Il segno dei quattro

Holmes and Watson are called in to investigate a crime involving a year old murder and a box of priceless jewels. Holmes must deal with an ex-con and his murderous companion, who are bent on revenge and the retrieval of a large missing diamond. Another good Holmes adventure.

It really is a disaster that only SIGN and HOUN were filmed with Ian Richardson. No other has been portraying Holmes in such a smooth and witty way - not even Rathbone whom I always considered a bit too perfect and too cold. The setting and the costumes in the Sign of the Four are brilliant and the acting of all the characters is quite convincing. Unfortunately Watson is a shade too Brucian. Few changes were made to the story, but for the worse and therefore quite acceptable. It has been said more than once so far but I must repeat it: The boat chase is brilliant. I must give credit to another point. Although we do see Holmes in his Deerstalker and Inverness cape in some scenes, he mainly is dressed like a gentleman would be in those days. Richardson is not an all-cliche Holmes. 9 out of 10.

This television movie is a fair adaption of the Sherlock Holmes short novel 'The Sign of the Four.' While the basic storyline of the search for a treasure brought back to England from India is here as are all the characters from the original story, there are also a number of changes - some of which are minor and insignificant but a few of which are major changes. The biggest change is in the ending, a change that seems unnecessary and certainly does not improve the story. There is also some pointless padding to the story such as the carousel scene and the emphasis on Tonga. However, Ian Richardson's portrayal of Holmes is so wonderful that all else can be forgiven. Richardson portrays Holmes as "a man who has an extraordinary genius for small details," and is aloof without being cold, is confident without being arrogant and has an occasional sense of humor. Holmes' interaction with Inspector Layton at the Sholto house murder scene is so good that it's worth watching the movie just for that one scene.

There have been many adaptations of The Sign of Four as one of Doyle's most highly respected works. No adaptation follows implicitly, but this film does well at blending notable passages and dialogue from the book in with adventurous romps through London, and even to a carnival where death seems the main feature. Unlike other adaptations, rather than attempting to solve the case ourselves, we watch the villain at work and follow along as Holmes attempts to piece together the sparse clues.

Although the film takes great liberties in making the storyline unique and exciting, it still manages to convey the very heart of what Doyle intended. Richardson is an excellent Holmes; he portrays him with just the right amount of light humor and intelligence to make him enthralling even while in the background. He also does an excellent job of reacting. When Mary clings to him after a particularly jarring series of events, the uncomfortable Holmes untangles himself and insists on not making a fuss. One scene I happen to particularly like is when Inspector Layton is brought in to the crime scene. Watching him brush off Holmes' suggestions, while our favorite sleuth is attempting not to laugh or groan at his absurdities, is nothing less than humorous. I also appreciated finally witnessing the scene left out in many adaptations... the thrilling chase of the Aurora on the Thames.

Like many others, I find Ian Richardson the definitive Holmes, and mourn that not more films were made with him as the gallant and often eccentric private detective.

Miss Mary Morstan has been receiving jewels from an unknown source for some time when the anonymous man wants a meeting. She takes along Holmes and Watson and they uncover a years old pact regarding stolen treasure – the so called `four'. However Holmes finds that someone is killing off the four in the hunt for the treasure and must race to stop him and save the jewels.

Over the past few months I have been watching al to of the Rathbone/Bruce Holmes films and have been enjoying them, but I thought I'd take another version and try it out. I heard good things about this version and they were mostly right – this is a good telling of the story, even if I struggled to follow some parts of it (my fault and not the film's!). The plot is a little duller than it should have been because we already know what's going on from the start as opposed to working it out with Holmes. However it is still enjoyable and has some exciting moments of action and good moments where Holmes deduces the clues!

The film also has a reasonable vein of good humour running through it and is funny at times. Happily this does not come from Watson being a buffoon of sorts. He is clearly Holmes' sidekick rather than equal but nonetheless he is certainly different from Bruce's playing. Richardson is a good Holmes and made me forget Rathbone, while Healy does quite well as Watson – although Bruce is forever in that role for me (even though I dislike that version of Watson). The rest of the cast are good and support the tale well.

Overall this is a good film with a worthy sense of time. It is a lot `straighter' that the Rathbone Holmes films but that is not a bad thing. Not a classic but certainly an enjoyable mystery film that is involving without being gripping.