Review by Gary Tooze

 

Production:

Theatrical: The Mirisch Production Company

Video: Kino / Lorber / Masters of Cinema - Spine #182

 

Disc:

Region: 'A' / Region 'B' (as verified by the Oppo Blu-ray player)

Runtime: 2:05:27.436 / 2:05:21.430

Disc Size: 22,669,775,426 bytes / 43,761,211,630 bytes

Feature Size: 17,604,698,112 bytes / 36,717,186,432 bytes

Video Bitrate: 16.01 Mbps / 34.95 Mbps

Chapters: 8 / 8

Case: Standard Blu-ray case / Transparent Blu-ray Case

Release date: July 22nd, 2014 / January 22nd, 2018

 

Video (both):

Aspect ratio: 2.35:1

Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps

Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Audio:

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1624 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1624 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)

 

LPCM Audio English 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit

 

Subtitles (both):

English (SDH), None

 

Extras:

• Featurette (15:17)

• Editor Interview (28:40)

• Deleted Scenes (50:04)

• Deleted Epilogue Scene (6:21 - audio only)

• Trailer (3:00)   

 

• A new video interview with film scholar Neil Sinyard (20:45)
• The Missing Cases (50:03): A presentation of the films deleted sequences, using script excerpts, production stills and surviving film footage. Includes the film’s Original Prologue, The Curious Case of the Upside Down Room, The Adventure of the Dumbfounded Detective and The Dreadful Business of the Naked Honeymooners
• Deleted Epilogue Scene (audio only - 6:20)
• Christopher Lee: Mr. Holmes, Mr. Wilder - an archival interview with Christopher Lee about his experience working with Billy Wilder (15:17)

• Interview with editor Ernest Walter (28:40)
• Original theatrical trailer (3:00)
• PLUS: A collectors booklet featuring a new essay by Philip Kemp; the words of Billy Wilder; and rare archival imagery

 

Bitrate:

1) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray  - TOP 2) Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray  BOTTOM

 

Description: The acting, photography and score are tops (Leonard Maltin) in this lively satirical homage from legendary director Billy Wilder (Sunset Boulevard) and his long-time writing partner I.A.L. Diamond (The Apartment). When a beautiful woman claims that her dear husband has disappeared, the investigation takes Sherlock Holmes (Robert Stephens) and Dr. Watson (Colin Blakely) to Scotland, where to their surprise they uncover a plot involving a clandestine society, Her Majesty s Secret Service... and the Loch Ness Monster! But before he can deduce matters to the elementary, Holmes makes an error that may jeopardize the national safety of Britain... and ruin his reputation! The stellar supporting cast includes Christopher Lee, Genevieve Page, Tamara Toumanova, Clive Revill and Stanley Holloway.

1) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray  - TOP 2) Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray  BOTTOM

The Film:

In Billy Wilder's cinematic homage to the spirit of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, British stage luminary Robert Stephens plays Holmes, while Colin Blakely is his friend and chronicler Dr. Watson. This self-described "hitherto suppressed and thoroughly fascinating" tale concerns Holmes' search for a missing mining engineer -- a case that may have a far-reaching effect on the national security of England. Along the way, Holmes falls in love for the first time in his life, with enigmatic foreign beauty Gabrielle Valladon (Genevieve Page). In this 1970 film, Wilder emphasizes such then-current topics as homosexuality (notably during the film's prologue) and drug addiction. Christopher Lee, a former screen Holmes himself, has a cameo (minus toupee) as Sherlock's brother Mycroft Holmes. Heavily re-edited and rearranged both before and after its release, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes was a box-office disappointment when it came out in 1970. Since that time, its reputation has grown immeasurably, especially among those lucky enough to have seen a complete print.

Excerpt from MRQE located HERE

A wonderful, cruelly underrated film. Although there are some terrifically funny moments, and on one level the Wilder/Diamond conception of Conan Doyle's hero does tend to debunk the myth of the perfect sleuth (there are allusions to his misogyny and cocaine addiction), this alternative vision of Holmes sets up a stylish and totally appropriate story (concerning dwarfs, dead canaries, and the Loch Ness monster) as a context in which to explain the reason for Holmes' forsaking of his emotional life to become a thinking machine. Betrayal and lost love are the elements that catalyse this process, turning Holmes from a fallible romantic into a disillusioned cynic. With a stunning score by Miklós Rozsa, carefully modulated performances, lush location photography, and perfect sets by Trauner, it is Wilder's least embittered film and by far his most moving.

Excerpt from TimeOut Film Guide located HERE

Image :    NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

Billy Wilder's The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes comes to Blu-ray from the Kino / Lorber label.  The image is underwhelming - single-layered with a low bitrate for the 2-hour film. Part of it may be the softer-focus appearance - supporting the period art direction. There is a flatness to the visuals although some colors are richer and tighter than most SD could relate. This is in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio and looks quite healthy in-motion. The presentation is very clean, artifact and noise free. This Blu-ray isn't particularly striking - perhaps a combination of the transfer limitations and style the film was shot. It provides a consistent presentation - just not a very 'HD-impressive' one.

 

The Masters of Cinema's transfer has more than double the bitrate and is a far superior with a darker image, richer colors, deeper black levels and superior contrast. The framing is the same but the UK image quality wins hands down.

 

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

1) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray  - TOP 2) Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray  BOTTOM

1) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray  - TOP 2) Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray  BOTTOM

1) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray  - TOP 2) Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray  BOTTOM

1) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray  - TOP 2) Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray  BOTTOM

1) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray  - TOP 2) Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray  BOTTOM

1) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray  - TOP 2) Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray  BOTTOM

1) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray  - TOP 2) Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray  BOTTOM

1) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray  - TOP 2) Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray  BOTTOM

 

 

 

 

 

Audio :

Audio comes in the form of a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel at 1624 kbps. There aren't a lot of extensive aggressive effects in the film but lacks significant depth although still sounding clean and reasonably tight. There are optional subtitles offered and my Oppo has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked.

 

Linear PCM mono (24-bit) also advances over the Kino in the audio transfer (16-bit.) This was mostly identifiable to me in the few sections that I directly compared in the score by, the iconic, Miklós Rózsa (The Lost Weekend, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, Double Indemnity)  that supports the film's adventure-esque qualities quite playfully sounding rich and authentically flat. There are also optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region 'B'-locked Blu-ray.

 

Extras :

There are some supplements - we get an older, 15-minute, featurette entitled "Christopher Lee * Mr. Holmes, Mr. Wilder" where the actor discusses The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes and 'the best director I ever worked for' Billy Wilder. We also spend almost a 1/2 hour with the film's Ernest Walter who also worked on such films as The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, The Haunting and 10 Rillington Place. There are almost 50-minutes of deleted scenes, plus 6-minutes of an audio-only epilogue and lastly, a trailer.

 

Masters of Cinema seem to have all the supplements of the Kino - and a new one. Duplicated are the Christopher Lee: Mr. Holmes, Mr. Wilder archival interview with Christopher Lee about his experience working with Billy Wilder, the 1/2 hour interview with editor Ernest Walter, the deleted scenes, a trailer and the audio-only epilogue. MoC add a new, 20-minute, video interview with film scholar Neil Sinyard who is always good to listen to and the package has a collectors booklet featuring a new essay by Philip Kemp; the words of Billy Wilder; and rare archival imagery.

 

 Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

 

 

Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
Very cute and genuinely entertaining. Despite my reservation on Kino-Lorber's Blu-ray image of The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, I was impressed by the film. This is one of the better Holmesian adventure tales - and told by a master storyteller. This is, positively, a film I will revisit and it's nice to own it in 1080P. For those keen, this will make a good addition to their digital library.

 

Masters of Cinema win in every category and have created the definitive digital edition for The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes on Blu-ray. It's a film that gets better with repeat viewings and we can strongly recommend!

Gary Tooze

July 7th, 2014

December 2nd, 2017