Without a Clue (1988)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Thom Eberhardt

Writers (WGA):

Gary Murphy (written by) &
Larry Strawther (written by)

Release Date:

21 October 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Mystery

Tagline:

The flip side of Sherlock Holmes.

Plot:

A drunken Sherlock Holmes is really just a cover for the real detective - Dr Watson.

Plot Keywords:

Actor | Sherlock Holmes | Detective | Doctor | Forgery

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Michael Caine	...	Sherlock Holmes
Ben Kingsley	...	Dr. John Watson
Jeffrey Jones	...	Inspector Lestrade
Lysette Anthony	...	Impostor Leslie Giles
Paul Freeman	...	Professor James Moriarty
Nigel Davenport	...	Lord Smithwick
Pat Keen	...	Mrs. Hudson
Peter Cook	...	Norman Greenhough
Tim Killick	...	Sebastian
Matthew Savage	...	Wiggins
John Warner	...	Peter Giles
Matthew Sim	...	Real Leslie Giles
Harold Innocent	...	Lord Mayor Gerald Fitzwalter Johnson
George Sweeney	...	John Clay
Murray Ewan	...	Archie

Also Known As:

Sherlock and Me
The Imposter of Baker Street (UK) (working title)

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Iceland:L | West Germany:12 (f) | Australia:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Incorporated Television Company (ITC)

Trivia:

The opening sequence of the movie is inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original Sherlock Holmes story "The Red-Headed League." In the story, Sherlock Holmes captures John Clay and his accomplice, Archie. John Clay even calls out at one point, "Jump, Archie, and I'll swing for it!"

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The postcard from Lesley has a picture of the Eiffel Tower occupying one entire side. Postcards of this type did not exist anywhere until 1901 or 1902, and in France not until 1904.

Quotes:

Holmes: Lovely story, Watson. But on page 2 you have me admitting a mistake.
Watson: A writer must write of which he knows...

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Time Shift: A Study in Sherlock" (2007)

Witty entertaining farcical romp

This si a great story idea speculating on the assumption that the real genius of the famous Conan Doyle detective duo is Dr Watson, the academic. The acclaimed Sherlock Holmes is just a publicity front, played by a hack actor, while Watson does the real sleuthing.

It an interesting idea and Ben Kingsley and Michael Caine make it work exceptionally well. This is one of those films where the comedy works best if it's played totally deadpan seriously (which is the case with most comedy in fact). If you run along with this idea, it runs as a very intriguing and wonderfully fun story, almost on par with any other classic Holmes film.