The Seven-Per-Cent Solution – 1976 | 113 mins | Comedy, Drama, Adventure | Colour

Plot Synopsis

The Seven-Per-Cent Solution is adapted from Nicholas Meyer’s 1974 pastiche best seller describing the reasons for Sherlock Holmes brief hiatus following the ultimate struggle with Professor Moriarty in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Final Problem. The story focuses on the fictitious Holmes’ cocaine dependency and his encounter with historical psychiatrist Sigmund Freud in Vienna. The relationship between Holmes and Freud consumes much of the film and pushes the kidnap mystery to the sidelines, but the ‘mystery’ simply degenerates into a spectacularly silly chase across Europe. Nicol Williamson is certainly a Holmes you haven’t seen before and Robert Duvall makes an excellent Watson in comparison to the bumbling Nigel Bruce portrayal. Alan Arkin is both assured and enjoyable as Freud.

1891. Dr Watson (Robert Duvall) goes to visit his old friend Sherlock Holmes (Nicol Williamson) at Baker Street only to find him not only deep in the throes of cocaine addiction, but also gripped by a paranoid obsession with the completely innocent Professor Moriarty (Laurence Olivier). With the assistance of Holmes’ brother, Mycroft (Charles Gray), Watson creates a ruse where Sherlock is tricked into travelling to Vienna – where he is treated for his addiction by Dr Sigmund Freud (Alan Arkin). But when one of Freud’s other patients, attractive redhead Lola Deveraux (Vanessa Redgrave), is kidnapped, the game’s afoot. The culprit is Baron von Leinsdorf, who has commissioned a train to spirit Ms Deveraux to Istanbul – so Holmes, Watson and Freud steal a train and head in hot pursuit.