MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Eric Stevenson This is regarded as one of the best Sherlock Holmes films of all time. I admit that I realize I'm not really a big fan of Sherlock. Still, this was definitely a good movie. I had no idea that was Christopher Lee, he looks so amazingly young! Well, he was one of the most prolific actors ever. As the title suggests, this movie really does focus on the private life of Sherlock Holmes. We especially see his attitudes towards women and Watson.We even get the implication that he could be gay. I think the classic depiction of Sherlock Holmes was for him to be asexual. The main plot doesn't appear until 40 minutes in, which was a little distracting. We still get a very complex story here complete with great religious imagery, amazing machines and characters with strange backstories. The film's length is also perfect. This was a fairly unique look at the character. ***

malmborgimplano-92-599820 Advocates for this film say the reason it stinks is that Wilder wasn't able to make it according to his original vision. I'm not sure I buy this. I've seen the magic that can result from restoring a film that's been mutilated by stupid reediting, "The Wicker Man" being a prime example. But Wilder himself is responsible for the current version of "Private Life" we have now, and what there is of it is so terrible it's just hard for me to imagine that he could have made a masterpiece out of it by doubling its length.The main problem to me with "Private Life" is that it feels like what it was, a big stodgy overproduced road show movie in the tradition of "Gone With The Wind" and "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World." It was, in the lingo of the time, square. 1970 was a year when much more adventurous films like "Joe" and "M*A*S*H" and "Gimme Shelter" and "Little Big Man" were on offer to the sophisticated film-goer, and thought they have their own flaws their relative sophistication and freshness made the likes of "Private Life" look pretty stale and tawdry in comparison. Its squareness still makes me cringe, but this may be why younger viewers like Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, the creators of "Sherlock," don't have the same problem; they're too young to know what square is.Sherlock Holmes should be a role that's second nature to any reasonably skilled and intelligent British actor, and it's astounding to watch Robert Stephens of all people failing where so many very different talents, from Basil Rathbone and Peter Cushing to Benedict Cumberbatch and Ian Richardson, each found his own ingenious way into this iconic character. I put the blame for this solely on Wilder, as reportedly he treated Stephens so badly during the shoot that the actor suffered a breakdown, thus spawning the urban legend that playing Holmes drives people crazy, which in turn latched itself on to Jeremy Brett. News flash: it's unfortunately true that Brett had issues with the role of Holmes, but in general you cannot get bipolar disorder from acting.

jm10701 I am not entirely comfortable giving this movie just three stars, because I cannot say that I did not like it. But I also cannot say I did like it or even that it was okay, so I am stuck in the middle. I have chosen three stars because what I do not like about it I dislike much more than I like what I do like.First of all, I should say that although I like Sherlock Holmes well enough, I never was a big fan. I much prefer other fictional detectives. So the fact that this movie takes great liberties with him, the stories about him, and the other characters in those stories matters to me not at all. My comments relate to the movie as a movie, not to its faithfulness to Doyle's stories.The problem is that I am gay. If I were straight, I might be in hog heaven watching this movie, with all the squirmy, slimy gay jokes and innuendos, the female nudity and leering thereat, etc. But I AM gay, and I love being gay and am genuinely proud and delighted to be gay, so portraying what I am as something undesirable and shameful does not entertain me.Robert Stephens is marvelous, as he always was, particularly when he was young; Christopher Lee is a charmer at any age; and Colin Blakely is fine as Watson. I am thinking my problem is Billy Wilder. I have not seen Some Like It Hot in a very long time, but I suspect the comical cross-dressing and the potential horrors implicit in it would bother me now too.Evidently Wilder was none too fond of homosexuality and other alternate ways of being except as opportunities to leer and squirm and make wisecracks. Too bad. Not for him - he's dead - but for me. I used to like him, but no more.I can forgive Some Like It Hot because Marilyn is in it, and she is without question the loveliest human being who ever stood before a camera; but she is not in this movie, so down it goes.

ShadeGrenade Billy Wilder's 'The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes' ( 1970 ) is without doubt my favourite film about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Baker Street sleuth. Though a box office flop in its day, its popularity has increased down the years. Advertised for a B.B.C.-1 showing back in the '70's, 'Radio Times' film critic Philip Jenkinson claimed - rather oddly in my view - that it was 'a muddled attempt to send up Holmes'. While there is indeed humour in the picture ( the first thirty minutes are taken up with a self-contained story in which a Russian ballerina is so keen to produce a baby genius she tries to get Holmes to become the father. He gets out of the task by pretending that both he and Watson are gay! ), the overall tone is melancholic, not what you would reasonably expect in a laugh-a-minute spoof. The story proper begins when a beautiful young woman ( Genevieve Page ) is pulled out of the Thames, having failed in her suicide bid. Holmes establishes her identity as Gabrielle Valladon, the wife of a missing engineer. Holmes takes on the case, which leads him to Inverness and Loch Ness. At the heart of the mystery is a scandal so great and far reaching Dr.Watson ( the brilliant Colin Blakely ) decides he cannot let the world know of it until well after his - and Holmes' - death.Wilder and co-writer I.A.L. Diamond were keen to make a picture in which Holmes was depicted as emotionally vulnerable. The late Robert Stephens makes a suitably foppish Holmes, a crime-solving genius whose only flaw is his fondness for the occasional seven per cent solution of cocaine. When he and Gabrielle pose as a married couple it looks for a while as though he has found his perfect mate, but of course, she lets him down badly. Your heart will break for Holmes as he retreats to his study to lose himself in the world of drugs once more. Blakely has often been called miscast as 'Watson' but I personally like him in the role, and regret that neither he nor Stephens ever played their characters again. Irene Handl works a treat as the Cockney housekeeper 'Mrs.Hudson', with Christopher Lee ( an one-time Homes himself ) as Sherlock's brother 'Mycroft'.In his book 'Sherlock Holmes: A Celebration', Allan Eyles claims the story ought not to be considered canonical as there is no way that 'Gabrielle Valladon' and 'Irene Adler' could have possibly been 'the woman'. Fair comment. Even so this is a marvellously entertaining production, with a witty script, fine production values, a top notch cast, and magnificent music by Miklos Rosza. Its lack of success at the time can be attributed to the fact that audiences were tired of big budget movies and wanted smaller, more intimate films such as 'Easy Rider'.The one thing that prevents this from being a masterpiece is the fact the studio ordered it cut down from three hours to two hours and five minutes. Furthermore, the missing footage seems to have been lost or destroyed. It is a tragedy as this is the kind of movie you want to see more of not less. Funnily enough, a short time before its release another film put a famous British hero in a more human light - the Bond movie 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service'. Both are among the very best of their kind.