Without a Clue *** (1988, Michael Caine, Ben Kingsley, Jeffrey Jones, Lysette Anthony, Paul Freeman, Peter Cook, Nigel Davenport) – Classic Movie Review 10,902

Director Thom Eberhardt’s 1988 British comedy film Without a Clue is a neat twist on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Holmes and Watson characters and stars Michael Caine, Ben Kingsley, Jeffrey Jones, Lysette Anthony, Paul Freeman, Peter Cook and Nigel Davenport.

Here’s a cute idea: Ben Kingsley plays Dr Watson, a brilliant detective and writer, forced to hire a boozy unemployed third-rate actor called Reginald Kincaid (Michael Caine) to impersonate his fictional creation, Sherlock Holmes, the central character in a series of short stories published in The Strand Magazine, to maintain his career and reputation as a doctor.

The two principals play neatly off one another while Paul Freeman and Jeffrey Jones provide suave support as Professor James Moriarty and Inspector George Lestrade.

The film occasionally flounders in its reliance on slapstick comedy, but is saved by its amiability and sheer originality and a spectacular showdown in an empty, gaslit theatre.

The TV print cuts a hanging sequence.

It is the only theatrical movie written by screenwriters Gary Murphy and Larry Strawther, TV writers and producers and devoted Sherlockians. Their screenplay is filled with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle references, some of which were excised from the final cut to make the film more accessible. Peter Cook’s character of Norman Greenhough is based on Herbert Greenhough Smith, editor of The Strand Magazine, whose faith in the Holmes and Watson characters brought fame and fortune to both writer and magazine.

Also in the cast are Pat Keen as Mrs Hudson, Jeffrey Jones as Inspector George Lestrade, Lysette Anthony as fake Leslie Giles, Matthew Savage as Wiggins, Nigel Davenport as Lord Smithwick, Tim Killick as Sebastian Moran, Peter Cook as Norman Greenhough, John Warner as Peter Giles, Matthew Sim as real Lesley Giles, Fredrick Fox as Priest, Harold Innocent as Lord Mayor Gerald Fitzwalter Johnson, George Sweeney as John Clay, Murray Ewan as Archie and Jennifer Guy as Lord Mayor’s daughter.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 10,902

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