Review: Sherlock Holmes: Incident at Victoria Falls

An aging Sherlock Holmes (Sir Christopher Lee) is about to prepare for his retirement from sleuthing to pursue a hobby of beekeeping in the country. However, he is first asked by King Edward VII (a cameo by Joss Ackland) to accompany the Star of Africa diamond on a safe journey to Cape Town, South Africa. Unfortunately, the diamond is stolen and someone is murdered. Sounds like a case for the world’s greatest detective, accompanied as always by Dr. John Watson (Patrick Macnee). Also making appearances are real-life figures Guglielmo Marconi (Steven Gurney), U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt (Claude Akins), and socialite-actress Lilly Langtree (Jenny Seagrove). Alan Coates plays a South African hotel owner who seems to be up to something, whilst Anthony Fridjhon plays a shifty Greek definitely up to no good, Richard Todd (in his last role) is a stiff upper-lip military type named Lord Roberts, and Claudia Udy plays Roosevelt’s niece.

 

Although it’s similarly overlong, this 1992 TV movie from director Bill Corcoran (a veteran TV director) and producer Silvio Berlusconi (!) is probably slightly better than the previous “Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady”. It’s got a better supporting cast, with Claude Akins in particular standing out as a folksy Theodore Roosevelt (a decent likeness, too), and a solid performance by a mostly TV and theatre actor named Alan Coates as Bullard. Jenny Seagrove is good too, if a touch underused, and there’s fun character work by a Herbert Lom-esque Anthony Fridjhon and a funny turn by Claudia Udy (a regular of producer Harry Alan Towers). It’s always great to see Richard Todd, though his clichéd role has one expecting him to remark ‘A tiger? In Africa?’ at any moment.

 

Christopher Lee and Patrick Macnee are as good as ever playing Holmes and Watson (acting sometimes like an old married couple), and Macnee in particular may be my favourite Watson. Some might find him a touch comedic, I disagree and think he’s wonderfully entertaining. Meanwhile, I think the theft of the Star of Africa provides a pretty decent mystery for the world’s greatest detective to solve. While the film is long and slow enough that some of you may be a touch ahead of the title character, I must say there were enough twists here to keep me guessing. I also think the film looks a bit more expensive than the previous film and the bit players are a little better here, too. However, despite being quite lively at times, the length does ultimately have one’s attention drifting away here and there. It’s an issue.

 

An enjoyable, but overlong mystery with a good cast and a decent mystery. Sherlock Holmes buffs might scoff at something not from the pen of Arthur Conan Doyle, but this is a must for Christopher Lee fans, though his long-time friend Patrick Macnee’s steals the show. The teleplay is by Bob Shayne (the previous “Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady”), from a story by Gerry O’Hara (Harry Alan Towers’ 1989 version of “Ten Little Indians”, the Robert Englund version of “The Phantom of the Opera”, co-produced by Towers).

 

Rating: B-

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