A Study in Terror (1965)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

James Hill

Writers:

Arthur Conan Doyle (characters)
Donald Ford (original story and screenplay) ...

Release Date:

2 November 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Sherlock Holmes meets Jack the Ripper! Here comes the original caped crusader!

Plot:

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson join the hunt for the notorious serial killer, Jack The Ripper.

Plot Keywords:

Sherlock Holmes | Jack The Ripper | Serial Killer | Murder | Detective

Cast

John Neville	...	Sherlock Holmes
Donald Houston	...	Doctor John Watson
John Fraser	...	Lord Carfax
Anthony Quayle	...	Doctor Murray
Barbara Windsor	...	Annie Chapman
Adrienne Corri	...	Angela Osborne
Frank Finlay	...	Inspector Lestrade
Judi Dench	...	Sally Young
Charles Régnier	...	Joseph Beck (as Charles Regnier)
Cecil Parker	...	Prime Minister
Georgia Brown	...	Singer
Barry Jones	...	Duke of Shires
Robert Morley	...	Mycroft Holmes
Dudley Foster	...	Home Secretary
Peter Carsten	...	Max Steiner

Also Known As:

Fog

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Osterley Park House, Isleworth, Middlesex, England, UK

Company:

Compton Films

Trivia:

John Neville reprised the rôle of Holmes on Broadway in the 1970s.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In 1888 they sing "Guide Me O Thou Great Redeemer" to the tune "Cwm Rhondda" which was not composed until about 1905, and had its first public performance in 1907.

Quotes:

Lord Carfax, Richard Osborne: What's all this about, Holmes, how did you get here?
Sherlock Holmes: I followed this young lady.
Sally: I saw no one.
Sherlock Holmes: That is exactly what you'd expect to see when I follow someone.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes: The Red Circle (#1.4)" (1994)

Exploitation shocker plays fair with Holmes lore

A STUDY IN TERROR

Aspect ratio: 1.75:1

Sound format: Mono

More than a decade before Bob Clark pitted Sherlock Holmes against Jack the Ripper in the superior MURDER BY DECREE (1978), Herman Cohen produced this ignoble marriage of Victorian supersleuth and notorious mass murderer, featuring John Neville and Donald Houston as Holmes and Watson, pursuing 'Saucy Jack' through the fog-shrouded streets of Whitechapel. As expected, the narrative is spiced with exploitation fripperies (note how Desmond Dickinson's camera leers over the female victims before their gory demise), but the script - co-written by future sexploitation director Derek Ford (THE WIFE SWAPPERS, SEX EXPRESS) and his brother Donald (THE BLACK TORMENT) - is a pleasingly tangled affair, attentive to the customs and traditions of Holmes lore, while the expert teaming of Neville and Houston is further bolstered by an astonishingly starry cast (including John Fraser, Anthony Quayle, Robert Morley, Barbara Windsor, Adrienne Corri, Frank Finlay, Cecil Parker and a young Judi Dench!). The budget is meager, but production values are solid, and director James Hill (BORN FREE, THE BELSTONE FOX) marshals proceedings with a sure hand throughout.