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Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), directed by Barry Levinson and written by Chris Columbus, depicts a young Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson meeting and solving a mystery together at a boarding school.
Recent viewers of the film have noticed similarities between the characters, setting, events and tone of Young Sherlock Holmes, and those of the Harry Potter series. Such an observation may be explained by the fact that the first two Harry Potter films were directed by Chris Columbus. This could account for visual similarities between the films, but would not wholly explain the presence of similarities to Young Sherlock Holmes in the original books.
The film is also notable for including the first computer-generated character, a knight composed of elements from a stained glass window. The effect was created for Lucasfilm by John Lasseter (now executive vice-president at Pixar Animation Studios), who would go on to create Toy Story 10 years later.
In Britain the film was re-titled Young Sherlock Holmes and the Pyramid of Fear, in a nod to the previous year's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
One criticism of the film is that Holmes does not solve the principal mystery by means of logical deduction. His methods are partly demonstrated during an investigation into the disappearance of a school trophy, but Holmes expends more energy on physical stuntwork than on case analysis. The plot itself does not follow the traditional format of the original Conan Doyle stories.
Cast
- Nicholas Rowe as Sherlock Holmes
- Alan Cox as John Watson
- Anthony Higgins as Rathe
- Sophie Ward as Elizabeth Hardy
- Roger Ashton-Griffiths as Lestrade
- Freddie Jones as Cragwitch
- Nigel Stock as Waxflatter
- Brian Oulton as Master Snelgrove
- Susan Fleetwood as Mrs. Dribb
- Earl Rhodes as Dudley
- Patrick Newell as Bentley Bobster
- Donald Eccles as Reverend Duncan Nesbitt
External links
- Amazon.com: Young Sherlock Holmes DVD
- Barry Levinson Online: Young Sherlock Holmes
- The Game is Afoot - The Young Sherlock Holmes Fanlistings
- Elementary, My Dear Potter - article outlining Chris Columbus connection
"Young Sherlock Holmes"