Blurring the line between fiction and real history isn't just an accidental consequence of a few recent Hollywood epics. Some authors actually see it as an intriguing creative experiment. One such experiment is Time After Time, a film that featured the historical character of British author H.G. Wells equipped with the most famous fruit of his fiction – a time machine. Nicholas Meyer, director of this film, obviously likes these experiments, judging by his novel The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, in which he paired the fictitious character of Sherlock Holmes with one of his most famous real-life contemporaries. The novel was adapted for the screen in 1976 and directed by Herbert Ross.
The story is set in 1891, a year that corresponds with the time when Arthur Conan Doyle, real-life creator of Sherlock Holmes, tried to kill off his most successful creation (and was forced to revive him three years later, after being pressured by a multitude of angry fans). Meyer's novel and script give an alternative explanation for the three-year absence of Holmes, using some subtle hints given by Doyle. At the beginning of the film, Sherlock Holmes (played by Nicol Williamson) is obsessed with Professor Moriarty (played by Laurence Olivier), whom he accuses of being the head of an all-powerful criminal organisation. Holmes' partner Doctor Watson (played by Robert Duvall) actually finds Moriarty to be nothing more than a pathetic old man, who used to be Holmes' nemesis in childhood as his mathematics tutor. The real reason for Holmes' paranoid delusions lies in his decades-long cocaine addiction, which has recently entered a terminal phase. Watson wants to cure his friend of such an affliction, but late 19th-century medicine is still unable to cope with such complex psychological problems. The only glimmer of hope lies in a young and controversial physician from Vienna named Siegmund Freud (played by Alan Arkin), who recently published a scientific article about cocaine addiction. Watson tricks Holmes into travelling to Vienna, where Freud would use his new psychiatric methods in order to cure the detective of his addiction. The treatment is successful and Holmes, recuperated and refreshed, is ready to return the favour by offering to help another of Freud's patients – the famous actress Lola Deveraux (played by Vanessa Redgrave). She had recently escaped a bunch of mysterious captors who had abducted her and drugged her with cocaine. Both Holmes and Freud feel personally motivated to find the perpetrators of this crime and join forces in order to solve this mystery.
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution has everything a good period film should possess – a small army of very talented British actors, great care about period details, attractive Viennese locations, and finally, a very intriguing script with a lot of references interesting to history buffs. The British cast, led by the always reliable Nicol Williamson, is supported by the excellent Robert Duvall (whose British accent seems genuine, at least to untrained ears) and the very good Alan Arkin. Unfortunately, the general impression of the film is not that good. Basically, the plot is interesting in the first half, when we are exposed to the dark, unexplored side of Sherlock Holmes' character and Meyer's often amusing revisionist speculations about the true background for Doyle's original stories. But later, when Holmes finishes his business with Freud, the film doesn't stop and instead we are witness to a standard, and rather weak, crime mystery, saved only by a few humorous remarks. In it, Holmes and his friends must use their muscles more than Holmes' brain, but the action isn't that spectacular, and the finale, which even features a swashbuckling scene, is more corny than realistic. However, the general impression of the film is more than good – great care about period details and the obvious fondness the authors feel for the Gilded Age made this a rather charming, although imperfect, example of Hollywood craftsmanship.
RATING: 7/10 (+++)
(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on March 5th 2000)
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Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/29578-the-seven-per-cent-solution Critic: AA
