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On Mary Kelly's Doorstep

Murder by Decree on DVD

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This review contains spoilers.

Sherlock Holmes first appeared in print during 1887 in A Study in Scarlet, part of Beeton’s Christmas Annual. A year later, the body of Mary Ann Nichols, the first victim of the killer later known as Jack the Ripper, was found dead in Buck’s Row, Whitechapel. The obvious conclusion, that Sherlock Holmes could very easily have investigated the Ripper murders, formed the basis of the 1965 film A Study in Terror, and an eccentric Michael Dibdin novel, The Last Sherlock Holmes Story. But the Holmes vs the Ripper story which most people have taken to their hearts is Bob Clark’s 1979 film Murder By Decree which draws on the same sources as Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell’s highly acclaimed 1990s graphic novel From Hell.

The premise of the film is that a group of political radicals posing as a citizen’s committee hire Sherlock Holmes to investigate the Whitechapel Murders on the grounds that they are damaging trade in the district. In reality, they want Holmes to reveal a scandal which threatens both the Royal Family and the political establishment. This is based around a conspiracy theory first proposed by Stephen Knight in his book Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution which, broadly speaking, states that the murders were committed to hide the revelation of the birth of the illegitimate child of the Duke of Clarence. The book was hugely popular when it was published in 1976 but has now been largely discredited as a hoax perpetrated by a Joseph Gorman, a man who claimed to be the illegitimate son of the painter Walter Sickert. It’s a great story however – and the book is recommended as just that, regardless of its factual credentials – and has influenced many subsequent works inspired by the murders.

Murder By Decree is a co-production between the UK and Canada. Bob Clark found his biggest popular success with the Porky’s films but deserves to be remembered more for two excellent horror films from the mid-1970s – Black Christmas and Dead of Night– both of which exhibit the same flair for horror that he demonstrates in parts of Murder By Decree. His direction here is energetic, even during passages of verbose dialogue, although rather poor backdrops mar some of the studio scenes, especially those at the dockside, and there are particularly dire representations of the Houses of Parliament and St Paul’s. Come to think of it, what is Tower Bridge doing in the background of one scene? Why does Catherine Eddowes get such a grand funeral? And why do Holmes and Watson go to see Annie Crook by a carriage but return by train? Yet these flaws are forgivable because much of the film is highly atmospheric, shrouded in mist and blackest night which lends the murder scenes a thoroughly nightmarish feel, particularly the climactic killing of Mary Kelly.

Actors familiar to TV viewers of the time such as Ann Mitchell, Iris Fry, Ken Jones and Ron Pember turn up, the latter getting an unusually decent role as the head of the citizens’ committee before he meets a watery end in the River Thames. More famous faces also pop up in variously effective roles ranging from a very touching Genevieve Bujold as the benighted Annie Crook to Donald Sutherland who provides us with a thick slice of ham as the psychic Robert Lees. Anthony Quayle’s moustache does valuable work on the face of Sir Charles Warren although its owner is typically loud and unsubtle whereas, in contrast, David Hemmings underplays nicely as Inspector Foxborough who is patently a red herring and doesn’t get much to do. Meanwhile, Frank Finlay is a perfect Inspector Lestrade, much as he was in A Study in Terror.

Any Holmes movie, however, stands or falls on the portrayal of the two central characters and on this score Murder By Decree is a qualified success. In many ways, Christopher Plummer and James Mason are quite delightful as Holmes and Watson, effortlessly delineating a warm, humorous relationship which is completely convincing. One scene, in which Mason’s fussy and thoroughly decent Watson chases a last pea around his dinner plate, is already a classic in the annals of Holmesian cinema, and there are numerous other examples where Watson’s upstanding simplicity of belief – in crown and country as well as in his best friend – is contrasted with Holmes’ pragmatic understanding of the forces of chaos and, ultimately, change. James Mason never makes Watson a fool or a fuddy-duddy, finding humour and bravery within the character rather than imposing comedy upon him.

As Holmes, Christopher Plummer radiates charismatic intelligence and occasionally gets the pomposity and black humour of the character completely right. My reservation is that this is a Holmes who is a little too sentimental, lacking the cold, cruel intellect of the character in the stories. The moment at the end of The Six Napoleons when Watson remarks on how Holmes “was more nearly moved by the softer human emotions than I had ever seen him” seems to be the mainspring of Plummer’s performance. But in the context of the film, this softer interpretation works well enough. The final scenes, where an enraged Holmes takes on the massed ranks of the Victorian political and Masonic establishment, strike me as unlikely in the context of the literary character – and Conan Doyle’s own political views – but provide a memorable conclusion to the film.

Murder By Decree was not particularly successful on its first release but it has gained a considerable cult reputation both as a Holmes film and a Ripper story. It deserves to be seen for many reasons – the excellent performances, John Hopkins’ witty screenplay, the scary murder sequences – and it’s good to see it re-released on DVD by Studiocanal. The picture quality is acceptable, although afflicted by blocky artifacting in places, and my review check disc was affected by some minor sound problems during certain scene changes – for instance at 58’20” – but this may be characteristic of the original film. There are no extra features at all, unlike the US edition from Lions Gate which features an audio commentary, a trailer and a couple of stills galleries.

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