The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Herbert Ross

Writers:

Arthur Conan Doyle (characters)
Nicholas Meyer (novel)

Release Date:

2 June 1977 (Netherlands)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

To treat his friend's cocaine induced delusions, Watson lures Sherlock Holmes to Sigmund Freud.

Plot Keywords:

Cocaine | Sherlock Holmes | Sigmund Freud | Subconscious | Kidnapping

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Alan Arkin	...	Dr. Sigmund Freud
Vanessa Redgrave	...	Lola Deveraux
Robert Duvall	...	Dr. John H. Watson / Narrator
Nicol Williamson	...	Sherlock Holmes
Laurence Olivier	...	Professor James Moriarty
Joel Grey	...	Lowenstein
Samantha Eggar	...	Mary Morstan Watson
Jeremy Kemp	...	Baron von Leinsdorf
Charles Gray	...	Mycroft Holmes
Régine	...	Madame
Georgia Brown	...	Mrs. Freud
Anna Quayle	...	Freda
Jill Townsend	...	Mrs. Holmes
John Bird	...	Berger
Alison Leggatt	...	Mrs. Hudson

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 (video rating) | UK:AA (original rating) | Netherlands:12 | Sweden:15 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | USA:PG | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Austria

Company:

Herbert Ross Productions

Trivia:

The title of the movie refers to the drug Sherlock Holmes is abusing. He injects himself with a solution of 7% cocaine and 93% saline solution.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Holmes, Watson and Freud are attacked by rampaging horses, the trainer can be seen running behind the horses in long shots.

Quotes:

[as Holmes' boat pulls away]
Dr. John H. Watson: But how will you live?
Sherlock Holmes: When my arm is better, you would do well to follow the concert career of a violinist... named Sigerson!
Dr. John H. Watson: But your readers - my readers - what will I tell them?
Sherlock Holmes: Anything you like! Tell them I was murdered by my mathematics tutor; they'll never believe you in any case!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Taxi: The Ten Percent Solution (#3.6)" (1981)

Soundtrack:

The Madame's Song

Holmes like you've never seen him, and should have

Refreshing, original take on the Holmes Canon. I've heard the main actor was miscast but seeing him running around frenetically in a ratty smoking robe, issuing Sherlock's famous speech about Moriarty (which DOES sound paranoid when you think about it), he gives a true, spontaneous version which is lacking in other Holmes departures. While Holmes meets Jack the ripper in 2 other movies, his character never comes alive as in this movie. Even Peter Cushing as Sherlock in "Hound of the Baskervilles" can't compete. Robert Duvall seems wasted as Watson who has only 6 lines in the movie. Lawrence Olivier is a twin for Moriarty, but strangely doesn't look younger in a 30 year flashback. My only complaint is that upon repeated viewings the climactic train chase seems overlong. I think Conan Doyle would be proud: though he might have been mildly addicted to cocaine and broken his addiction, and thus has Watson proclaiming the same for Holmes, ("he cured himself"), the movie (and novel it's based on) fills a dramatic gap. And Holmes is more a hero for it, battling inner and outer foes (his addiction as well as a mystery).