At first Matt Frewer's Holmes portrayal is irritatingly precise and priggish. But then we see a warmth not very often seen in the detective especially towards his friend Watson at the end of this production. I enjoy watching Frewer's wide letterbox mouth that he works a little bit like old British comedy star Will Hay. He also has a habit of lifting his eyebrows like Hay. Frewer's Hound of the Baskervilles had been too comic so it was good to see a more sober production in this Sign of Four follow-up. There are a couple of prize harridan types that briefly entertain us in this one. Mrs Benstone scrutinizes Holmes through her pince-nez glasses as though he is an imposter. Mrs Smith comes later in the lengthy anachronistic Dr Crippen joke. There are some good horse and carriage in foggy gas-lit sequences that are classic Holmes mystery scenarios. The usual riverboat chase scene of the Sign of Four story is forsaken for a stand-off on fogbound dockyard jetties. Even though this is not the best version of Sign of Four it entertained me enough to want to see it again sometime.
Review of The Sign of Four
