Notwithstanding some larger deficiencies, the quality of individual gags is reasonably high -- high-spirited, high-strung. There are several larger deficiencies to withstand, however. Gene Wilder, who seems understandably hard-pressed by the multiple chores of acting, writing, and directing, tends to chase after the closest laugh; and the plot and characters, consequently, tend to fly every which way, in deference to his whims. There is little follow-through and little pay-off with any of the characters; but the central one, Sherlock's jealous sibling, Sigi Holmes, is especially bounced around, from swashbuckler, to slapstick bumbler, to encyclopedic answer man, to toddling baby brother. Really, centering the movie around the younger -- not by any means smarter -- brother, Sigi, is ducking the problem. Except in the sumptuous Victorian sets, the soft atmospheric image, and the thunderous romantic music, the movie misses the mythic undertones of another Holmes spoof, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, by another Wilder, Billy. With Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, and Dom De Luise. (1975) — Duncan Shepherd
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