Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786301264174
Format: Closed-captioned
ISBN: 6301264177
Label: Orion Home Video
Manufacturer: Orion Home Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publication Date: 1989-05
Publisher: Orion Home Video
Release Date: 1994-06-22
Running Time: 107
Studio: Orion Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: 1988-10-21

Without a Clue is an underrated comedy featuring stellar teamwork by two great actors, Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley. This Sherlock Holmes pastiche with a twist stars Kingsley as physician, writer, and self-effacing super-sleuth Dr. John Watson, who channels his genius for deduction into lucrative stories about Holmes. Watson wants the world to believe the fictional private eye actually exists, posing a problem when a steady stream of troubled souls come seeking Holmes's help. The doctor's prescription: hire a two-bit, drunken, skirt-chasing actor (Caine) to portray the Great Detective, an arrangement that causes Watson consternation whenever "Holmes" tries to improvise his way through a case. Wonderful comic timing and tension make Without a Clue a delight; Caine, particularly, gets a lot of mileage out of the faux Holmes's grand efforts to appear a genius. Henry Mancini's score adds a touch of old Hollywood gloss, and Thom Eberhardt (Night of the Comet) directs. --Tom Keogh

Customer Rating:
Summary: I love this movie!
Comment: Ben Kingsley is Dr. Watson, a man of science and logic who uses those skills to solve crimes and then writes stories about them. He's hired an actor, Reginald Kincaid (Michael Caine) to play his fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes.

But "Holmes" is getting on Watson's last nerve. He's getting cockier, not following instructions, and on the verge of blowing the whole scheme with his profligate ways. So Watson fires Kincaid and styles himself as "the crime doctor," but the public wants Sherlock Holmes, and even Inspector Lestrade (Jeffrey Jones), who's suspicious of Holmes's techniques, won't listen to him.

It's particularly bad timing, as the financial fate of the country depends on the swift resolution of a case that the Queen herself asks Holmes to solve.

Then Watson disappears and Kincaid/Holmes is left to solve the case himself, with the help of Mrs. Hudson (Pat Keen) and Watson's Baker Street Irregulars (street urchins, in case you aren't familiar with the Sherlock Holmes stories).

This is a film in which everything just comes together so perfectly that it seems effortless. The comic timing is genius--in fact, Holmes & Mrs. Hudson on the stage is a classic piece of physical comedy with impeccable timing. Caine and Kingsley play off each other very well--neither upstaging the other--and there's more depth to the characters than just the surface frustrations with each other.

Caine's Holmes is a frustrated actor, drinking and womanizing because he knows he's nothing special. When he's called on to prove himself, it's lovely to watch his self-esteem grow. The same is true of Kingsley's Watson. He's a man of science, true, but he's tired of being in the shadows, and needs recognition and appreciation--like we all do.

I think that's why I enjoy Without a Clue so much--it has layers. There's the twist of the Sherlock Holmes story, which is fun, then there's the mystery/adventure plot itself, which is intriguing and exciting, and then there's the emotional story of the main characters, which is... er... emotional. In other words, it's satisfying on several levels, making it a movie I can watch more than once.

My kids enjoyed it, too.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Hilarious!
Comment: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: From the Secret Files of Harry Pennypacker
Basil Rathbone: His life and his films
Shadow Watcher
Nobody Drowns in Mineral Lake

WITHOUT A CLUE (1988) is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. I love this movie!

That said, I have to wonder why this inventive spoof of Sherlock Holmes was not a huge box-office success when it was first released. Certainly it has garnered a cult following over the years, but the mass audience has never really embraced it.

Perhaps the reason is that Sherlock Holmes appeals to a more intellectual viewer and one needs, at the very least, a basic familiarity with Conan Doyle and the Baker Street sleuth in order to appreciate the humor (often slapstick) in this Thom Eberhardt-directed film.

The basic premise of the script, written by Gary Murphy and Larry Strawther, is brilliant. In their scenario, there is no Sherlock Holmes. He is a fictional character, created for Strand Magazine by genius detective Dr. Watson (Ben Kingsley).

The Holmes stories were so popular that people came to believe that Sherlock was a real person. Thus, Watson hired an out-of-work actor (Michael Caine) to play the role of Holmes while he did the actual detective work. Unfortunately, the actor is also a drunk, a gambler, a womanizer, a coward and an absolute moron.

As much as Watson would like to get rid of the imbecile, he's stuck with him...particularly when the evil Professor Moriarty (Paul Freeman) appears on the scene, planning the crime of the century.

Do not miss this movie!

© Michael B. Druxman, author of ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLLYWOOD

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: Region 2 release is NOT true widescreen
Comment: I need to correct the review by "J. Glemby" when he states that the Region 2 release is anamorphic widescreen. It is a "faked" widescreen rather than true anamorphic. The case is correct when it says that the screen aspect is 4:3 Letterboxed. In other words, the actual frame size is 4:3 with the black bars on top and bottom as part of the frame image. With a true widescreen presentation, the black bars are generated by the DVD player/TV with the full screen resolution dedicated to the movie image. When the Region 2 disc is viewed on a 16:9 TV, you will have to manually expand the image to fill the screen. That means that you are zooming in which essentially lowers the resolution. If it had been mastered in true anamorphic widescreen, there would be no loss in resolution. Still, I'd rather watch a "faked" widescreen than a full-frame release.

That said, this is a great movie and it is a shame that this has not been given a decent Region 1 release (or true widescreen release for Region 2).

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: widescreen available region 2
Comment: There are plenty of reviews that tell what a delightfull movie Without A Clue is.It is a crime that this is not available in widescreen for region 1 dvds.however,for all of you with multi region players the region 2 disc IS ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN.Please note the dvd case cover said fullscreen but it is most definately widescreen,not compessed screen or anything else but the real deal.I will discribe the particular disc I am talking of....it reads''itc entertainment,the silver collection,distributed by carlton video limited,region 2. I beleive this is a australian and great britan version for all writing is english only...Its amazing in widescreen....well i hope this helped someone..good luck.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: Unfunny
Comment: The problem here is that the script is simply unamusing. Despite the fine costuming and acting, the director could only do so much with witless dialog. This is a major disappointment for those seeking comedy and an offense to all serious Sherlock Holmes fans.

---