second film in our Sherlock Holmes special is, in contrast to Murder By Decree, a silly comedy that has one of Michael Caine’s best, though one of his most underrated, roles!
HCF REWIND NO.33. WITHOUT A CLUE [1986]
AVAILABLE ON DVD
DIRECTED BY: Thom Eberhardt
WRITTEN BY: Gary Murphy, Larry Strawther
STARRING: Michael Caine, Ben Kingsley, Jeffrey Jones, Lysette Anthony
RUNNING TIME: 107 mins
REVIEWED BY:Dr Lenera, Official HCF Critic
Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson solve their latest case and enable two thieves to be arrested. However, except for Holmes, Watson and Inspector Lestrade, nobody knows that Holmes is actually a womanising, drunken failed actor named Reginald Kincaid who has been paid by Watson to masquerade as his creation, and that it is Watson who solves all the crimes. When Kincaid leaves Watson after a row, the doctor attempts to promote himself as the ‘Crime Doctor’, but nobody will accept him as a replacement for Holmes. When the Bank of England’s £5 note template is stolen and there is the possibility of the British Empire being filled with forgeries and collapse, Watson has no choice to employ Kincaid’s services again. As the investigation begins, it seems the arch-criminal Profressor Moriarty might be involved……………
Without A Clue takes a genius idea and turns it into a modest but highly enjoyable and often very funny comedy which is probably the best of the several Sherlock Holmes parodies that have been made over the years. Though the comedy is mostly of the simple, unsophisticated sort, the film does at times mock Holmesian convention, whilst still having the feel of a genuine Holmes tale, at least until near the end. It even supplies some pathos along with the laughs. It began life as The Imposter Of Baker Street and was shot under the title Sherlock and Me. Originally it was intended to reference many of Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories, but most of these were removed from the script in order to broaden the film’s appeal, while a more action-packed climax was added. The reviews were poor and the box office mediocre; Holmes films have always had mixed success at the box office, perhaps indicating that some of the character’s many fans just don’t want to see him on screen.
Without A Clue ambles along leisurely, with much of the first third consisting of arguments between Kincaid and Watson. Kincaid’s self-loathing, partly understandable because the only way he can be a success is as someone else who does not actually exist, gives these scenes a slight edge, while Watson’s lack of success when he wants to go it alone is rather sad. Still, the movie only really picks up when the case proper begins, and both the plot and the comedy really kick in. The developing mystery really does come across something that Doyle might have written, and I think this really helps the film, which might be a send-up, but a loving send-up that uses the material for laughs and gently ribs, rather than mocks, certain expected ingredients such as Kincaid taking ages to deduct something that he didn’t need to. Most of the humour derives from the sheer stupidity of Kincaid, who is not only prone to every possible pratfall but, to put it bluntly, is a complete idiot, something even he is aware of, such as this priceless exchange;
Holmes [Kincaid]: What am I looking for?
Watson: Footprints.
Holmes: Ah. [looks down] Have I found any yet?
Watson: Not yet.
Holmes: Well let me know when I do.
Humour is a very personal thing. There are bits in Without A Clue which have me in stitches, such as Holmes going round a house examining evidence, not really knowing what to do and looking at every random object, and Holmes proclaiming: “in my opinion this man is dead” after which an awestruck onlooker whispers: “he’s a genius. I’m sure that not everyone will find this stuff as funny as me, but its good nature is hard to dislike, nor is it’s ‘PG’ approach, with no swearing and the mildest of sexual humour.
Matters do get a little more serious with a bit of gunplay and some off screen throat slashings, while there’s one really rather touching section when Kincaid thinks Watson is dead and is totally distraught. Kincaid might be funny, but he’s also a very tragic figure. He’s no good at anything; he’s not even very good at his supposed womanising. Without Watson, he is nothing, and I wish the film had gone into this element a bit more; it would have given it some depth. Still, the pace nicely gathers speed in the final third, climaxing in some modest but satisfying chasing around and fighting in a theatre. The resolving of the story does spring one decent twist, and isn’t it great to see Mrs Hudson join in the adventure along with Holmes, Watson and a boy called Wiggins, who belongs to the Baker Street Irregulars, a group of young miscreants who are always picking pockets?
The film looks authentic enough, though the interior of 221B Baker Street seems absurdly spacious. Michael Caine would probably not be anybody’s choice to play Holmes, but then he’s not really playing him here, he’s playing somebody else, and when the script allows it, he does convey some of the character’s agony. Most of the time though, he’s just having fun, and expertly delivers every funny line he is given, making them funnier though pitch-perfect delivery. I think it’s one of his finest performances, and he totally overshadows Ben Kingsley, who is the ‘straight man’ of the two, and shows he would have great playing Watson in a ‘proper’ Holmes film. With a nice bouncy score by Henry Mancini, who had scored another Holmes-related tale three years before, Basil The Great Mouse Detective, Without A Clue might be too gentle and low-key a comedy for some of today’s audiences and will probably be enjoyed more by people very familiar with Holmes than people who are not. It’s a film though which I find very pleasing and which succeeds very well within its parameters.
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