The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975)

Other than Feldman, not much to recommend, 16 April 2005

Being too busy to take the case, Sherlock Holmes' sends a client to visit his younger brother, Sigerson (Gene Wilder). Along with his sidekick Sgt. Slacker (Marty Feldman), Sigerson faces a client who can't tell the truth, missing government documents, an evil Moriarty, and an opera singing blackmailer. Can Sigerson solve the case and steal some of the spotlight from Sherlock?

If you look across the internet, you'll likely find more positive reviews of this film than negative. I don't get it. There are a few good ideas, but much of this movie just isn't very funny. Wilder tries his best to make a film in the same vein as Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein, but fails to do so. It's a shame because Wilder assembled many of the same cast members that made Young Frankenstein so memorable. The blame has to go to the script (also written by Wilder). It's a mess. In Young Frankenstein, screwball characters were placed within a recognizable story that drew inspiration from Universal's Frankenstein series. In Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother, you have similar screwball characters, but there is no recognizable framework for them to operate. The movie might have worked had Wilder chosen to use the Basil Rathbone Holmes' films as inspiration.

That's not to say that parts of the movie aren't funny. A few of Feldman's scenes brought more than a smile to my face. But these scenes were quickly followed by yawn inducing moments that took the steam right out of the movie.

Finally, what's up with Dom DeLuise? Does anyone really think this guy was ever funny?

4/10