Fiction's most famous detective, the Baker Street sleuth Sherlock Holmes, has figured in many a motion picture - but never before in quite the way he's involved in this film. In James Goldman's adaptation of his own stage play, the central figure (George C Scott) is a man who, facing an emotional crisis, retreats into a private fantasy world, becoming a replica in outlook and behaviour of the immortal Holmes. He finds his Dr Watson in a psychiatrist of that name (played by Joanne Woodward in one of her best, most superbly controlled performances) whom he persuades to help him in his quest for Holmes's dreaded arch-enemy Moriarty. The film, which won critical acclaim when it was first shown in Britain, was co-produced by Paul Newman. It was directed by Anthony Harvey, who made the fine The Lion in Winter, but too few subsequent films. Watch for F Murray Abraham playing a tiny role in his first film.


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