Main Cast: Michael Caine, Ben Kingsley, Jeffrey Jones, Lysette Anthony, Paul Freeman
Release Year: 1988
Country: US/UK
Run Time: 107 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
According to Without a Clue, master detective Sherlock Holmes was a wholly fictional character. Well, we knew that; what we didn't know was that Holmes was a figment of the imagination of his chronicler, Dr. John Watson (Ben Kingsley). When Holmes' fame begins to grow, would-be clients besiege Watson's office for chance to consult the Great Detective. In desperation, Watson hires a seedy provincial actor (Michael Caine) to pose as Holmes. Trouble is, the preening actor hasn't got a clue -- about anything. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Filmed at around the same time as Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Without a Clue finds Michael Caine in similarly deceitful form as a second-tier actor hired to portray the fictitious Sherlock Holmes -- a position his employer (Ben Kingsley) discovers is regrettably permanent. Thus lays the groundwork for a delicious setup in which the true genius (Kingsley's John Watson) must cleverly feed the puppet genius enough information to "solve" the crimes, all while himself playing the humiliating role of doting protégé. In a truly underrated and under-seen performance, Caine proffers enough hilarious circumlocutory reasoning to convince his adoring public that he's a profound detective mastermind. In fact, given his amazing improvisational skills, it's a bit strange that the film takes for granted that he's an untalented hack. Half the time he's half sloshed, and his skirt-chasing barely escapes notice, but because the myth of Holmes is so great, the actor realizes he can have fun with the part without getting fired. This is all much to the chagrin of Watson, who wants his books to remain best-sellers, and needs an untainted Holmes for that to happen. (It's never certain whether we're supposed to believe that Watson is actually Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but that hardly matters). Caine's refrain "Make a note of that, Watson" develops a gut-busting familiarity, and some of his facial expressions during scenes of interrogation -- deep thought to his admirers, desperate wool-gathering to the audience -- make it a riotous performance. The crime that forms the story's backbone is mostly forgettable, but the fact that it allows Caine and Kingsley to interact with such thinly veiled mutual disdain is reason enough to applaud it. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Nigel Davenport - Lord Smithwick; Pat Keen - Mrs. Hudson; Peter Cook - Greenhough; Tim Killick - Sebastian; Mathew Savage - Wiggins; Andrew Bradford - Dockworker; James Bree - Barrister; Gregor Fisher - Bobby at Warehouse; Jennifer Guy - Christabel; Harold Innocent - Mayor Johnson; Clive Mantle - Thug; Steven O'Donell - Bartender; Ivor Roberts - Reporter; Mathew Sim - Real Leslie; George Sweeney - John Clay; John Tordoff - Mr. Andrews; John Warner - Peter Giles; Les White - Henchman; John Surman - Constable at Lakes; Adam Kotz - Local; Alan Bodenham - Driver; Dave Cooper - Thug; Lesley Daine - Lady on Train; Sam Davies - Local; Murray Ewan - Archie; Richard Henry - Hadler; Elizabeth Kelly - Landlady; Caroline Milmoe - Constance; Michael O'Hagan - Reporter; Martin Pallot - Photographer; Sarah Parr-Byrne - Singer; Prince the Dog - Duke; Evan Russell - Sergeant at Docks; Alexandra Spencer - Mrs. Andrews; Stephen Tiller - Reporter; Chris Webb - Henchman
Credit
Terry Ackland-Snow - Art Director, Robin Tarsnane - Art Director, Tom Brown - Art Director, Ben Moses - Associate Producer, Noel Davis - Casting, Nancy Foy - Casting, Jeremy Zimmerman - Casting, Judy Moorcraft - Costume Designer, Don French - First Assistant Director, Thom Eberhardt - Director, Peter Tanner - Editor, Henry Mancini - Composer (Music Score), Lois Burwell - Makeup, Peter Frampton - Makeup, Brian Ackland-Snow - Production Designer, Terry Ackland-Snow - Production Designer, Martyn Hebert - Production Designer, Alan Hume - Cinematographer, Marc Stirdivant - Producer, Peter James - Set Designer, Ian Whittaker - Set Designer, Ian Wingrove - Special Effects, David Hildyard - Sound/Sound Designer, Paul Weston - Stunts, Thom Eberhardt - Screenwriter, Gary Murphy - Screenwriter, Larry Strawther - Screenwriter, Stephen A. Hope - Music Editor
The film's premise is that Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character created by Dr. John Watson (Ben Kingsley) to enable him to solve crimes incognito. To satisfy public demand to see Holmes in person, he hires alcoholic unemployed actor Reginald Kincaid (Michael Caine) to play him. But when "Holmes" begins hogging the spotlight, a jealous Watson fires him, only to have to call him back when the British Government wants Holmes and no one else to solve a mystery involving stolen Bank of England £5 banknote printing plates and a missing printing supervisor, Peter Giles.
Inspector Lestrade (Jeffrey Jones) is jealous of Holmes' apparent sleuthing skills, and takes every opportunity to spy on Holmes and Watson and to steal their ideas. Just when Watson and "Holmes" discover that Professor Moriarty is the mastermind behind the scheme, Watson is apparently killed in an attempt to capture Moriarty, forcing "Holmes" to solve the case on his own.
Context
The film is one of several spoofs that have been made of the canonical Sherlock Holmes. This particular spoof has two notable features. Firstly the main characters have been reversed, with a bumbling Holmes and genius detective Watson replacing the usual bumbling Watson and genius detective Holmes. Secondly, in the film Watson tires of his fictional creation, Holmes, and tries unsuccessfully to terminate his role, but is forced to bring him back by popular demand. This mirrors the real life situation of the author Conan Doyle (also a physician) who tired of his fictional creation Holmes and tried unsuccessfully to kill him off.
