ThiefHott Too much of everything

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Edgar Soberon Torchia "Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace" is, among the twenty- something films by Terence Fisher that I have seen, one of his less accomplished works. A bit better than the boring "Night of the Big Heat", this is a production with motivations I don't fully understand: for a start I do not know why they decided to make a Sherlock Holmes movie starring Christophe Lee in German (although there is an English language version, the official version is in German, which is the one I opted to watch), with Lee's real voice absent in all versions. Then I cannot reason why in 1962, with moneys coming from German, French and Italian production companies, they decided to shoot an adventure movie in black and white. The decision seems even more uninspired given the uneven quality of Richard Angst's cinematography, ranging from attractive expressionistic images (as the scene where Holmes saves his life using a police whistle) to flat compositions (as the Baker Street apartment). Maybe the budget was low, but they had several names in the cast that were not highly expensive, but neither cheap to hire. And thirdly there is not a well-defined concept of what they wanted to do: producers, composer, writer and director seem to point into different directions. The German producers probably assumed it as one of the many cheap detective movies they were making by the dozen, composer Martin Slavin opted for a playful score, writer Curt Siodmak kept loyal to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's three main creations (Holmes, his nemesis Moriarty and his mate Dr. Watson) and Fisher… well, he had to keep everything going. However it would be unfair to deny that there are a few hints that suggest the intention of making some kind of photo-novel or a black-ink-on-cheap-white-paper comic book, and that would explain why the filmmakers could not care less what language characters spoke, the anachronisms (the more obvious being ladies' hair styles), Slavin's jingling-jangling cues, extensive use of maquettes, and a few disheveled art direction and wardrobe decisions, starting with the key prop, a very ugly and cheap looking necklace that supposedly once adorned Queen Cleopatra's neck. I am also sure that Lee never wore an uglier costume in his entire long career than the horrendous checkered suit he wears in the countryside sequence. The actor does his best as Doyle's creation (obviously not imagining the estrangement that dubbing would produce, resulting in an involuntary Brechtian effect of rejection to his participation in the movie), so we tend to go for the villains, played with gusto by Hans Söhnker as Moriarty and Leon Askin as his chauffeur-assistant Charles. But what we see is what we get, so we better not complain. We are warned very early into the film that we are going to watch a rather sloppy product, when the same shot of a longshoreman working on dock is repeated twice within minutes. Compared to this, Fisher's next project starring Pat Boone is a masterpiece.

Scarecrow-88 Professor Moriarty will do just about anything to acquire the diamond necklace once wore by Cleopatra including murder(..by using other hoods to do his dirty work, of course)but he'll have to contend with his arch nemesis, the Baker Street detective, Sherlock Holmes and his associate Dr. Watson.As a horror buff, this was a dream come true to see such great names associated with Sherlock Holmes. Terrence Fisher as co-director, Christopher Lee as Holmes(..his only time as the sleuth which in itself is noteworthy), and scribe Curt Siodmak(The Wolf Man;I Walked With a Zombie)as the scenarist all contribute to SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE DEADLY NECKLACE. While I recognize that others didn't find this movie very good(..or found it rather lackluster/mediocre), I thought it was fun, particularly enjoying the psychological duel between Holmes and Moriarty(..who, at one point, attempted to kill Holmes with a mechanism in his cane's handle which fires a blade). This may be the only film with Sherlock Holmes which might figure into the Krimi genre as it is mostly produced by a West German company. One major disappointment was not having Lee's authoritative voice dubbed for his Holmes character, which is quite a shame(..and a missed opportunity for us who love the idea of seeing Lee as the character, portrayed with his voice, matching his mannerisms and performance). It would be ill-advised for me to leave out a wonderful performance from Thorley Walters, a Hammer veteran, as the clumsy, often naive Watson, who must be fed knowledge of Holmes' activities because he's unable to often add 2 & 2 together on his own. But, Watson, of course, often lends a hand(..even playing Holmes' chauffeur when the sleuth goes undercover, in disguise, to infiltrate Moriarty's home and gang in order to keep the necklace out of the diabolical and dangerous archeologist's hands)when Holmes so needs him in order to combat Moriarty's plot to steal the necklace by any means necessary. It's a delightful game of cat-n-mouse(..or it was to me) and we are participants. Often, Holmes has to use rather illegal methods in order to retrieve the necklace, stooping to his enemy's level of theft, but it's not officially Mortiarty's property anyway, adding intrigue to their battle over such a desired object of great worth. I think Hans Söhnker is Lee's equal as Moriarty, portraying confidence and arrogance, believing he will accomplish his scheme, using loathsome criminals to carry his orders out, with an ability to manipulate important public figures, even The Queen of England(..it's mentioned at the beginning, when Holmes is scolded by Scotland Yard's lead detective, Inspector Cooper, played by Hans Nielsen, that Moriarty is to be knighted). It was really cool seeing Lee as such a treasured character, conveying a believable wisdom, always expressing, effectively, Holmes' abilities to outsmart his adversaries, remaining one step ahead of not only Moriarty, but Scotland Yard as well.I especially loved one sequence where Holmes attempts to stop a planned assassination by Moriarty, outside London where a thief is holding onto the necklace, fearful of his safety, and happening upon the crime scene of a failed murder attempt where Inspector Cooper must be assisted by the sleuth in discovering all the facts, coming across concealed truths only through our beloved detective's guidance. It's a masterfully staged scenario I enjoyed immensely.

catuus The fact that a film is on DVD doesn't guarantee that its quality is very good. The fact that a film's quality is threadbare doesn't mean you shouldn't buy it. Although "The Deadly Necklace" is available separately, it's also available on a DVD with a second film. This review applies to both.The plots of these films are of little consequence. They are of interest only to people who collect Holmes films … anybody who merely wants a few of the better offerings would do well to purchase some of those made by Jeremy Brett … or, in a pinch, Basil Rathbone. There are a few other very good Holmes films featuring good actors on a one-shot basis – such as "Seven Per Cent Solution" or "Private Life of Sherlock Holmes". In any event, these films are considerably less estimable.Here we have a pair of films featuring some of the best actors to do Holmes, even if the results tend toward disappointing. This appears to be the only disc with these films on it (although "Deadly Necklace") appears by itself in the same version on other discs."(Sherlock Holmes and) the Deadly Necklace" dates from 1962, although it neither looks it nor sounds it. Some who have seen this may be surprised to learn that it was produce by Hammer Studios. Not that Hammer hasn't turned out some really schlock stuff, but where Christopher Lee was concerned, they usually did a better job. The print a direct transfer from a rather worn 1:1.33 copy in black-and white. The quality of the color suggests the original may have been in color, and the snipped ends of the film's aspect suggest it may originally have been 1:1.66 or more.The film is set in the early 20th Century – not improbable, since Holmes was still working then (and didn't actually die until 1957). However, the script is not adapted from any actual Doyle story. It involves an Egyptian necklace, and Professor Moriarty shows up as a world-famous archaeologist as well as the Prince of Crime. The plot is melodramatic and banal.The biggest defect of this film is that – for whatever unfathomable reason – Hammer filmed it in Germany. It was nonetheless filmed in English. It was then dubbed in German and then re-dubbed in English. So what you hear isn't Lee nor any of the other original actors, but a bunch of unknowns – not that, outside of Lee, I doubt anyone would know any of the other actors. This is too bad, since Lee (see his "Hound of the Baskervilles") makes a quite decent Holmes. As it is, his voice double is condescending and plain as bread pudding with no raisins nor cinnamon.The music for this film is primarily jazzy, in a possible attempt to be "period". Too bad nobody thought of ragtime. As it is, the music doesn't relate to what's happening on the screen, and often is at odds with the action.The other film is "(Sherlock Holmes and) the Speckled Band" from 1931, starring a young Raymond Massey. The quality of the picture and sound is fully up to that of the 1962 effort, and in fact a bit better. Massey makes a quite respectable Holmes, although he certainly doesn't own the rôle in the way Rathbone did and Brett does. The other thespians who take part in this production are unlikely to be of interest to modern readers. The acting – as is true of many films of this period – owes a lot to the post-Victorian stage and to silent films.There is very little else to be said of this film. The settings seem to be an odd combination of the 1890s (horse-drawn carriages) and the 1920s (electronic devices such as a primitive dictaphone). Taken altogether, it's an interesting curio and a sufficient inducement to buy the DVD with the pairing rather than a DVD with "Deadly Necklace" only.

Fritz Langlois In this movie, Christopher Lee delights us with a very convincing impersonation of the greatest detective of them all (he would later have another go at playing Sherlock Holmes in two made-for-television movies from the late 1980s.) Thorley Walters is also perfect as his friend and associate Dr Watson. The film has not much in common with director Fisher's previous stab at the myth THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLE (also featuring Christopher Lee, not as Holmes), and is not as successful. The picture is reminiscent of the silent films made in the first decades of cinema, a fitting atmosphere for a Sherlock Holmes adventure. The original version is supposed to be a complete mess as far as the sound is concerned (according to Lee in his autobiography), but the French dubbed version is pretty well done. Accompanied by a surprisingly jazzy score, here's an enjoyable enough movie, in an old-fashioned kind of way.