Due to other obligations, Edward Hardwicke is absent from this episode but it manages to work very well. One reason might be that the story at the heart of the mystery is a rather interesting one. More so than for the previous Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, I feel the producers generally did a good job in Memoirs as far as choosing interesting stories from what was left of the Holmes canon to adapt. For instance, The Three Gables, The Dying Detective, The Cardboard Box, and this one. (The one exception might be The Mazarin Stone, but that's a different beast for another review.)
It could be that I find this one interesting because my maternal grandmother was full-blooded Russian and my great grandparents (although I never knew them) probably left their home country around the time of the Communist Revolution or not long before. As one of Doyle's historically-based plots, this story, which was one of the later ones to be written, touches on that general period of history.
Acting is very strong all around, as usual. Jeremy Brett is never a let down and although, as previously stated, there is no Watson in sight, Charles Grey as Sherlock's brother Mycroft is always delightful. (Although Mycroft did not feature in Doyle's original--which had Dr. Watson in his rightful place--the elder Holmes was featured in a couple of other short stories that were adapted, so Grey had a recurring part.) The episode is helped tremendously by strong performances from Frank Finlay as The Professor and Anna Cartaret, in a brief but essential role. Also, an actress by the name of Patricia Kerrigan is pretty effective as a suffragist in a new subplot added for the adaptation. Some "purists" get feathers ruffled over any change to one of Doyle's stories but this should be one of the less harrowing ones: the presence of the women's suffrage movement is in keeping with the setting of the story and fleshing out background characters is a sensible enough way to make a short story more substantial without altering the core plot. As for the cast, it is every bit as strong as usual with no duds. The inspector and the professor's housemaid are also played well.
The other character of note is the Professor's house itself. Thanks to Peter Hammond, perhaps the most artsy director in television, the house in which the murder takes place is quite an engrossing and vivid character of its own. It would have been a quirky set anyway but Hammond's classic off the wall style, which an also be seen in other episodes that he directed, takes full advantage of it, with colorful and zany visuals helping to enhance the quirkiness and the filmic value of this episode. Memorable play can be made of something as simple as a large pool of blood on the floor, as happened in a very memorable sequence with the Holmes brothers interviewing the maid.
Fair warning: Hammond's artsy photography and editing choices could be confusing to some, as the opening sequence intercuts two dramatic sequence from totally different times and places in the characters' lives. The opening may throw viewers off at first in this regard but all soon becomes clear.
So I suppose that between loving the house and loving the history, I can't help but rate this episode highly. It's one of my favorites from the underrated and rather unfairly mauled Memoirs series, which I actually rate a bit above most of the Casebook of Sherlock Holmes. It's true that Brett's decline in health around the time of production can be a drawback--but not an insurmountable one. And I guess this isn't the strongest *detective* story in the world but I think there is actually a pretty powerful human story at the heart of it. The weakest spot for me is that in the denouement, there is one big element that's rather clichéd. But if The Golden Pince-Nez were the only murder mystery guilty of that, it wouldn't be a cliché. Nonetheless Jeremy Brett and Anna Cartaret carry it off excellently--really affecting performances that handle potentially difficult scenes well.
Plus, Pince-Nez has to be one of the coolest sounding words ever. So bonus points go for that.
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