Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970)

 Disappointing Sherlock Holmes movie directed by Billy Wilder.  Ponderous, too long, unfunny, and badly cast.  Robert Stephens and Colin Blakely may have been very good actors, but they are unremarkable as Holmes and Watson, and have little chemistry together.  Perhaps if the script had been better, they would've been more engaging**.  There are two ways to handle Dr. Watson.  You can show him, as the books do, as a brave capable man who simply isn't a genius like Holmes (Cf. Robert Duvall).  Or you can  make him a lovable bumbler (cf: Nigel Bruce).  Wilder does neither and turns Watson into an unfunny joke.  Leaving that aside, There's not much I liked about the movie. It does have some very good sets, I suppose they cost a pretty penny.  

Summary: Private Life of Sherlock Holmes shows how dependent Wilder was on Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau after Some Like it Hot.  Without those two,  singly or together, his movies sunk into mediocrity.  He probably should have retired after The Fortune Cookie.  Rating **

 ** =  The script is an original by Diamond and Wilder and they were definitely hit or miss. Wilder was always better at adopting someone else's work.  People forget that Irma La Douce,  One, two, three, and Some like it Hot, are all adaptations of European plays and films.