Young Sherlock Holmes
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| Young Sherlock Holmes | |
|---|---|
| Image:Ysh poster.jpg | |
| Directed by | Barry Levinson |
| Produced by | Mark Johnson Henry Winkler |
| Written by | Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (characters) Chris Columbus (screenplay) |
| Starring | See below |
| Music by | Bruce Broughton |
| Cinematography | Stephen Goldblatt |
| Editing by | Stu Linder |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | December 4, 1985 (USA) |
| Running time | 109 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $18,000,000 (estimated) |
| IMDb profile | |
Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), directed by Barry Levinson and written by Chris Columbus, depicts a young Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson meeting and solving a mystery together at a boarding school.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
A group of wealthy, well-established men in London become the target of a mysterious cloaked figure, who uses a blowpipe to shoot thorns into the targets' necks. The thorns, dipped into a solution of various botanical extracts, causes the victims to have violent and frightening hallucinations. These images ultimately result in the victim's death, but these incidents are written off as either suicides or hysteric fits.
John Watson (who, as his adult self, also provides the narrative in the film) transfers to a prestigious boarding school, where he encounters Sherlock Holmes, with whom he becomes friends. Holmes notices that his mentor and retired schoolmaster, Professor Waxflatter, is very curious about the mysterious deaths. When Waxflatter himself dies under similar circumstances, Holmes suspects foul play, and he, his girlfriend Elizabeth (Waxflatter's granddaughter), and Watson begin to investigate. Clue by clue, Holmes traces the mysterious cloaked figure to a warehouse known as Froggit and Froggit, in the Wapping area of London.
The trio proceed to the warehouse, to find abandoned Egyptian figurines and a large wooden pyramid. They all enter and view, from a hiding place, an Ancient-Egyptian-themed cult, known as the Rame-Tep (also known as Rametep and Ramatep), performing a ceremony in which a young girl is hypnotized, wrapped in linen and killed with the pouring of boiling wax atop her body. The trio gets spotted, and are each hit by a thorn and experience their own horrific hallucinations in a graveyard, but eventually recover.
With the following of more clues, Sherlock Holmes eventually tracks down the killers to be Rathe, his present schoolmaster, and the school nurse, Mrs. Dribb. From the last survivor of Waxflatter's circle of friends, Holmes learns that the two are siblings of Anglo-Egyptian descent who were angry at the uncovering of the graves of five Egyptian princesses at the hands of the aforementioned wealthy men and the deaths of their parents in a resulting uprising, which was brutally thrown down by English troops. They vowed to kill off those responsible for disturbing the tombs and for their parents' deaths and performed the ceremony to "replace" the bodies of the princesses. So far, four girls were killed, leaving only one left.
By this time, Elizabeth has been captured and the same ceremony the trio witnessed earlier is being performed on her. Holmes and Watson manage to stop the ceremony part way through, and the pyramid and the Rame-tep are incinerated. Rathe and Holmes participate in a heated swordfight after Elizabeth gets shot by the schoolmaster (throwing herself in front of the bullet to save Holmes) and Rathe apparently perishes under the ice cover of the frozen Thames. Holmes goes back in time to talk to Elizabeth for a little bit before her death (This occurrence also tries to explain Holmes' bachelor life in the works of Arthur Conan Doyle.)
The movie ends when Sherlock Holmes departs the school. After the credits, however, we find out that Rathe survived the swordfight and lived to be Professor James Moriarty, Holmes' future arch nemesis.
[edit] Miscellaneous
| Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
The film is also notable for including the first fully computer-generated character, a knight composed of elements from a stained glass window. The effect was created by Lucasfilm's John Lasseter (now executive vice-president at Pixar Animation Studios) before Pixar was sold the next year, who would go on to create Toy Story 10 years later.
In Britain the film was re-titled Young Sherlock Holmes and the Pyramid of Fear, in a nod to the previous year's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
In the television series House, Gregory House deals with a patient that is suffering aphasia. In explaining his solving of what the patient has actually been trying to convey to the doctors, he gives a riddle about a room with an all southern view and a polar bear to his lackies. This is exact same riddle that Holmes gives to Watson in the film. House is well known for the parallels between its main character and that of Sherlock Holmes.
One criticism of the film is that Holmes does not solve the principal mystery by means of logical deduction. His methods are partly demonstrated during an investigation into the disappearance of a school trophy, but Holmes expends more energy on physical stunt work than on case analysis. The plot itself does not follow the traditional format of the original Conan Doyle stories. However, the story does explain Holmes' canonical behavior in that since young Holmes' actions costs him the life of Elizabeth, and Rathe taunted his inability to separate his actions from his emotions ("Never replace discipline with emotion!"), it serves to explain adult Holmes' stoicism and reliance on pure logic.
References to the literary Holmes and how he acquired his distinct characteristics:
- Holmes has started learning to play the violin during the opening scenes, and is quite frustrated that he has not mastered the instrument even after 3 days of practice and wants to smash the violin because he fears it will drive him insane.
- His pipe is originally bought by Watson to allow them to question an antique shop dealer; in the conclusion, Watson presents it to Holmes as a parting gift.
- His Inverness cape originally belonged to Rathe, and is also his first trophy.
- His deerstalker cap belonged to his mentor Waxflatter, but is given to him after Waxflatter's death by his granddaughter Elizabeth (Sherlock Holmes' love interest). Holmes refuses to wear it at first but later he puts it on, understandably to remember her always. (Just before she dies, to Elizabeth Sherlock Holmes says "Someday, We'll be reunited. In another world, A much better world" to which Elizabeth replies, "I'll be waiting. And you'll be late... as always.")
[edit] Cast
- Nicholas Rowe as Sherlock Holmes
- Alan Cox as John Watson
- Anthony Higgins as Rathe
- Sophie Ward as Elizabeth Hardy
- Roger Ashton-Griffiths as Lestrade
- Freddie Jones as Cragwitch
- Nigel Stock as Waxflatter
- Brian Oulton as Master Snelgrove
- Susan Fleetwood as Mrs. Dribb
- Earl Rhodes as Dudley
- Patrick Newell as Bentley Bobster
- Donald Eccles as Reverend Duncan Nesbitt
[edit] External links
- Young Sherlock Holmes at the Internet Movie Database
- Amazon.com: Young Sherlock Holmes DVD
- Barry Levinson Online: Young Sherlock Holmes
- Elementary, My Dear Potter - article outlining Chris Columbus connection
Films directed by Barry Levinson |
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Diner (1982) • The Natural (1984) • Young Sherlock Holmes (1985) • Tin Men (1987) • Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) • Rain Man (1988) • Avalon (1990) • Bugsy (1991) • Toys (1992) • Jimmy Hollywood (1994) • Disclosure (1994) • Sleepers (1996) • Wag the Dog (1997) • Sphere (1998) • Liberty Heights (1999) • An Everlasting Piece (2000) • Bandits (2001) • Envy (2004) • Man of the Year (2006) |
fr:Le Secret de la pyramide it:Piramide di paura ru:Молодой Шерлок Холмс (фильм)
