The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson: Mortal Fight

Following DUEL TO THE DEATH, this installment in the Russian Sherlock Holmes series finds bereaved Dr. Watson back in London after Holmes' assumed death in the Swiss mountains, where he becomes the primary suspect in the assassination of a young gambler. Although Professor Moriarty was plunged to his death in his "duel to the death" with Sherlock Holmes in the end of the previous movie, his underlings are still large at work it seems. Another quality, intriguing and stylish entry in the consistently enjoyable Soviet rendition of A. C. Doyle's stories. A few holes in logic like Lestrade's suspicion of Dr. Watson as the murderer slightly detract from it, yet even though the charismatic Vasili Livanov as Holmes is absent from the first half of the movie, it still remains dark and suspenseful.