''The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother'' is a 1975 American
musical comedy
Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...
film with
Gene Wilder
Jerome Silberman (June 11, 1933 – August 29, 2016), known professionally as Gene Wilder, was an American actor, comedian, writer and filmmaker. He is known mainly for his comedic roles, but also for his portrayal of Willy Wonka in ''Willy Won ...
,
Marty Feldman
Martin Alan Feldman (8 July 1934 – 2 December 1982) was a British actor, comedian and comedy writer. He was known for his prominent, misaligned eyes. He initially gained prominence as a writer with Barry Took on the ITV sitcom ''Boot ...
,
Madeline Kahn
Madeline Gail Kahn ('' née'' Wolfson; September 29, 1942 – December 3, 1999) was an American actress, comedian and singer, known for comedic roles in films directed by Peter Bogdanovich and Mel Brooks, including '' What's Up, Doc?'' (1972), ' ...
,
Dom DeLuise
Dominick DeLuise (August 1, 1933 – May 4, 2009) was an American actor, comedian, director, producer, chef, and author. Known primarily for his comedic performances, he rose to fame in the 1970s as a frequent guest on television variety sho ...
,
Roy Kinnear
Roy Mitchell Kinnear (8 January 1934 – 20 September 1988) was a British character actor. He was known for his roles in films such as The Beatles' ''Help!'' (1965), Clapper in '' How I Won the War'' (1967) and Planchet in ''The Three Musketeer ...
, and
Leo McKern
Reginald "Leo" McKern, AO (16 March 1920 – 23 July 2002) was an Australian actor who appeared in numerous British, Australian and American television programmes and films, and in more than 200 stage roles. His notable roles include Cla ...
.
['']Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' film review; December 3, 1975, page 22. The film was Wilder's directorial debut, from his own original script.
Douglas Wilmer
Douglas Wilmer (8 January 1920 – 31 March 2016) was an English actor, best known for playing Sherlock Holmes in the 1965 TV series ''Sherlock Holmes''.
Early life
Wilmer was born in Brentford, Middlesex, and received his education at Kin ...
and
Thorley Walters
Thorley Swinstead Walters (12 May 1913 – 6 July 1991) was an English character actor. He is probably best remembered for his comedy film roles such as in '' Two-Way Stretch'' and '' Carlton-Browne of the FO''.
Early life
Walters was born in T ...
appear as
Sherlock Holmes and
Dr. Watson
John H. Watson, known as Dr. Watson, is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson first appeared in the novel ''A Study in Scarlet'' (1887). The last work by Doyle f ...
, respectively. Wilmer had previously appeared as Sherlock Holmes in
the 1960s BBC TV series, and Walters played Watson in three other films: ''
Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace'' (1962), ''
The Best House in London
''The Best House in London'' is a 1969 British comedy film directed by Philip Saville and starring David Hemmings, Joanna Pettet, George Sanders, Warren Mitchell, John Bird, Maurice Denham and Bill Fraser.Simon Sheridan, ''Keeping the British E ...
'' (1969), and ''
Silver Blaze'' (1977).
Plot
In 1891,
Foreign Secretary Lord Redcliff haphazardly receives a document from
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
; the document is stolen from his safe later that night.
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson discuss the case. Deciding to lie low for a while, Holmes informs Watson that he will delegate cases to his younger brother, Sigerson, who has toiled in his brother's shadow without credit for decades. At a railway station, Holmes passes the message to
Scotland Yard records
clerk
A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...
Orville Sacker.
Arriving at Sigerson's flat, Sacker finds him practicing his
fencing
Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...
and swordplay. Sigerson expresses bitterness and resentment over being unable to replicate Sherlock's success, mocking his big brother as "Sheer Luck" Holmes. Arriving next is a woman claiming to be
Bessie Bellwood
Bessie Bellwood (born Catherine Mahoney; 30 March 1856 – 24 September 1896) was a popular music hall performer of the Victorian era noted for her singing of 'Coster' songs, including "What Cheer Ria". Her onstage persona was that of an abra ...
, but who is really
Jenny Hill, a
music hall singer who believes she is being
blackmailed by opera singer Eduardo Gambetti over a lewd letter she sent him.
Sigerson attends one of Hill's performances and twice saves her from attempts on her life. The next day, he seduces her in her dressing room. She reveals that she stole the document from Redcliff's safe and claims that Redcliff is her father. When Sigerson meets with Redcliff, he learns that Hill is in fact Redcliff's fiancée.
The trail leads to Gambetti, who has made a deal with criminal mastermind
Professor Moriarty to sell him the document, which foreign powers have offered £50,000 to acquire. Moriarty pays, but the distrustful Gambetti proposes that he hand over the document during the debut of his opera so that he has time to deposit the money. Sigerson and Sacker infiltrate the opera, which soon devolves into chaos. Sigerson and Moriarty confront each other backstage and are drawn into a sword fight that corners Sigerson on an outside ledge. Under threat of death, Sigerson agrees to hand over what Moriarty thinks is the document before the chimes of
Big Ben cause Moriarty to lose balance and plunge into the water below. Moriarty opens the document to reveal a game of
tic-tac-toe
Tic-tac-toe (American English), noughts and crosses (Commonwealth English), or Xs and Os (Canadian or Irish English) is a paper-and-pencil game for two players who take turns marking the spaces in a three-by-three grid with ''X'' or ''O''. ...
: Sigerson had positioned the real document for Sherlock to recover.
The final scene is of Sigerson Holmes running through a park to attend Jenny and Redcliff's wedding. Sitting on a bench in the park, Jenny tells Sigerson that she has called off the wedding, as Sherlock and Watson watch in disguise. Sigerson and Jenny joyfully reconcile and dance.
Cast
Production
Gene Wilder was having lunch with Richard Roth when it was suggested that Wilder spoof Sherlock Holmes, but Wilder expressed doubts about making fun of such an iconic character. Roth approached Wilder again a week later and inquired if Wilder had given any more thought to the idea of a Sherlock Holmes film. Wilder replied "No, but I have given a great deal of thought to Sherlock's insanely jealous brother Sigi." Wilder began writing the screenplay as production was wrapping on ''Young Frankenstein'', writing in parts for his co-stars Madeline Kahn and Marty Feldman. Wilder's screenplay reveals a deep knowledge of Conan Doyle's characters as Marty Feldman's character, Sgt. Orville Stanley Sacker, shares a similar name with that originally applied to John Watson, Ormond Sacker. On the set of ''Young Frankenstein'',
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began ...
warned Wilder that now that he was writing movies, he would eventually move to directing movies to protect his scripts. After ''Smarter Brother'', Wilder went on to write, direct, and star in three more features over the next ten years (''
The World's Greatest Lover
''The World's Greatest Lover'' is a 1977 American comedy film directed, written by and starring Gene Wilder, and co-starring Carol Kane and Dom DeLuise. It is a tribute/spoof of classic silent comedies and "old Hollywood" of the 1920s, specifica ...
'' in 1977, ''
The Woman in Red'' in 1984 and ''
Haunted Honeymoon
''Haunted Honeymoon'' is a 1986 American comedy horror film starring Gene Wilder, Gilda Radner, Dom DeLuise and Jonathan Pryce. Wilder also served as writer and director. The title ''Haunted Honeymoon'' was previously used for the 1940 U.S. ...
'' in 1986).
Reception
Box office
The film earned $9.4 million in rentals in North America during its theatrical release.
Critical response
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...
of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' called the film "a charming slapstick comedy" that like ''Young Frankenstein'' "is full of affection and generous feelings for the genre it's having fun with." Arthur D. Murphy of ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' wrote, "Gene Wilder now joins Brooks in that elusive pantheon of madcap humor, by virtue of Wilder's script, title characterization and directorial debut, all of which are outstanding."
Gene Siskel of the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
'' gave the film two stars out of four, calling it "tedious" and Sigerson "a bland character at the center of a gimmick-filled movie" that "recalls the great detective only by name and occasional costume. There's really no story here, and certainly no mystery."
Charles Champlin
Charles Davenport Champlin (March 23, 1926 – November 16, 2014) was an American film critic and writer.
Life and career
Champlin was born in Hammondsport, New York. He attended high school in Camden, New York, working as a columnist for the ...
of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' declared it "a light, easy, brisk but unforced, professional, kindly and ingratiating trip through Holmes' sweet home as it never was".
Gary Arnold of ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' called it "an enjoyable, encouraging beginning" to Wilder's career as a writer-director that "reveals a surprisingly inventive and conscientious comic imagination at work".
Pauline Kael
Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael's opinions oft ...
of ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' wrote that Wilder "wrote the roles for the actors but didn't write characters for them to play. He provided lots of lovely, sideswiping bits of business but no conceptions that would allow the actors to surprise us with something new or that would enable us to get involved in what's happening to them." John Pym of ''
The Monthly Film Bulletin
''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...
'' called it "better in its parts than as a whole, and essentially a showcase for the individual performances of Wilder himself, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn and, particularly, the perpetually energised, rubber-faced Dom DeLuise."
Home media
The film was released on DVD on April 4, 2006.
See also
*
List of American films of 1975
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adventure Of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother
1975 films
1975 comedy films
1975 directorial debut films
1970s comedy mystery films
1970s English-language films
1970s musical comedy films
1970s parody films
20th Century Fox films
American comedy mystery films
American comedy thriller films
American musical comedy films
American parody films
Films directed by Gene Wilder
Films scored by John Morris
Films set in 1891
Films with screenplays by Gene Wilder
Sherlock Holmes films
Sherlock Holmes pastiches
1970s American films