The Sign of Four (2001) (TV)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Rodney Gibbons

Writers:

Arthur Conan Doyle (novel)
Joe Wiesenfeld (writer)

Release Date:

21 February 2009 (Sweden)

Genre:

Mystery

Tagline:

Sworn in Secrecy. Signed in Blood.

Plot:

Greed, betrayal and vengeance set the stage for this Sir Arthur Conan Doyle classic. Mary Morstan, a young governess...

Plot Keywords:

Sherlock Holmes | Based On Novel | Number In Title

Cast

Matt Frewer	...	Sherlock Holmes
Kenneth Welsh	...	Dr. Watson
Sophie Lorain	...	Miss Morstan
Marcel Jeannin	...	Thaddeus / Bartholomew
Michel Perron	...	Inspector Jones
Edward Yankie	...	John Small
Kevin Woodhouse	...	Williams
Cas Anvar	...	Sikh #1
Samir Mallal	...	Sikh #2
Ganesha Rasiah	...	Sikh #3
Terrence Labrosse	...	Major Sholto (as Johni Keyworth)
Kathleen McAuliffe	...	Mrs. Hudson
Fernando Chien	...	Tonga
Una Kay	...	Mrs. Bernstone
Chimwemwe Miller	...	Achmet

Also Known As:

Le signe des quatre (Canada: French title)

Runtime:

USA:90 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Certification:

Australia:M

Company:

Muse Entertainment Enterprises

Goofs:

Factual errors: While bluffing to get information from Mrs. Smith about the Aurora, Holmes says "Judge Jeffereys and Dr. Crippen have beaten us to it". This is clearly intended as a joke, as well as perhaps a nod to Holmes' encyclopedic knowledge of crime. Of the two, the only one Holmes would have known about is Jeffereys, a seventeenth century judge famous for handing down executions. Dr. Crippen was an alleged murderer who was accused of poisoning his wife, caught, tried, and executed. However, this event did not happen until 1910. "The Sign of the Four" takes place in 1890, a good 20 years before Crippen's name would have hit the papers.

Movie Connections:

Version of Priklyucheniya Sherloka Kholmsa i doktora Vatsona: Sokrovishcha Agry (1983) (TV)

An abomination

Myself,being a huge fan of vintage Detective Stories, namely Agatha Christies "Poirot",immaculately played by David Suchet, and of the detective in question here Sherlock Holmes,previously played with particular vim and vigour by Basil Rathbone,and later (albeit with perhaps a smidgen too much eccentricity) by the effervescent Jeremy Brett.

Matt Frewers Holmes is quite frankly....a shambles.

Although to be fair his fellow cast members do little to help the film to get off its knees.

Particularly appalling were the two "actors",playing Miss Morstan and Inspector Jones,Sophie Lorain and Michel Perron respectively.

I can say in all honesty,that throughout the entire length of this preposterous production that these two actors had about them an air of mystique,chiefly for the reason that I could'nt make head nor tail of their accents!!

Inspector Jones, 'I presume' was supposed to be Scottish,well,his Scottish accent was risible,and made Mel Gibson's in Braveheart sound like an absolute triumph!!

As for Miss Morstan,there were elements of French,English and American accents in her voice,and it seemed to fluctuate with each sentence,appalling.

As for Holmes,the phrase "Camp as Christmas" would sum it up to a tee,Frewer is quite simply the worst Holmes ever to grace celluloid, whomever commissioned this dreadful film(and I see from his biog on this very website that a series of these films have been made with him cast as Holmes)should not have the distinction of working in film or television ever again.

My rating * out of *****.

And that is simply for the locations,which were quite authentic looking of that time I suppose.