Tuesday, November 3, 2020

A Movie You Might Have Missed #26 — Without a Clue

It's been 10 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

Mystery and comedy. There may be no better combination, and certainly you won't find it done better than in today's movie.


Without a Clue features stellar teamwork by Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley, who are at their best here. Kingsley is Dr. Watson who actually is the genius at deduction. He has written his adventures as stories with a fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes, so as to not hurt his chances at being named to a prestigious board. When the stories got so popular that people wanted to meet Holmes he hired actor, Reginald Kincaid to act the part. The problem: Kincaid is a two-bit, drunken, skirt-chasing actor (Caine) which causes no end of trouble and comic delight whenever "Holmes" tries to improvise his way through a case. 
 
It is a real delight to watch these two great actors throw themselves into their parts with wonderful comic timing. Caine gets a lot of mileage out of Holmes' efforts to appear a genius. This movie is especially good for any children who understand how twists work on the classic detective stories.

3 comments:

  1. Watson: Are we talking about the same man who once declared with total conviction that the late Colonel Howard had been bludgeoned to death with a blunt *excrement*?

    Holmes: Is it my fault you have such bad handwriting?

    At last, I've found someone else who liked (i.e. heard of) this movie!
    Comrade!

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  2. And again:

    Holmes: I'm reminded of the curious case of the Manchurian Mambo...
    Watson: Holmes, could I have a word?
    Holmes: Yes, what is it?
    Watson: I believe that was the Manchurian Mamba.
    Holmes: Mambo, mamba. What's the difference?
    Watson: Well, very little, except that one is a deadly, poisonous snake, while the other is a rather festive Caribbean dance.
    Holmes: It was a night like any other, when suddenly a knock came at the door. I opened it, and there were these Manchurians, doing a rather festive Caribbean dance...


    Okay, yes, I'll stop now. I've probably scared off anyone who's allergic to silly humor anyway :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Comrade! (back atcha)

    Those two sets of quotes appear in my sidebar every so often. I love the absolute lunacy of that movie!

    ReplyDelete