Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Sherlock Holmes and the Devil's Foot

The Devil's Foot is an episode of the Sherlock Holmes television series produced by Granada Television and first shown on BBC in Great Britain, later being shown on PBS in the USA where it became quite a popular feature.

The Granada Sherlock Holmes series started as a series of ten episodes that were gradually extended to a total of 41 episodes as the series developed a fan base.  The series was curtailed when the star Jeremy Brett fell ill and eventually died leaving the total at 41 episodes of the original 56 stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Doyle's stories were not adapted line for line but rather versions were done of them with bits and pieces of other episodes or even wholly invented sections added. The bulk of the episodes were filmed to fit a 60 minute televison time slot, so they were 52 minutes long to include commercials in the 60 minute running time. One or two of the episodes were actually newly written and a few extended length productions were also included in the 41 episodes.

The Devil's Foot concerns a recuperative stay in Cornwall for Holmes where he and Watson vacation hoping to catch some fish perhaps.  Of course a local shows up at their door with a tale of a party where three brothers and a sister playing cards are stricken and the three men are struck with madness while the woman is killed outright. The men are rushed to the local hospital and the woman is buried.

This episode brought the possibility of supernatural occurences into the picture but anyone who is familiar with Sherlock Holmes realizes that there has to be a scientific, rational explanation for everything, therefore, Holmes sets to work to find the real explanation and soon comes up with the means and the culprit.

The star Jeremy Brett is joined by Edward Hardwicke as Dr Watson and this episode shows the depth of their friendship better than any other in the series.  Holmes is found unconscious on the moor among the rocks and dolmens and when Watson revives him he is so very glad to see him it is readily apparent that he really loves the fellow who usually just gets to play the sidekick.

The filming was done in England with English actors and good sets and costuming and used orchestral music that was composed for the series.  The resulting production is a good representation of the Victorian period with explanations of by who and by what means the murder was committed.

The DVD is available from MPI with a 52 minute running time, in color and in 1.33:1 television format.  This episode should make fans of any new viewers who get introduced to Sherlock Holmes through it.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV