What are the chances one wonders that after
watching The Return of Sherlock Holmes in which he returns to the modern
day after being cryogenically sealed that I would stumble upon this film
in which Holmes returns in the modern day after being cryogenically sealed?
How many more are out there? I hope more! Neither are great but both are
decent enough to wish the TV pilots had been picked up for a series. And
guess what? This one too has a female Watson though not by that name. It
would take another 20 years before America was ready for that.
The writing in this one is sharper and more
Sherlockian. I love it when Sherlock performs his parlor tricks and is able
to tell so much about someone at a glance. There is a lot of that here. Holmes
is played by Anthony Higgins who played the young Moriarty in Young Sherlock
Holmes, the Watson character is essayed by Debrah Farantino, Moriarty is
Ken Pogue and Mrs. Hudson is portrayed by Joy Coghil. Yes, we have a Mrs.
Hudson and Moriarty. Dr. Amy Winslow goes to visit the elderly widow of a
man she once saved. Mrs. Hudson. Mrs Hudson explains that the Hudson family
have been caretakers for this large house since the early 1900s. The main
responsibility is to make sure the electricity is always on. A tremor though
knocks it out and Winslow accidentally finds a secret room with a frozen
man inside. Long of hair and longer of fingernails. Sherlock is awake. He
looks about and quickly concludes that a murder has taken place in that room
while he slept. By Mrs Hudson and her now dead husband. The dead man. Moriarty!!
His brother actually. But there was another there.
As expected, the good doctor needs a lot
of convincing but a few of those parlor tricks help. With him all cleaned
up, she takes him to live with her in San Francisco. A few very odd murders
have taken place and this delights Sherlock. He exclaims that the game is
afoot and she tags along. Picks up the The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
to read. At one point, she immediately sees through one of his disguises
to Holmes surprise. "Watson never did".
