Without a Clue (1988)

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

Director:

Thom Eberhardt

Writers:

Gary Murphy, Larry Strawther

Stars:

Michael Caine, Ben Kingsley, Jeffrey Jones

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Caine	...	Reginald Kincaid / Sherlock Holmes
Ben Kingsley	...	Dr. Watson
Jeffrey Jones	...	Inspector Lestrade
Lysette Anthony	...	Leslie Giles
Paul Freeman	...	Prof. James Moriarty
Nigel Davenport	...	Lord Smithwick
Pat Keen	...	Mrs. Hudson
Peter Cook	...	Greenhough
Tim Killick	...	Sebastian
Matthew Savage	...	Wiggins
John Warner	...	Peter Giles
Matthew Sim	...	Real Lesley
Harold Innocent	...	Mayor Johnson
George Sweeney	...	John Clay
Murray Ewan	...	Archie

Storyline

This is a Sherlock Holmes story with a difference. Here Dr Watson is the ace detective and has been using an actor to play the part Holmes. Holmes is a drunken actor and gets on Watson's nerves. When Watson tries to go it alone, he doesn't have much success, so he is forced to let Holmes take all the credit once more.

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Plot Keywords:

sherlock holmes | spoof | private detective | drunkenness | knocked unconscious | 

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Taglines:

The outrageous comedy about the world's greatest detective and his bumbling partner...Sherlock Holmes.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Mystery

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 October 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sherlock and Me

Filming Locations:

Syon Park, Brentford, Middlesex, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,246,772, 23 October 1988, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$8,539,181

Company Credits

Production Co:

Incorporated Television Company (ITC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Peter Cook (Norman Greenhough) the Editor of The Strand Magazine, in which Dr. Watson (Sir Ben Kingsley)'s accounts of the Sherlock Holmes (Sir Michael Caine) cases appear, actually played Sherlock Holmes in another Sherlock Holmes comedy spoof movie, The Hound of the Baskervilles (1978), where Dudley Moore played Dr. Watson.

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Goofs

Moriarty uses arming lighter when on the docks. Ferrocerium (which is how flint lighters work) was not patented until 1903.

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Quotes

Sherlock Holmes: [after poking a dead man with a stick] It is my opinion... that he is dead.

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits are superimposed over still images of Victorian London. The final shot of Holmes and Watson form the backdrop for the end credits.

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Connections

Referenced in Rewind This! (2013)

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Soundtracks

Where Did You Get that Hat?
(uncredited)
Written by Joseph J. Sullivan
Performed by Sarah Parr-Byrne

User Reviews

A must see!

I was a theater manager in 1988. I got this movie called 'Without a Clue', and that describes what I knew about it. I never saw a preview, I had no one sheet (poster) for it......Nothing! When I put the thing together, and saw the beginning, I thought oh, no! Not another Sherlock Holmes movie! (I think they made too many as it is!) But when Watson yelled at Holmes "You idiot!", that blew me away! I sat and watched it and laughed my butt off! Unfortunately, nobody else knew about this movie either! My theater was in a small town, and everybody knew me, and I told people if you want to see a funny movie that has no sex, really bad words, you have to see this movie! On Friday, when it opened, the theater was nowhere near full, on Thursday, the night it closed, we had a good crowd, some seeing it two, or three times (our admission price was $1.00 at the time). Granted, the teen-agers didn't care for it, but the adults loved it! In fact, one lady said to me, why don't they make more like that anymore! This movie IS an overlooked gem of a comedy!