Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)

Director:

Barry Levinson

Writers:

Arthur Conan Doyle (characters)
Chris Columbus (screenplay)

Release Date:

4 December 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Before a lifetime of adventure, they had the adventure of a lifetime.

Plot:

When assorted people start having inexplicable delusions that lead to their deaths, a teenage Sherlock Holmes decides to investigate.

Plot Keywords:

Cult | Sherlock Holmes | Hallucination | Graveyard | Murder

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Nicholas Rowe	...	Sherlock Holmes
Alan Cox	...	John Watson
Sophie Ward	...	Elizabeth Hardy
Anthony Higgins	...	Professor Rathe
Susan Fleetwood	...	Mrs. Dribb
Freddie Jones	...	Chester Cragwitch
Nigel Stock	...	Rupert T. Waxflatter
Roger Ashton-Griffiths	...	Det. Sgt. Lestrade
Earl Rhodes	...	Dudley
Brian Oulton	...	Master Snelgrove
Patrick Newell	...	Bentley Bobster
Donald Eccles	...	The Reverend Duncan Nesbitt
Matthew Ryan	...	Dudley's Friend
Matthew Blakstad	...	Dudley's Friend
Jonathan Lacey	...	Dudley's Friend
Walter Sparrow	...	Ethan Engel
Nadim Sawalha	...	Khasek - Lower Nile Tavern Owner
Roger Brierley	...	Mr. Holmes
Vivienne Chandler	...	Mrs. Holmes
Lockwood West	...	Curio Shop Owner
John Scott Martin	...	Cemetery Caretaker
George Malpas	...	School Porter
Willoughby Goddard	...	School Reverend
Michael Cule	...	Policeman with Lestrade
Ralph Tabakin	...	Policeman in Shop Window
Nancy Nevinson	...	Hotel Receptionist
Michael Hordern	...	Older Watson (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Royston Munt	...	Footman (uncredited)

Directed by
Barry Levinson

Writing credits
Arthur Conan Doyle		(characters)
Chris Columbus		(screenplay)

Produced by
Harry Benn	....	associate producer
Mark Johnson	....	producer
Kathleen Kennedy	....	executive producer
Frank Marshall	....	executive producer
Steven Spielberg	....	executive producer
Henry Winkler	....	producer

Original Music by
Bruce Broughton

Cinematography by
Stephen Goldblatt

Film Editing by
Stu Linder

Casting by
Irene Lamb

Production Design by
Norman Reynolds

Art Direction by
Charles Bishop
Fred Hole

Set Decoration by
Michael Ford

Costume Design by
Raymond Hughes

Makeup Department
Joan Carpenter	....	key hair stylist
Nick Dudman	....	makeup artist
Richard Glass	....	contact lens optician
Hilary Haines	....	hair stylist
Chris Lyons	....	special effects teeth
Peter Robb-King	....	makeup supervisor
Jane Royle	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Arthur F. Repola	....	post-production supervisor (as Arthur Repola)
Donald Toms	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Peter Bennett	....	first assistant director: second unit
Andrew Grieve	....	second unit director
Peter Heslop	....	third assistant director
Ian Hickinbotham	....	second assistant director
Michael Murray	....	first assistant director
Kevin Westley	....	third assistant second unit director

Art Department
Gavin Bocquet	....	assistant art director
Reg Bream	....	chief draftsman
Paul Cheesman	....	dressing props
Peter Childs	....	draftsman
George Djurkovic	....	assistant art director
Michael Finlay	....	painter
Peter Hancock	....	property master
Sarah Horton	....	art department junior
Philip McDonald	....	property department
Jonathan McKinstry	....	junior draftsman
Dave Midson	....	chargehand dressing prop
Brian Muir	....	sculptor
Michael G. Ploog	....	illustrator (as Michael Ploog)
Mickey Pugh	....	property department
Keith Short	....	sculptor
Bill Welch	....	construction manager (as William Welch)
Mark White	....	construction
Simon Downes	....	trainee art department (uncredited)

Sound Department
George H. Anderson	....	additional sound effects editor (as George Anderson)
Scott Arundale	....	sound editing production assistant
Michael J. Benavente	....	additional sound effects editor (as Michael Benavente)
Pamela Bentkowski	....	additional sound effects editor
Michael C. Casper	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Michael Casper)
Lucy Coldsnow-Smith	....	additional sound effects editor (as Lucy Coldsnow)
Tony Dawe	....	production sound mixer
Avram D. Gold	....	adr editor
Gary A. Hecker	....	foley walker (as Gary Hecker)
Cindy Marty	....	assistant sound effects editor
Dan O'Connell	....	foley walker
Bruce Richardson	....	supervising sound editor (as Paul Bruce Richardson)
Norman B. Schwartz	....	post-production dialogue
James Simcik	....	adr assistant
Robert Thirlwell	....	sound re-recording mixer
Bill Varney	....	sound re-recording mixer
Gary Wright	....	additional sound effects editor

Special Effects by
John Baker	....	special effects technician
Jeff Clifford	....	special effects technician
Terence J. Cox	....	special effects technician
Rodney Fuller	....	special effects technician
Stephen Norrington	....	animatronics supervisor
Kit West	....	special effects supervisor
Trevor Wood	....	special effects technician

Visual Effects by
David Allen	....	motion supervisor: pastry sequence: ILM
Donna K. Baker	....	rotoscope artist: ILM (as Donna Baker)
Gordon Baker	....	effects animator: ILM
Barbara Brennan	....	effects animator: ILM
Dave Carson	....	effects art director: ILM
Sean M. Casey	....	puppeteer: ILM (as Sean Casey)
Eric Christiansen	....	glass consultant: ILM
Blair Clark	....	puppeteer: ILM
Donald Clark	....	optical camera operator: ILM (as Don Clark)
Don Conway	....	computer animation: ILM
Robert L. Cook	....	computer animation: ILM
Robert Cooper	....	puppeteer: ILM (as Bob Cooper)
Kim Costalupes	....	assistant editor: ILM
Jay Davis	....	puppeteer: ILM
David DiFrancesco	....	computer animation: ILM (as David Defrancesco)
John Ellis	....	optical supervisor: ILM
Scott Farrar	....	effects cameraman: pastry sequence: ILM
Warren Franklin	....	general manager: ILM
Michael Gleason	....	visual effects editor: ILM (as Mike Gleason)
Craig Good	....	computer animation: ILM
Ralph Gordon	....	optical lineup: ILM
Caroleen Green	....	matte artist: ILM
Robert Hill	....	assistant cameraman: ILM
Sandy Houston	....	rotoscope artist: ILM
Erik Jensen	....	production coordinator: ILM
George H. Joblove	....	coordinator: glass man sequence: ILM (as George Joblove)
Ed Jones	....	optical lineup: ILM
Douglas S. Kay	....	coordinator: glass man sequence: ILM (as Douglas Scott Kay)
John Lasseter	....	computer animation: ILM
Tony Laudati	....	puppeteer: ILM
Ellen E. Lichtwardt	....	animation supervisor: ILM (as Ellen Lichtwardt)
Mike MacKenzie	....	equipment engineering: ILM (as Michael MacKenzie)
Patrick McArdle	....	assistant cameraman: ILM
Marghi McMahon	....	puppeteer: ILM (as Marghe McMahon)
Terry Molatore	....	rotoscope artist: ILM (as Terry Sittig)
Jack Mongovan	....	effects animator: ILM
Dennis Muren	....	visual effects supervisor
Eben Ostby	....	computer animation: ILM
Michael Owens	....	effects cameraman: harpy sequence: ILM
Udo Pampel	....	equipment engineering: ILM
Michael Pangrazio	....	matte artist supervisor
William Reeves	....	computer animation: ILM
Thomas Rosseter	....	optical lineup
David Salesin	....	computer animation: ILM (as David H. Salesin)
Kenneth Smith	....	head optical cameraman: ILM
David Sosalla	....	creature fabrication: ILM
Howard Stein	....	visual effects editor: ILM
Bruce Walters	....	animation supervisor: ILM
Harry Walton	....	go-motion animation: harpy sequence: ILM
Craig Barron	....	matte photography supervisor (uncredited)
Alan Church	....	optical cameraman (uncredited)
Tony Hudson	....	puppeteer: ILM (uncredited)
Paul Huston	....	matte modelmaker (uncredited)
Pamela Marcotte	....	visual effects (uncredited)
Jay Riddle	....	animation camera: ILM (uncredited)

Stunts
Marc Boyle	....	stunt arranger
Tom Delmar	....	stunts
Arthur Howell	....	fencing master
George Lane Cooper	....	stunts (uncredited)
Simon Crane	....	stunts (uncredited)
Steve Dent	....	stunts (uncredited)
Tracey Eddon	....	stunts (uncredited)
Sadie Eden	....	stunts (uncredited)
Ray Ford	....	stunts (uncredited)
Denise Ryan	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jason White	....	stunts (uncredited)
Steve Whyment	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Alan Annand	....	focus puller: second unit
David Cadwallader	....	key grip
Colin Corby	....	camera operator
Martin Evans	....	gaffer
Martin Foley	....	clapper loader
John Golding	....	camera operator: second unit
Rawdon Hayne	....	focus puller
Clive Jackson	....	clapper loader: second unit
Philip Jones	....	key grip: second unit
Randy Jonsson	....	assistant camera (as Randy Johnson)
Ray Meehan	....	best boy
Stephen Smith	....	director of photography: second unit (as Steven Smith)
George Whitear	....	still photographer
Will Willis	....	camera trainee

Costume and Wardrobe Department
William McPhail	....	assistant to costume designer
Paul Vachon	....	wardrobe supervisor
Hilary Watson	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Peter Culverwell	....	assistant editor
Neil Kirk	....	apprentice editor

Music Department
Bruce Broughton	....	conductor
Mark McKenzie	....	orchestrator (as Mark C. McKenzie)
Don Nemitz	....	orchestrator
Curt Sobel	....	music editor
James Thatcher	....	musician: French horn
Eric Tomlinson	....	music mixer
Bruce Broughton	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Danny Burns	....	unit driver
Roy Hyatt	....	unit driver
Ray Jones	....	unit driver
Joe Lind	....	unit driver
Ron Narduzzo	....	unit driver

Other crew
David Allan	....	consultant: fitness
Alan Arnold	....	unit publicist
Virginia Ashton	....	secretary to associate producer
Kate Barker	....	assistant to executive producer
Libbie Barr	....	script supervisor: second unit
Irena Butcher	....	assistant accountant
Vivienne Hammer	....	accounting assistant
Fred Harding	....	supervising accountant
Robert Harman	....	wire man (as Bob Harman)
Steven Lawrence	....	location manager
Cheryl Leigh	....	script supervisor
Tony Miller	....	production accountant
Katrina Mitchell	....	production assistant
Susan Moore	....	assistant to producer
Julie Moskowitz	....	assistant to executive producer
Phil Mullally	....	floor runner
Bonne Radford	....	controller
Mary T. Radford	....	assistant to executive producer (as Mary Radford)
Carol Regan	....	production coordinator
Marie Rowe	....	assistant: Mr. Levinson
Margaret Street	....	secretary to producer
Carolyn Trainor	....	production assistant (as Caroline Trainor)
Rebecca West	....	publicity secretary
Robert C. Campion	....	assistant accountant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Amblin Entertainment
• Industrial Light & Magic (ILM)
• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1985) (USA) (theatrical)
• Paramount Home Video (1986) (USA) (VHS)
• Argentina Video Home (198?) (Argentina) (VHS)
• CIC Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• Esselte CIC Video (198?) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Home Video Hellas (HVH) (1987) (Greece) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Industrial Light & Magic (ILM)
• Pixar Animation Studios (glass man sequence)

Other Companies

• Abbey Road Studios  music recorded at
• Computer Consoles Inc.  Power 6/32 computer systems
• Elstree Film & Television Studios  movie studio
• Fenton-Feinberg Casting  casting (as Mike Fenton/Judy Feinberg)
• Grip House  grip equipment
• Intrada  score album released by (limited edition)
• MCA Records  soundtrack
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)  titles and opticals
• Panavision  lenses and Panaflex camera
• Sinfonia of London  orchestra

Also Known As:

"Young Sherlock Holmes and the Pyramid of Fear" - UK (video title), USA (original script title)
"Pyramid of Fear" - New Zealand (English title) (alternative title)

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Chile:14 | Finland:K-14 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG-13 | Australia:PG | Ireland:PG | Netherlands:AL | Spain:T | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG | Iceland:10 (original rating) | Iceland:12 (video rating) | Brazil:12 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12

Filming Locations:

Belvoir Castle, Belvoir, Leicestershire, England, UK

Company:

Amblin Entertainment

Trivia:

Nigel Stock, who plays Waxfatter, had previously played the role of Doctor Watson in "Sherlock Holmes" (1964).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Just before the flying machine crashes into the tree on its first flight, cables that the machine is hanging from are visible.

Quotes:

John Watson:Holmes, wait. What if the murderer is inside?
Sherlock Holmes:Then I shall introduce myself to him.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Force Is with Them: The Legacy of 'Star Wars' (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

Young Sherlock Holmes - Waxing Elizabeth

Unusual and fairly entertaining.

In the mid 80s, audiences were hungry for heroes in the mould of Indiana Jones. Films featuring Sherlock Holmes were quite out-of-fashion. People expected a hero with a bit of dash and a penchant for action; not a meticulous, stuffy, ultra-intelligent sleuth. Young Sherlock Holmes and the Pyramid of Fear is an unusual hybrid, because it takes the period trappings of a Holmes mystery and dresses them up with Indy-style action and mysticism.

The story has young student doctor John Watson arriving at a boarding school in Victorian London. He meets, for the very first time, a brilliant young student named Sherlock Holmes and they rapidly become friends. At the same time, a series of bizarre murders have been going on close to the school. In each case, people have had terrible hallucinations and in desperate states of panic have inadvertently killed themselves. Holmes and Watson investigate, and uncover an ancient cult which is responsible for the killings.

The film has its share of problems. For one thing, purists will know that the very first meeting of Holmes and Watson was described at the start of the book A Study in Scarlet, and didn't take place in a school. Some of the performances are overly hammy, particularly Freddie Jones in yet another of his wild-eyed characterisations. The idea of a huge pyramid being ingeniously concealed beneath a London warehouse is hard to swallow (surely someone would have noticed them building a construction of this size in such a tightly-packed city). However, the problems can be forgiven because the film moves at a lively pace and is invested with lots of clever dialogue and stirring action. There's even a touch of humour (something lacking from the original Conan Doyle novels). One scene in particular is most amusing, when young Watson is shot with an hallucinatory dart and imagines an army of living cream buns jumping into his mouth! The climactic duel on the ice is very excitingly staged too. There's also a surprisingly downbeat event at the end which thankfully strips the film of the typical 80s sentimentality. This is agreeable and entertaining stuff.