Without a Clue
Encyclopedia
Without a Clue is a 1988
British
comedy film
directed by Thom Eberhardt
and starring Michael Caine
, Ben Kingsley
and Lysette Anthony
.
is a fictional character created by Dr. John Watson (Ben Kingsley
) to enable him to solve crimes incognito during a period when he was applying for a post at a reclusive medical practise. Although he failed to get the position, to satisfy public demand to see Holmes in person, he hires alcoholic unemployed actor Reginald Kincaid (Michael Caine
) to play him. "Holmes" and Watson put a stop to a museum robbery, with Watson doing most of the work, but the press only wants to hear from Holmes. When "Holmes" begins hogging the spotlight, a jealous Watson fires him, writes the character off, and tries to start a new series about "The Crime Doctor." However, he must call Holmes back when the British Government wants Holmes and no one else to solve a mystery involving Bank of England
£5 banknote printing plates and a printing supervisor, Peter Giles, that went missing the night of the museum robbery. With these stolen, the collapse of the British Empire's economy would prove inevitable.
Inspector Lestrade
(Jeffrey Jones
) is jealous of Holmes' apparent sleuthing skills, and takes every opportunity to spy on Holmes and Watson and to steal their ideas. The path of clues leads them to team up with Peter Giles' daughter, Leslie (Lysette Anthony
) and a twelve-year-old Irregular, Wiggins (Matthew Savage). Just when Watson and "Holmes" discover that Professor Moriarty
(Paul Freeman) is the mastermind behind the scheme, Watson is apparently killed in an attempt to capture Moriarty, forcing "Holmes" to solve the case on his own. Having tracked the villain to an abandoned theatre, "Holmes" discovers Watson still alive, the two working together to free Giles and defeat Moriarty, Kincaid demonstrating his sword-fighting skills in a duel with Moriarty. Presented with a new appreciation of each other's strengths, Watson turns down Kincaid's 'offer' to retire, assuring the public that they will continue their detective work.
(also a physician) who tired of his fictional creation Holmes and tried unsuccessfully to kill him off.
shows an average of 56%.
Roger Ebert
gave the film a mere two stars further stating:
Vincent Canby
writing for the New York Times stated that Without A Clue was "an appallingly witless sendup of the Sherlock Holmes-Dr. Watson stories".
1988 in film
-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:* Act of Piracy* Action Jackson, starring Carl Weathers, Craig T. Nelson, Vanity, Sharon Stone* The Adventures of Baron Munchausen* Akira* Alice...
British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed by Thom Eberhardt
Thom Eberhardt
Thom Eberhardt is an American film director, producer and writer. Eberhardt has won two awards and two nominations. He is most noted for his work on Captain Ron, Honey, I Blew Up the Kid, and the cult classic Night of the Comet....
and starring Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
, Ben Kingsley
Ben Kingsley
Sir Ben Kingsley, CBE is a British actor. He has won an Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards in his career. He is known for starring as Mohandas Gandhi in the film Gandhi in 1982, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor...
and Lysette Anthony
Lysette Anthony
Lysette Anthony is an English film, television, and theatre actress.-Early life:Anthony was born Lysette Chodzko in Fulham, London, the only daughter of actors Michael Anthony, and Bernadette Milnes....
.
Plot
The film's premise is that Sherlock HolmesSherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
is a fictional character created by Dr. John Watson (Ben Kingsley
Ben Kingsley
Sir Ben Kingsley, CBE is a British actor. He has won an Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards in his career. He is known for starring as Mohandas Gandhi in the film Gandhi in 1982, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor...
) to enable him to solve crimes incognito during a period when he was applying for a post at a reclusive medical practise. Although he failed to get the position, to satisfy public demand to see Holmes in person, he hires alcoholic unemployed actor Reginald Kincaid (Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
) to play him. "Holmes" and Watson put a stop to a museum robbery, with Watson doing most of the work, but the press only wants to hear from Holmes. When "Holmes" begins hogging the spotlight, a jealous Watson fires him, writes the character off, and tries to start a new series about "The Crime Doctor." However, he must call Holmes back when the British Government wants Holmes and no one else to solve a mystery involving Bank of England
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
£5 banknote printing plates and a printing supervisor, Peter Giles, that went missing the night of the museum robbery. With these stolen, the collapse of the British Empire's economy would prove inevitable.
Inspector Lestrade
Inspector Lestrade
Inspector G. Lestrade is a fictional character, a Scotland Yard detective appearing in several of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle used the name of a friend from his days at the University of Edinburgh, a Saint Lucian medical student by the name of Joseph Alexandre Lestrade....
(Jeffrey Jones
Jeffrey Jones
Jeffrey Duncan Jones is an American actor. He has appeared in many films and television series, but may be best known for his roles as Emperor Joseph II in Miloš Forman’s Amadeus, Charles Deetz in Beetlejuice, and Dean of Students Edward R...
) is jealous of Holmes' apparent sleuthing skills, and takes every opportunity to spy on Holmes and Watson and to steal their ideas. The path of clues leads them to team up with Peter Giles' daughter, Leslie (Lysette Anthony
Lysette Anthony
Lysette Anthony is an English film, television, and theatre actress.-Early life:Anthony was born Lysette Chodzko in Fulham, London, the only daughter of actors Michael Anthony, and Bernadette Milnes....
) and a twelve-year-old Irregular, Wiggins (Matthew Savage). Just when Watson and "Holmes" discover that Professor Moriarty
Professor Moriarty
Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character and the archenemy of the detective Sherlock Holmes in the fiction of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Moriarty is a criminal mastermind, described by Holmes as the "Napoleon of Crime". Doyle lifted the phrase from a real Scotland Yard inspector who was...
(Paul Freeman) is the mastermind behind the scheme, Watson is apparently killed in an attempt to capture Moriarty, forcing "Holmes" to solve the case on his own. Having tracked the villain to an abandoned theatre, "Holmes" discovers Watson still alive, the two working together to free Giles and defeat Moriarty, Kincaid demonstrating his sword-fighting skills in a duel with Moriarty. Presented with a new appreciation of each other's strengths, Watson turns down Kincaid's 'offer' to retire, assuring the public that they will continue their detective work.
Context
The film is one of several spoofs that have been made of the canonical Sherlock Holmes. This particular spoof has two notable features. Firstly the main characters have been reversed, with a bumbling Holmes and genius detective Watson replacing the usual bumbling Watson and genius detective Holmes. Secondly, in the film Watson tires of his fictional creation, Holmes, and tries unsuccessfully to terminate his role, but is forced to bring him back by popular demand. This mirrors the real life situation of the author Conan DoyleArthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
(also a physician) who tired of his fictional creation Holmes and tried unsuccessfully to kill him off.
Cast
| Actor/Actress | Role |
| Michael Caine Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules .... |
Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve... (Reginald Kincaid) |
| Ben Kingsley Ben Kingsley Sir Ben Kingsley, CBE is a British actor. He has won an Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards in his career. He is known for starring as Mohandas Gandhi in the film Gandhi in 1982, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor... |
Dr. John Watson |
| Jeffrey Jones Jeffrey Jones Jeffrey Duncan Jones is an American actor. He has appeared in many films and television series, but may be best known for his roles as Emperor Joseph II in Miloš Forman’s Amadeus, Charles Deetz in Beetlejuice, and Dean of Students Edward R... |
Inspector George Lestrade Inspector Lestrade Inspector G. Lestrade is a fictional character, a Scotland Yard detective appearing in several of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle used the name of a friend from his days at the University of Edinburgh, a Saint Lucian medical student by the name of Joseph Alexandre Lestrade.... |
| Lysette Anthony Lysette Anthony Lysette Anthony is an English film, television, and theatre actress.-Early life:Anthony was born Lysette Chodzko in Fulham, London, the only daughter of actors Michael Anthony, and Bernadette Milnes.... |
Lesley Giles (Fake) |
| Paul Freeman | Professor James Moriarty Professor Moriarty Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character and the archenemy of the detective Sherlock Holmes in the fiction of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Moriarty is a criminal mastermind, described by Holmes as the "Napoleon of Crime". Doyle lifted the phrase from a real Scotland Yard inspector who was... |
| Pat Keen Pat Keen Pat Keen is a retired British actress whose career on stage, television and film ran from the 1950s to the 2000s.She is best known for playing strident, bossy middle-aged women in British comedy throughout the 1970s and 1980s, such as the character 'Virginia' in the Fawlty Towers episode "The... |
Mrs. Hudson |
| Matthew Savage | Wiggins |
| Nigel Davenport Nigel Davenport Nigel Davenport is an English stage, television and film actor.- Early life :Davenport was born Arthur Nigel Davenport, however he goes by the first name of Nigel. Davenport was born in Shelford, Cambridgeshire, the son of Katherine Lucy and Arthur Henry Davenport. Davenport's father was a bursar... |
Lord Smithwick |
| Tim Killick Tim Killick Tim Killick is an English television and theatre actor. He was educated at Bootham School in York and Nottingham University.He is the older brother of theatre director Jenny Killick and BBC's Cathy Killick.... |
Sebastian Moran Sebastian Moran Colonel Sebastian Moran is a fictional character, an enemy of Sherlock Holmes and the villain of the Sherlock Holmes short story The Adventure of the Empty House... |
| Peter Cook Peter Cook Peter Edward Cook was an English satirist, writer and comedian. An extremely influential figure in modern British comedy, he is regarded as the leading light of the British satire boom of the 1960s. He has been described by Stephen Fry as "the funniest man who ever drew breath," although Cook's... |
Norman Greenhough Herbert Greenhough Smith Herbert Greenhough Smith was the first editor of The Strand Magazine which published many of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories... |
| John Warner | Peter Giles |
| Matthew Sim | Lesley Giles (Real) |
| Fredrick Fox | Priest |
| Harold Innocent Harold Innocent Harold Sidney Innocent was a British actor who appeared in many film and television roles.After attending Broad Street Secondary Modern School in Coventry, Innocent worked for a short time as an office clerk... |
Lord Mayor Gerald Fitzwalter Johnson |
| George Sweeney George Sweeney (actor) George Sweeney is a British film and television actor who commenced his acting career in the 1970s.Sweeney has numerous television credits, including Z-Cars , Rumpole of the Bailey , Dixon of Dock Green , Softly, Softly , The New Avengers , The Sweeney , Return... |
John Clay |
| Murray Ewan | Archie |
| Jennifer Guy Jennifer Guy Jennifer Guy is a British film and television actress.-Selected filmography:Film* Up the Front * Persecution * Alfie Darling * Without a Clue * Willow Television* Cribb... |
Lord Mayor's daughter |
Reception
At the time of its release, the film was poorly reviewed. The review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
shows an average of 56%.
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film a mere two stars further stating:
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby was an American film critic who became the chief film critic for The New York Times in 1969 and reviewed more than 1000 films during his tenure there.-Life and career:...
writing for the New York Times stated that Without A Clue was "an appallingly witless sendup of the Sherlock Holmes-Dr. Watson stories".