(Contains spoiler.) I recently did a free-lance graphic-design job for a video store owner. My pay? He had to come up with a copy of "They Might Be Giants" for me. He swore it was the last copy on Earth.
George C. Scott made Justin Playfair/Sherlock Holmes into a great film character. If you pay attention to his delightful patter, you hear a soulful philosophy of life that nails our culture whether in 1971 or 1999. His rescue of poor Mr. Small made me want to cheer. Joanne Woodward's portrayal of Dr. Watson was brilliant. You could palpably feel the missing pieces of her wretched existence. "Just keep repeating to yourself, "I am adequate!"
This may be one of the all-time best collection of character actors ever put together. Jack Guilford and Rue McClanahan were wonderful But so was every other actor that appeared. Al Lewis (III) as the messenger, "You were right, Mr. Holmes. My dog did have Pellegra." The clueless march of the crazies en route to the supermarket was heroic. Too few people remember this film. If you get a chance, check this one out.
***Note - I originally wrote this comment seven years ago, but some of the new user comments prompted me to add to it. First, understand that Justin Playfair's condition is totally explained by Rue McClanahan, his sister-in-law. He was a brilliant jurist until his wife was killed. He couldn't cope with a world that allowed such bad things to happen. In an attempt to understand how bad things can happen to good people, he became the world's greatest sleuth in a relentless effort to understand evil. He showed saved newspaper clippings, of innocent people killed by inexplicable accidents, buses going off a cliff, boyscouts attacked, and so on. His one thread that held him to a tenuous sanity was the belief he could always figure it out... and that there were always clues.
He frequented an old movie house that showed old Westerns, where Randolph Scott always wore a white hat and won over the bad guys in black hats. The purest celluloid version of ultimate good over evil. In black and white. He did the London Times crossword puzzle in ink, and could read a person's life with the same exactitude as the original Sherlock. When he rescued Mr. Small, he commented under his breath, "Why can't analysts ever analyze?" The more he studied and investigated the clues, the surer he became that all the clues pointed toward one malevolent perpetrator - the evil mastermind, Moriarity. In the end, he knew he and Watson were no match for him, but that the noblest thing a Man could do was stand up against evil, even if it was a futile gesture. In that acceptance of holding onto good - even in the face of absolute evil - was his salvation.
In an insane world - only the insane are sane.
George C. Scott made Justin Playfair/Sherlock Holmes into a great film character. If you pay attention to his delightful patter, you hear a soulful philosophy of life that nails our culture whether in 1971 or 1999. His rescue of poor Mr. Small made me want to cheer. Joanne Woodward's portrayal of Dr. Watson was brilliant. You could palpably feel the missing pieces of her wretched existence. "Just keep repeating to yourself, "I am adequate!"
This may be one of the all-time best collection of character actors ever put together. Jack Guilford and Rue McClanahan were wonderful But so was every other actor that appeared. Al Lewis (III) as the messenger, "You were right, Mr. Holmes. My dog did have Pellegra." The clueless march of the crazies en route to the supermarket was heroic. Too few people remember this film. If you get a chance, check this one out.
***Note - I originally wrote this comment seven years ago, but some of the new user comments prompted me to add to it. First, understand that Justin Playfair's condition is totally explained by Rue McClanahan, his sister-in-law. He was a brilliant jurist until his wife was killed. He couldn't cope with a world that allowed such bad things to happen. In an attempt to understand how bad things can happen to good people, he became the world's greatest sleuth in a relentless effort to understand evil. He showed saved newspaper clippings, of innocent people killed by inexplicable accidents, buses going off a cliff, boyscouts attacked, and so on. His one thread that held him to a tenuous sanity was the belief he could always figure it out... and that there were always clues.
He frequented an old movie house that showed old Westerns, where Randolph Scott always wore a white hat and won over the bad guys in black hats. The purest celluloid version of ultimate good over evil. In black and white. He did the London Times crossword puzzle in ink, and could read a person's life with the same exactitude as the original Sherlock. When he rescued Mr. Small, he commented under his breath, "Why can't analysts ever analyze?" The more he studied and investigated the clues, the surer he became that all the clues pointed toward one malevolent perpetrator - the evil mastermind, Moriarity. In the end, he knew he and Watson were no match for him, but that the noblest thing a Man could do was stand up against evil, even if it was a futile gesture. In that acceptance of holding onto good - even in the face of absolute evil - was his salvation.
In an insane world - only the insane are sane.