The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
Movie, 1970, Victorian London, Set in 1887, Loch Ness
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes is #6 of 26 in release order and #6 of 26 in chronological order in the Sherlock Holmes.
The story
When a bored Sherlock eagerly takes the case of Gabrielle Valladon following an attempt on her life, the search for her missing husband leads to Loch Ness and the legendary monster.
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes recap
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970) is Billy Wilder's affectionate, slightly parodic film, written with I. A. L. Diamond, with Robert Stephens as Holmes and Colin Blakely as Watson, separating the real Holmes from the hero of Watson's stories in The Strand. In August 1887, a Russian ballerina asks Holmes to father her child, and he escapes by implying Watson is his lover. Then a Belgian woman, Gabrielle Valladon, is pulled from the Thames and asks Holmes to find her missing engineer husband. The search leads to Loch Ness, a group of monks, canaries and sulphuric acid carried into a castle, and an apparent sighting of the monster.
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes ending explained
The monster is a submersible that Holmes's brother Mycroft is building for the Royal Navy, and Gabrielle is really Ilse von Hoffmanstal, a German spy sent to steal it. Queen Victoria finds the vessel unsporting and orders it destroyed, so Mycroft rigs it to sink and lets the disguised German sailors take it. Months later, Holmes learns that Ilse was executed as a spy in Japan, and he retreats to his room and his cocaine.
Where to watch The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes is streaming on fuboTV, Philo, Hoopla, MGM Plus, YouTube (free), and Xumo Play in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 7.0/10, Rotten Tomatoes 87%
Where it fits
- Release order: after The Hound of the Baskervilles, before The Seven-Per-Cent Solution.
- Chronological order: after Sherlock Holmes, before Enola Holmes 2.
What to watch before The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
Nothing. The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970) doesn't continue an earlier version, so it stands on its own.
Cast
- Robert Stephens as Sherlock Holmes
- Colin Blakely as Dr. John Watson
- Geneviève Page as Gabrielle Valadon
- Christopher Lee as Mycroft Holmes
- Tamara Toumanova as Madame Petrova
- Clive Revill as Nikolai Rogozhin
- Irene Handl as Mrs. Hudson
- Mollie Maureen as Queen Victoria
- Stanley Holloway as Gravedigger
- Catherine Lacey as Woman in Wheelchair
- Peter Madden as Von Tirpitz
- Michael Balfour as Cabby
Directed by Billy Wilder.