Review: The Seven Per-Cent Solution

Seeing his friend and master sleuth Sherlock Holmes (Nicol Williamson) going through the horrors and hallucinations of a cocaine addiction, Dr. Watson (Robert Duvall) tricks Holmes into going to 1890s Vienna where the renowned Dr. Sigmund Freud (Alan Arkin) has agreed to cure him of his addiction. The root emotional cause of his addiction seems to stem from his childhood, and a surprising revelation about long-time nemesis Prof. Moriarty (Lord Laurence Olivier). Then Holmes, Watson, and even Freud embark on a mystery involving a kidnapped actress and former patient of Freud’s (Vanessa Redgrave). Joel Gray plays Holmes’ brother Mycroft, who is in on the deceit with Watson.

 

A revisionist take on well-known and well-loved characters can be a tricky sell. I personally loved what James Goldman did with the melancholic and moving “Robin and Marian”, but a lot of people disagree. This 1976 film directed by Herbert Ross (“The Turning Point”, “Pennies From Heaven”, “The Last of Sheila”, “Footloose”) and scripted by Nicholas Meyer (director of “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan”, screenwriter of “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home”, and the awesome B-movie “Invasion of the Bee Girls”) from his own novel, is more of a ‘What if?’ scenario though there are elements of revisionism too. It mixes fictional literary characters (Sherlock Holmes, Mycroft Holmes, Dr. Watson, Prof. Moriarty) and real-life figures (Sigmund Freud specifically), but obviously such a meeting between these characters is entirely fictional, and the characters, at least the fictional ones, are not seen in their usual light here. That is to say that Sherlock Holmes spends a lot more time seeking drug treatment than one might be used to (though the drug of this film’s title has always been associated with the character), and the usually arch-villain Moriarty, appears to be rather benign here, and Holmes’ relationship with the man is played out very different to the norm.

 

By and large, I think the film works, and surprisingly, it works best when dealing with Holmes’ inner torment and his dealings with Moriarty and Freud (who apparently tried cocaine and although not famous for it, he did treat people for addiction) and his addiction. Drugs aren’t especially interesting or appealing to me, but I must say these scenes were quite well-done, and the underrated (if notoriously tempestuous) Williamson makes for an excellent, exasperated Holmes, though Peter Cushing is still my preferred Holmes. Williamson’s drug withdrawal scenes are really quite harrowing to witness. Arkin’s rock-solid as Freud too, and the usually mannered Olivier has one of his best latter-day parts as Moriarty, though he’s not in the film much. Terrific supporting turn by the always excellent Jeremy Kemp, too, as a nasty aristocratic sportsman somehow connected to Redgrave. Robert Duvall is a major disappointment as the loyal Dr. Watson, he seems miscast and troubled by his inability to perfect a convincing British accent. He tries awfully hard, though and occasionally gets it almost perfect, but it’s mostly overdone, and the rest of his performance is rather bland, really. I prefer Patrick Macnee’s Watson myself (who played alongside the very fine Christopher Lee’s Holmes in a couple of TV adaptations).

 

The film’s central mystery is unfortunately far less interesting than the mystery inside Holmes’ mind (and seems tacked-on), but overall this is an interesting, unusual take on some well-known characters. Meyer’s script earned an Oscar nomination (Amusing/interesting aside: Meyer is apparently a Holmes fan and the son of a psychoanalyst!). Definitely worth a look.

 

Rating: B-