| country = Canada<br />United Kingdom

| runtime = 124 minutes

| gross = $1.9 million (Canada)

| budget = $5 million

| language = English

Murder by Decree is a 1979 mystery thriller film directed by Bob Clark. It features the Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who are embroiled in the investigation surrounding the real-life 1888 Whitechapel murders committed by Jack the Ripper. Christopher Plummer plays Holmes and James Mason plays Watson. Though it features a similar premise, it is somewhat different in tone and result to A Study in Terror. It is loosely based on The Ripper File by Elwyn Jones and John Lloyd.

The film's premise of the plot behind the murders is influenced by the book Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution (1976), by Stephen Knight, who theorised that the killings were part of a Masonic plot. The original script contained the names of the historical suspects, Sir William Gull and John Netley. In the actual film, they are represented by fictional analogues: Thomas Spivey (Gull) and William Slade (Netley).

  • James Mason as Dr. John Watson
  • David Hemmings as Inspector Foxborough
  • Susan Clark as Mary Kelly
  • Frank Finlay as Inspector G. Lestrade
  • Anthony Quayle as Sir Charles Warren
  • Donald Sutherland as Robert Lees
  • Geneviève Bujold as Annie Crook
  • John Gielgud as Lord Salisbury
  • Peter Jonfield as William Slade
  • Roy Lansford as Sir Thomas Spivey
  • Ron Pember as Makins

Production

The film was directed by Bob Clark and written by playwright John Hopkins, who scripted the James Bond film Thunderball (1965).

The film stars Christopher Plummer and James Mason as Holmes and Dr. John Watson respectively, and presents a largely different version of Holmes from the Basil Rathbone movies of the 1940s, with the aesthete still prevailing, yet tinged with humanity and emotional empathy. Plummer stated that he tried to make Holmes more human and caring, saying "This is a passionate and caring Holmes." Mason received especially good reviews for his performance. Plummer had earlier portrayed Holmes in 1977's Silver Blaze.

The film was shot on location in London in 1978. The interior sets, including a vast Victorian era street, were created at Elstree Studios. The docks set was built at Shepperton Studios. A review in Variety called it "probably the best Sherlock Holmes film since the inimitable pairing of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce in the 1940s series at Universal. Unfortunately, it also shares some of the defects of those films, i.e. slow pacing, an improbable story line, and an undue emphasis on odd characters." Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote that its "biggest problem is its script, which runs on for a full 120 minutes with no place to go. We see a couple of murders, meet a psychic (Donald Sutherland) and a long-suffering woman trapped in a psychiatric prison (Genevieve Bujold), then the story doubles back with recapitulation after recapitulation. The film has at least two false endings. I mistakenly put on my coat with one reel to go. All of this is a shame, because the cast is excellent." Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Unfortunately, under Bob Clark's uninspired, plodding direction, Hopkins' elaborations make for a slow and ponderous film, despite a starry cast and some scary moments. Not helping matters is Christopher Plummer's rather colorless Sherlock Holmes. The one real joy in the film is James Mason's warm, loyal, sometimes dense Dr. Watson." Lawrence O'Toole of Maclean's declared, "If you were to look for the right word to describe Murder By Decree you would have to go into the archives, lift it lightly from its resting place, and dust it off. The word? Splendid." Gary Arnold of The Washington Post stated, "While never as playful or ingenious as Nicholas Meyer's screenplay for The Seven Per-Cent Solution, Hopkins' mystery is crisp and chilling right up to the denouement. At that point it might be wise to edge toward the exits, since the solution leaves much to be desired." David Ansen of Newsweek wrote that the film was "not a new idea" but declared it "a decided success. Christopher Plummer and James Mason seize their roles like a couple of happy musicians handed prize antique instruments: their duets are by turns droll, lyric and touching."

The film was nominated for eight Genie Awards at the 1st Genie Awards in 1980, of which it won five,

See also

  • Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson
  • The Last Sherlock Holmes Story

References

  • Christopher Plummer and Murder By Decree