Les White Movies
According to Without a Clue, master detective Sherlock Holmes was a wholly fictional character. Well, we knew that; what we didn't know was that Holmes was a figment of the imagination of his chronicler, Dr. John Watson (Ben Kingsley). When Holmes' fame begins to grow, would-be clients besiege Watson's office for chance to consult the Great Detective. In desperation, Watson hires a seedy provincial actor (Michael Caine) to pose as Holmes. Trouble is, the preening actor hasn't got a clue -- about anything. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Caine, Ben Kingsley, (more)
- 1967
John LeCarre's Call for the Dead was the basis for this gloomy, complex spy story. James Mason plays a British secret agent puzzled by the sudden suicide of Foreign Office higher-up Robert Flemyng. Mason had worked on Flemyng's security clearance himself, and can't fathom what personality quirk he might have missed. The agent suspects that the dead man's wife (Simone Signoret), a concentration camp survivor, may hold the answer to Flemyng's despair, but the Foreign Office wants Mason to drop the case. Mason hires retiring Inspector Harry Andrews to do some private detective work. What Mason and Andrews find out is more insidious than they've imagined; worse, Mason is saddled with a new dilemma--his wife (Harriet Andersson) has been unfaithful with a colleague (Maximillian Schell). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Mason, Simone Signoret, (more)
