Murder by Decree

This 1979 movie has a great pedigree. I was especially excited while watching it as I seemed to remember various scenes from my childhood. This film must one of those on a tight turn-around on Saturday afternoons and late night network fillers. And there's a great reason for that.... it's great!

Murder by Decree has Christopher Plummer, James Mason and Donald Sutherland! It features Sherlock Holmes pitted against Jack the Ripper (again!) I will strive to not spoil anything in case you haven't seen it yet, but I think the very title reveals almost too much! I mean, who gets to make "decrees"?!

Plummer does a fun turn as Holmes. Not very stuffy and much more a man of action without betraying the character of the Great Detective. Much more of note is James Mason. He does a fantastic job as Watson and only took the part if he could rewrite or add a few scenes that give the good doctor dignity and intelligence; here is a man worthy of being the partner of the Worlds Greatest Detective. There is an absolutely delightful and telling scene with just Holmes, Watson and the case of the last pea:

The basic premise/conceit of the movie is the same as From Hell so it might seem a mite familiar. The ending could never be done today. Not the plot, but pretty much Holmes has a meeting with three officials and debates with them for about 10 minutes. And then the credits. Weird, but satisfying to me. I liked this movie very much. It is available on Netflix.