The Devil's Foot

This is an engrossing episode from "The Return of Sherlock Holmes" series--THE DEVIL'S FOOT. It starts out as possibly being a tale of the supernatural but instead the vacationing Sherlock Holmes uses reason to figure out who did the murders and why.

Brett and Hardwicke are well cast as the sleuth and his doctor friend, vacationing on the Cornish coast after the famous detective has suffered a nervous breakdown. They should have known better than to go this lonely locale expecting to find peace and solitude in the great outdoors far away from Baker Street.

Of course, it doesn't take long before a man turns up at their door with a story about three brothers and a sister enjoying a quiet game of cards, with one brother leaving after a brief quarrel. In the morning, the sister is found dead of apoplexy and the brothers are in a state of acute dementia with their faces frozen in horror. Holmes has to find out what caused the tragic occurrence--and why.

I found it one of the more interesting, if less baffling of the Holmes stories, but effectively produced with the proper atmosphere and settings. The explanations seemed credible and satisfying enough for any mystery fan. Well worth watching.

Jeremy Brett's magical run as Holmes aired when I was very young, when I think back this was the episode that had the greatest impact on me, even now I'm struck by just how bleak it is. Three reasons, firstly the horrible way the poor Tregenniss family die, it's so dark, secondly the trippy scene where Holmes suffers the effects of the substance, and also the terrors he faces with drugs. It's one of my favourite stories, it's a wonderful tale of justice and revenge. Great production values, the coast looks incredible, and of course the acting is fabulous, Brett and Hardwicke at their very best.

Sherlock Holmes is convalescing in Cornwall (accompanied by Dr Watson, of course) when three members of the same family are struck down with the same affliction. Brenda Tregennis is dead and her brothers Owen and George insane, found in the same room in their house. A fourth sibling, Mortimer, was also present for part of the evening and had a long-running dispute with his three siblings.

A good episode of Sherlock Holmes, though not among the best. The initial perpetrator is fairly obvious and the title of the episode gives away, to a degree, the method.

Still, it's interesting enough and gets quite intriguing once Mortimer is found dead.

Memorable episode from "The Return of Sherlock Holmes" volume in the Granada series as well as one of the better adaptations in the series overall. Holmes and Watson go to the Cornish coast to recuperate, only to face bizarre double murders. The story is unique and leads to an unexpected conclusion. One moment that really stands out in this adaptation is it's acid dream sequence when Holmes has to put himself under hallucination to find out the solution to the mystery. Also notable in the story is Holmes giving up his habit of cocaine. Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke give their best performances and the atmosphere, photography, production values, and music are superb. Definitely a must watch for fans.

These Granada Holmes deals are hit and miss because of the way the creative teams were assigned. This is one of the bad ones, beyond remarking.

There are two mildly interesting things about the episode.

One is the continuing oscillation between supernatural forces and the mechanical logic of life that was popular in Victorian England. These forces pull extremes, even today. This version of the story plays that down. From the very first you know we are dealing with a powdered drug. From the very first you know who did it and why.

The other interesting thing is a continuing issue in film. How do you deal with distortions of reality, like dreams and hallucinations? There seems to be a sort of hack vocabulary for this that TeeVee imposes: some wavy images, threatening situations, blood from skin, short, confusing exposures, jittery camera.

Its done here in the clumsiest of ways. Five years later a more maddened Brett would be in "The Last Vampyre" that was equally bad as a Holmes, but much better in the hallucination department.

Oh and accompanying music that seems to come from only one source. This, my friends is why there will never be a decent Holmes produced for TeeVee. Whenever these choices have to be made, the TeeVee vocabulary is just too hackneyed and ordinary.

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.