Product Details

• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Madacy Records
• VHS Release Date: June 2, 1998
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000006BWR
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #462,237 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

66 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Madacy has a winner with its tin box on Sherlock Holmes, June 23, 2007

By 

Rudolf Schmid "nmnori" (Kensington, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sherlock Holmes: Collector's Edition (Five-Disk Edition, Tin packaging) (DVD)

Sherlock Holmes: Collector's edition (2007) (tin box set--5 DVDs)
SOURCE: Madacy c2006; UPC: 628261045891; DVD Release: 04/10/2007

I've not been a fan of Madacy Entertainment because of its many shoddy releases of public-domain films, quality usually much worse than that of Alpha Video (LaserLight). However, Madacy has a winner here with its tin box collection devoted to Sherlock Holmes. The box itself is very attractive, with an embossed cover. It contains the following:
1) Incident at Victoria Falls (1991) (TV)(2 DVDs)
2) Sherlock Holmes and the leading lady (1992)(TV) (2 DVDs)
3) The secret identity of Jack the Ripper (1988) (TV)(1 DVD)
4) A 32-page booklet reprinting Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's first Holmes short story, "A scandal in Bohemia" (1891)

The two movies feature Christopher Lee (1922-) as Holmes and Patrick Macnee (1922-) as Watson in final cases before Holmes's retirement to Sussex, with Jerome Willis as Mycroft Holmes, Margaret John as Mrs. Hudson, and Kenway Baker as Inspector Lestrade. The films are subtitled "Golden years" because of the age of the actors portraying Holmes and Watson. The two films take place in Europe and Africa in 1910 and host several historical figures: Sigmund Freud and Elliott Ness in "Leading lady," and King Edward and Theodore Roosevelt in "Victoria Falls." These overlong movies (each over 3 hours) were part of a TV series. The two additional films planned never materialized.

Comments on contents and quality of the DVDs: I'll largely pass on thequality of the actual movies (which are padded and not the greatest) except to say that (1) the movies are quite watchable, (2) the serious Sherlock-Holmes fan should see them at least once, and (3) Madacy is to be commended in making them available in an inexpensive edition.
1) DVDs #1-2 ("Victoria Falls," 1991): DVDs in keep case; 4:3, DD2.0, TT3:14. Video quality is good, a bit softer than that of "Leading lady"; colors are vivid. Extras are minimal: a superficial filmography for Christopher Lee and Patrick Macnee, photo galleries, and previews of "Victoria Falls" part 2 and "Leading lady" part 1.
2) DVDs #3-4 ("Leading lady," 1992): DVDs in keep case; 4:3, DD2.0, TT3:13. Video quality is very good; colors are vivid. Extras are minimal: a superficial filmography for Morgan Farchild (Irene Adler) and Engelbert Humperdinck (Eberhardt Bohm), photo galleries, and previews of "Leading lady" part 2 and "Victoria Falls" part 1. Irene Adler, of course was "the woman" in "A scandal in Bohemia" (1891), which apparently justified including in the tin box the reprint of this short story.
Note: Other reviewers have noted audio-video sync problems, which are evident, even in some of the previews!
3) DVD #5 ("Jack the Ripper," 1988): DVD in cardboard sleeve; 4:3, DD2.0, TT1:20. Video quality is very good to excellent in this 1988 TV documentary narrated by Peter Ustinov. Extras include text info on 5 suspects and 5 victims. The connection between Holmes and Jack the Ripper is abundant in films and books about the detective, but it is worth emphasizing that Conan Doyle in his 4 novels and 56 short stories on Holmes never mentioned Jack the Ripper.

Incidentally, Christopher Lee (1922-) is a towering figure, literally (he is 6'5") and figuratively, in Sherlock-Holmes moviedom. He appeared in six films:
1) AS Sherlock Holmes IN Sherlock Holmes and the deadly necklace (AKA Sherlock Holmes und das Halsband des Todes) (1962)
2) AS Sherlock Holmes IN Sherlock Holmes: Incident at Victoria Falls (AKA Incident at Victoria Falls; Sherlock Holmes and the incident at Victoria Falls; Sherlock Holmes: The star of Africa) (1991) (TV)
3) AS Sherlock Holmes IN Sherlock Holmes and the leading lady (1992) (TV) 4) AS Sir Henry Baskerville IN The hound of the Baskervilles (1959)
5) AS Mycroft Holmes IN The private life of Sherlock Holmes (1970)
6) AS the narrator OF The many faces of Sherlock Holmes (1986)

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lee as Holmes, January 4, 2008

By 

Marianne Hudson (Birmingham, AL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sherlock Holmes: Collector's Edition (Five-Disk Edition, Tin packaging) (DVD)

Victoria Falls was excellent. I was less thrilled with The Leading Lady, primarily, I think, because on my copy the soundtrack was misaligned with the video, and I felt like I was watching a (badly) dubbed film. Additionally, Ms. Fairchild was not overly convincing as Irene Adler, and the age discrepancy (some thirty years) between Ms. Fairchild and Mr. Lee renders their relationship a bit implausible, particularly since Ms. Fairchild has aged well and does not look to be in her 40's. Mr. Lee looks excellent for his age, but rather older than Holmes' stated age (mid-50's). Patrick McNee is thoroughly amusing as Watson.

That said, I enjoyed both films (but then I'd enjoy watching Mr. Lee read a telephone book), and the wardrobe and scenery in both films are outstanding and almost worth the price of admission.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sherlock in a Tin...nice packaging!, February 15, 2010

By 

Lawrence Nepodahl "Radio Yesteryears Yeoman" (DeKalb, IL United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sherlock Holmes: Collector's Edition (Five-Disk Edition, Tin packaging) (DVD)

I wanted to own both of the Christopher Lee, as Sherlock Holmes and Patrick Macnee, as Dr. John Watson, movies made for television for a while, but thought that the price, individually, for Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady (1991) and Incident At Victoria Falls (1992) was too steep. But, put both these TV-Movies into one attractable tin box and add a very interesting Documentary (of sorts) about Jack the Ripper and you have me purchasing. They threw in the "Short" story that started it all; A Scandal in Bohemia, which a novice Sherlockian can read, to discover the true creation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. As far as the two tele-films... Christopher Lee fits the part of Holmes like a hand to a glove, albeit, a withered hand and a weathered glove. It's too bad that he wasn't given a chance to portray the part in his younger career. Well, he did, back in 1962, but his rich voice was dubbed and the script was pretty poor. I'd recommend this collection, if you are a Christopher Lee or Sherlockian/Holmesian fan.