As a lifelong Sherlock Holmes fan, I've read all of the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novels and short stories many times, as well as numerous non-canonical pastiches and parodies (including two volumes of short stories by his son, Adrian Conan Doyle), and have seen a fair few TV and film adaptations and inspired productions down through the years too. All of this makes it all the more surprising, therefore, that until the evening of 21 April 2020, when I finally watched it on the British TV channel Film4, I never got around to viewing a notable Barry Levinson-directed contribution from Steven Spielberg's production company, Amblin Entertainment. Namely, the 1985 movie Young Sherlock Holmes.
Starring in the title role a teenage Nicholas Rowe (whatever happened to him?), the storyline for Young Sherlock Holmes was an entirely original and highly imaginative one. It was written by a certain Chris Columbus, who would go on to become a major movie director in his own right (think Harry Potter, for example).
In it, Holmes and Watson first meet not as adults (as takes place in their debut novel by Conan Doyle, A Study In Scarlet) but instead as youngsters, at boarding school. There they join forces to solve a major crime involving a murderous Egyptian cult of Osiris worshippers conducting grisly human sacrifices inside a huge wooden pyramid, which in turn is concealed beneath a Victorian London warehouse (I did tell you that it was highly imaginative!).
The plot of Young Sherlock Holmes also deftly introduces many of the future Holmesian trademarks, e.g. his deerstalker hat, pipe, and cloak. Moreover, in a post-credits scene its defeated but uncaptured villain is revealed covertly turning up elsewhere under a new name – Moriarty, thereby establishing a back-story for Holmes's infamous nemesis too. All of this preparatory work clearly earmarked this movie for a sequel, but it was one that never happened.
Sadly, Young Sherlock Holmes was neither a critical nor, apparently, a commercial success, so plans for future movies did not materialise, which is a shame. I admit that knowing that it had been publicly slated had influenced my original decision back in the 1980s not to bother watching this film, but once again, having finally done so more than 30 years after its release, my frequent enjoyment of critically-mauled movies came to the fore – so much so that directly after watching it on TV I duly sought it out and purchased it on DVD, to add to my burgeoning collection of Sherlockiana and to rewatch it on future occasions.
Incidentally, a fascinating fact from cinematic history is that this movie was the very first one to contain a fully CGI-rendered photo-realistic character – the terrifying knight depicted in a stained-glass window who seemingly comes to life and leaps down from the window to attack one of the characters, Reverend Duncan Nesbitt. In fact, the Reverend is experiencing a nightmarish but realistic hallucination, after having been shot with a thorn tipped with a highly potent hallucinogenic compound.
Finally: if by now you're anxious to uncover more about Young Sherlock Holmes for yourself, the solution to your dilemma is elementary – just click here to watch its action-packed official trailer on youTube!
And to view a complete listing of all of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film reviews and articles (each one instantly accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE!
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