The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976)

Truly Dreadful Film

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

This is a very intriguing adaptation of Sherlock Holmes as a drug addicted has-been whose best friend Dr. Watson convinces his good friend Holmes that there is someone who can bring Holmes back to the man and sleuth he once was. Dr. Watson convinces Holmes that the man who can save his best friend is the renowned psychiatrist, Dr. Sigmund Freud. If this were the films only plot it may have been enough of a story to satisfy an audience. However there is more to this film and to the viewers pleasure we have a crime that has occurred while Sherlock is under the care of Dr. Freud which means that these three problem solvers, Holmes (Nicol Williamson), Watson (Robert Duvall) and now the famous Dr. Freud (Alan Arkin) are connected at the hip to each other as they try and solve who kidnapped one of Dr. Freud's other patients, a woman named Lola Deveraux under his care who also suffered from an addiction to cocaine and who has appeared to have relapsed.Once Holmes is on the case he quickly assesses that the beautiful redhead Lola Deveraux (Vanessa Redgrave) did not relapse onto a dependency on to cocaine but was forced to take the drug under duress. As in any good mystery we the audience want to know asap who the bad guy(s) are and Miss Deveraux is able to provide Sherlock and his two partners with a description of a short man with pot marks on his face. This suspect appears to be following the detectives and a chase ensues in which the suspect is captured and identified as a guy named Lowenstein (Joel Grey). With some strong arm tactics Lowenstein spills the beans who kidnapped Miss Deverauz and why they did it in the first place.The chase continues through the countryside and the vehicle of choice for transportation of the kidnapped victim is a private train, so Holmes, Watson and Dr. Freud decide to hijack a second train and the chase in on baby. The last 30 minutes of the film were the best as the two trains were shown in many different angles continuing through the countryside and the cinematography was awe inspiring. Kudos to the director Herbert Ross (known also for Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Play It Again Sam, The Turning Point, The Goodbye Girl, Steel Magnolias and many other Oscar nominated films) for his great use of the camera lens that allows the viewer some panoramic views of the countryside as if we were on the train with the sleuths.The ending provides some closure for Sherlock Holmes himself with the assistance of Dr. Freud and the audience is left with a happy ending. This is a 1970's film that holds up pretty well even some 40 years later.I give this film a solid 7 out of 10 rating.

I rate it PG-13 for the intense hallucinations than Holmes endures while fighting and overcoming his long addiction to cocaine and it's a bit bloody. Sherlock was using a solution of 7% cocaine for many years. From Nickolas Meyer's novel and directed by Herbert Ross. So rich in dialogue, mystery, and action. Well-filmed on-location in the UK and Austria. Many wonderful characterizations of all the usual characters including Mycroft Holmes and Mrs. Watson. Segmund Freud and Holmes work together to solve both Holmes's addiction and this case. Vanessa Redgrave plays the operatically-talented redheaded beauty who is kidnapped by a rich "Sheik" of the Ottoman Empire. A bit graphic at times and nightmarish scenes, as mentioned before. A rousing climax involving two trains and a duel-to-the-death between Holmes and the villain who somewhat resembles "Gert Frobe" and looks more German than Turkish. Great observations from "Freud" including sexual comments about the fascination of "Redheaded Woman" by Arabic cultures. I will not reveal the revelation and connection between Moriarty and Holmes discovered under hypnosis. It is unique to this Sherlock Holmes story. Toby the Bloodhound "steals" every scene he is in, from England to Austria!

Delving into pseudo-history, Watson (Robert Duvall) gets a drug addicted and neurotic Holmes (Nichol Williamson) to see the father of psychology, Sigmund Freud (Alan Arkin) in a last ditch effort to cure him. However, Holmes must also work a case involving a shady foreign magnate and a beautiful young actress (Vanessa Redgrave), not permitting resurfacing demons to get in the way of his powers.Star Trek veteran Nicholas Meyer's Holmes tale is a fun and surprisingly smart ride. The combination of two geniuses like Holmes and Freud actually lead to some really fascinating scenes as the two size each other up, each intrigued by the other's somewhat unorthodox methods and beliefs, as well as contrast their behaviours. This is supported by the rapport between a subdued and pensive Arkin, and a maverick Williamson who can veer from pathetic and crumbling to imposing and commanding at the drop of a deerstalker. Indeed, the film explores a darker and much more human side to Holmes than most adaptations, delving into his past and the depths of his childhood that later informed his crime fighting abilities.Now this is not to say everything else is a slack: Duvall holds a decent British accent and is suitably supportive and patient as Watson, Redgrave is doe eyed and rather nervous as the troubled actress, and veteran Herbert Ross directs with a swift hand and tight pacing, taking us from the fog of London to the monuments of Vienna and even the top of speeding trains for the climax in good time. Really, complaints are fairly minor, and are simply circumstantial of this type of production: Laurence Olivier is wasted as a rather weak and whiny Moriarty, little more than a cameo, and the film could've gone even more introspective with Holmes and Freud had it not also been bound to being a moderately budgeted adventure thriller, especially in its second half.In that sense, 'Seven Per Cent' may have benefited remaining a book rather than a film, but what we got was still very good and one of my favourite film versions of Doyle's master sleuth.

I really enjoyed this little fantasy film about the supposed treatment Sherlock Holmes received for his cocaine addiction from Dr. Freud. This is awfully strange, having a real-life and fictional character interact together, but the writers were able to make it work.Up front I should let you know that I am a huge Sherlock Holmes fan--having read all the stories several times. In most of my reviews for Holmes movies, I am very critical because they take such liberties with the stories--and almost always ruin the stories. At first, I was reticent to see this story because of this--after all, it's NOT based on a Conan Doyle story and the last such film I saw (THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES) was terrible in places because it took too many liberties with the character (especially at the end of the film). However, despite my reservations I saw the film and am glad I did.At first it did bother me, as the film did SEEM to contradict many of the Holmes stories. However, through the course of the film, they were able to explain away all these differences very well--in particular, Holmes' hatred for Professor Moriarty. Additionally, having the fictional character be psychoanalyzed actually was pretty cool--though Freud's analysis almost always took months or years, not a few quick sessions.Up until the last 10 or 15 minutes of the film, I was very pleased with the movie but then the film had a serious flaw that knocked off a point. The sword fighting scene at the end (interesting, by the way, in a Freudian sense) was totally unnecessary and totally distracting. It was like another writer took an intelligent script and added a macho idiot fight scene for no discernible reason. Had it been me, I would have had Holmes simply shoot the guy--not pad it out for no apparent reason. Additionally, while it was integrated into the story later, the whole tennis match sequence seemed contrived and silly. Still, with so much to like, both these scenes can be overlooked.An excellent film for Holmes lovers. Additionally, psychology teachers and therapists will also appreciate the inclusion of Freud.By the way, Charles Gray plays Holmes' brother, Mycroft in this film. A decade later, he played this same character in the Jeremy Brett series as well.