The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975)

The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother is one of the often forgotten Gene Wilder films, perhaps partly because it came out just 1yr after arguably his best film; Young Frankenstein. Wilder directed, wrote, and stars in this underrated 1975 comedy. If you haven't seen it, it's a hilarious movie with a solid cast.

Gene Wilder plays Sigerson Holmes, who's older brother Sherlock (or "sheer luck" as Sigerson calls him) delegates some cases to him while he and Dr. Watson lay low for a while. If the cases are still being solved then criminals will never know that Sherlock is taking some time off. Sigerson soon teams up with a Scotland Yard records clerk named Orville (played by Marty Feldman). Orville has the unique ability to recite conversations as if they were recorded. Soon after the two meet, a habitual liar named Jenny Hill (played by Maldeline Kahn) comes to Sigerson's apartment seeking help.

  Jenny has been blackmailed by an opera singer named Eduardo Gambetti (played by Dom DeLuise) to give him a secret document that she has stolen from her fiancee in return for a lewd note that she had previously written. Gambetti intends to sell the document to Sherlock's famous nemesis Professor Moriarty and, of course, it's up to Sigerson to retrieve the mystery document and foil Moriarty's plan.

It's not a perfect film by any stretch but, it is entertaining from start to finish and there are a ton of really funny moments. This is one I definitely recommend, particularly if you like Gene Wilder.

Overall, I give it a 4 out of 5. 

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A Look Back At “The Return of the Pink Panther” (1975)

This one is actually the fourth film in the Pink Panther series and it’s one of my personal favorites. Peter Sellers reprises the role of the bumbling, Inspector Clouseau in this 1975 comedy after having not been in the previous film, 1968’s Inspector Clouseau.

 

As for the plot, the film starts off simple enough, with a mysterious thief stealing the famous Pink Panther diamond. With the diamond now missing, Inspector Clouseau (Sellers) is called in because he had been the one who recovered the diamond the last time it was stolen. When he arrives at the museum, Clouseau examines the crime scene (and destroys several antiquities) before reaching the conclusion that the thief must be none other than Sir Charles Lytton a.k.a. “The Phantom” (played by Christopher Plummer).  However, Sir Charles reads about the theft in the newspaper and realizes that he has been framed. So, Clouseau is out to catch “The Phantom” and Sir Charles is trying to find the real thief in order to clear his name. 

Right from the get-go, this film is a fun ride. It offers up a ton of laughs, driven by some funny writing and a terrific performance by Peter Sellers. 

If you’ve never seen it, then I definitely recommend checking it out.

I give it a 4.5 out of 5.

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10 Alfred Hitchcock Movies Everyone Should See

     

          I've already looked at Sean Connery, John Travolta, and Arnold Schwarzenegger in these '10 Movies Everyone Should See' pieces. So, I thought today it would be fun to look at an iconic Director's career, and my all-time favorite Director is Sir Alfred Hitchcock. As in previous posts, this isn't meant to be a ranking of a person's films but instead, a list of films that I think best represent a person's career and are some movies that like the title suggests"Everyone Should See".

1)      Psycho  -1960

I think most film lovers have a favorite Hitchcock film and this one is mine (narrowly edging out the #2 film on this list ‘Vertigo’). Norman Bates (played by Anthony Perkins) is a fantastic character, I love the music, the pacing, the cinematography, and the plot draws me in even though I’ve seen the film countless times.

2)      Vertigo -1958

I’ve already written an article on why this is a masterpiece so I won’t go into this one too much. It’s a great psychological thriller about fear and obsession. It’s also often regarded as Hitchcock’s best work, and for that alone it’s worth checking out.

3)      Rebecca -1940

This film has an eerie, haunting quality, and it’s full of mystery that really draws you in. It also has the distinction of being Hitchcock’s first American film and it did win ‘Best Picture’ at the 1941 Academy Awards.

4)      Rear Window  -1954

Photographer L.B. Jefferies (played by James Stewart) is recovering from a broken leg with nothing better to do than to look out the back window at the people in the apartments across the courtyard from his own. Then one night he hears a woman scream and soon realizes that one of his neighbors (played by Raymond Burr) may be a murderer. This was the second pairing of James Stewart and Alfred Hitchcock (the first being ‘Rope’) and they hit a home run with this one.

5)      North By Northwest –1959

Whether it’s the scene where Cary Grant running down a dirt road while being shot at by a plane or the chase scene atop Mt. Rushmore, this movie is a fun ride from start to finish.

6)      The Lady Vanishes –1938

An English tourist (played by Margaret Lockwood)is traveling by train in Europe. She meets a kind elderly woman on the train and they talk for a bit. A little later, it seems that the old woman has disappeared from the train, and all of the other passengers deny having ever seen her. From there the search is on for clues that may lead to the missing woman.

7)      The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog -1927

This silent film is one of Hitchcock’s earliest, and actually one of my favorites. In the film there is a ‘Jack the Ripper’ type serial killer on the loose and after the most recent murder, a strange man who matches the description of the killer happens comes to town. Could he be the killer or is this just a coincidence?

8)      Marnie -1964

This one also made it onto my ’10 Sean Connery Movies Everyone Should See’ list and for a similar reason; it’s a damn good movie. However, because Sean Connery would play more iconic roles (like James Bond) and Hitchcock would make more memorable films, this is underrated and often forgotten classic.

9)      Rope -1948

This is one I recommend to people constantly. Just for the thrill of it, two guys murder one of their friends, put the body in a chest in the middle of their living room, and then hold a dinner party with the body still in the room. It’s such a simple, yet suspenseful movie.

10)   The Birds -1963

This might not be one Hitchcock’s strongest film but at the same time it is remarkable how good he was able to make a movie that’s about birds attacking a small seaside town. Also, Tippi Hedren is fantastic.

Honorable Mentions: Frenzy (1972), The 39 Steps (1935), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), To Catch a Thief (1955)


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leave it in the comments below.