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Robert Stephens in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970)

Goofs

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

Edit

Continuity

The film's prologue depicts two contemporary men opening Dr. Watson's case and handling the various contents archived inside. We see one close-up shot of a man handling a single pair of old handcuffs and putting them down on the table. A short time later, the filmmakers repeat the very same footage of the man handling the handcuffs and putting them down on the table.
When the dispatch box is opened during the opening credits, a white "221B" address plaque in shown. However, when the carriage pulls up in front of the Holmes residence, the address plaque is green.

Factual errors

The opening shows us Watson's trunk, sealed for fifty years after his death, ,being opened. Dust is then shown being blown off the contents. Dust does not settle inside a sealed trunk.
Towards the end, when the submarine sinks we see a bible and a bottle of champagne float to the surface - alas the bottle of champagne would not float.
Holmes claims that sulfuric acid produces chlorine gas when exposed to salt water. In reality, it produces hydrogen chloride.
Chlorine gas will not kill you by asphyxiation but by poisoning. It is toxic while also chemically burning the breathing apparatus. That is why it was used as a chemical warfare agent.
When lead batteries of submarines are flooded with seawater, they will indeed produce chlorine gas but not because of the chemical reaction between the sulfuric acid and the salt - that produces hydrogen chloride - but by electrolysis due to the electric current produced by the batteries.

Incorrectly regarded as goofs

Although the Loch Ness Monster did not become well known in popular culture until 1933, stories of a creature in the lake go as far back as 565 AD with the writings of Saint Columbia, as well as the Mackenzie and Macdonald accounts in 1872, and 1888, respectively. Therefore, local legends and folklore, in, and around, Inverness, would be in circulation; making the British Navy's effort at camouflaging HMS Jonah as the monster, to fool the local population, entirely logical.

Revealing mistakes

During the opening credits, a ring with the initials "SH" is opened to reveal a compass. Althought the hand holding the ring does not move, the compass' pointer moves back and forth - due to external means, possibly a magnet nearby.
The initial move in on the wall of 221b Baker St. makes it obvious that the brick wall is just a printed flat surface.

Miscellaneous

Though shown smoking a Calabash pipe and often associated with Sherlock Holmes in popular culture, Conan Doyle never mentioned this type of pipe in Holmes' varied pipe collection in the stories.

Anachronisms

The events start in August 1887 and apparently take place in the following weeks or, at most, months. However, Mycroft Holmes tells Queen Victoria that Kaiser Wilhelm II had Count Zeppelin working on dirigibles that could drop bombs on Buckingham Palace. Wilhelm II did not become Kaiser until 15 June 1888, and Zeppelin did not start constructing rigid airships until the 1890s.
In the grave-digging scene, the lantern appears to have an electric light rather than a flame.
Dr.Watson says at the beginning of the movie that this takes place in 1887. However, he shows Holmes a copy of the Strand Magazine with "The Red Headed League", which was not published until 1891. Also, the Russian opera singer later tells Holmes that she read about his adventure, "The Hound of the Baskervilles", but that was not published until 1901.
When Holmes and Watson are visiting Mycroft in the Diogenes Club, Holmes mentions the Club's supposed quest to find the Abominable Snowman. The term "Abominable Snowman" wasn't coined until a journalist did so in 1921, many years after our story.
The ballet which Holmes and Watson go to see in 1887 is "Swan Lake", which was not performed in London until 1910.

Errors in geography

When Holmes, Watson and Gabrielle get off the train at Inverness, the train goes forward to another destination. The railway station at Inverness is a terminus.
There are references to HMS Jonah undergoing sea trials in the Moray Firth from her base in Loch Ness. The only link between Loch Ness and the sea is the River Ness which is broad and shallow and would not allow the passage of a submarine.
In their investigation of castles their first castle to visit in Broadway Tower, which is in England, 800 km from Inverness.

Plot holes

Would the Queen really be so uninformed about a new battleship she is going to commission and so late in the evening.

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Robert Stephens in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970)
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By what name was The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970) officially released in India in English?
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