Wait is it possible to watch the deleted cases from the Private Life of Sherlock Holmes?
Some of the footage is lost, some is not. The DVD helpfully contains best-we-could-do versions of all four deleted scenes, cobbled together from what still survives. Itâs enough that you can largely piece together what the original film had been, and in some cases enjoy (parts of) the original performances.
Original Prologue: Script and stills only. On the DVD, they show you all of the script pages (at a pace slow enough to read), interspersed with stills of the scene.
The Curious Case of the Upside-Down Room: Script, audio, and stills. On the DVD, they play the audio over the stills, interspersed with the occasional script page when the action isnât clear from the audio.
The Adventure of the Dumbfounded Detective: Script and stills only, presented in the same manner as the original prologue.
 The Dreadful Business of the Naked Honeymooners: Video only, with the dialog as hard-coded subtitles.
(btw, the script pages in these scenes are not from the Roadshow script pdf that is floating around the ânet. The tail end of âUpside-Down Roomâ is in that script, but the bulk of these four scenes is not.)
As to the cases/scenes themselves:
Original prologue (8:46): Youâre not missing much. Itâs 1971, fifty years after Watsonâs death, and time to hand over the Cox and Co. despatch box to Watsonâs heir (played by the same actor), who is a doctor of veterinary medicine in Saskatchewan, now come to London for the occasion. Heâs not super-thrilled to be the grandson of the Dr. Watson, but the bank manager is a unrestrained Holmes-Watson fanboy. The box is opened, and itâs more-or-less what you see in the opening sequence of the final cut, but with lots more oohing-and-ahing.
Upside-down bed (25:00): I unabashedly love this case. Part of it survived into the final cut of the film, and so you have to go back and forth between the deleted scene and the film to get the whole thing, but it has two big reveals that I hesitate to spoil. However, as I said elsewhere, the case is a huge love letter from Watson to Holmes, full of all kinds of Holmes/Watson drama, up to and including Mrs. Hudson referring to them as a married couple, and Watson not denying it. Holmes also says outright that he is very fond of Watson, and in answer, Watson declares himself a happy man: he knows Holmes is fond of him, of course, but he just likes to hear it sometimes.
Dumbfounded Detective (3:45): I hate this âcase,â actually. Flashback to uni, when Holmes rowed crew and had a crush on a pretty girl. Then he learned that the pretty girl was a prostitute, and he decided to never trust women or sentiment again, the end. The ONLY thing that I like about it is a throwaway right near the end:Gabrielle: What was the title of that story about Constantinople and the 121 concubines? Holmes: Iâm afraid that issue was confiscated. The publisher paid a substantial fine, and Dr. Watson was paroled in my custody.(Oh, was he? I bet you enjoyed the fuck out of that, Holmes!)
Naked Honeymooners (12:26): Theyâre on an ocean liner coming back from Constantinople, Watson trying to write up the case of the 121 concubines, Holmes dubious that Watson will get it past the censors. Holmes expresses his confidence in Watsonâs ability to use Holmesâ methods, and Watson confesses he always wanted to try his hand at a case. JUST THEN, the captain shows up in a tizzy, and asks for Holmesâ help with a just-discovered pair of deaths in one of the cabins. Holmes good-naturedly offers the case to Watson, and after some initial hesitation, Watson accepts. Unfortunately, they take a wrong turn â Holmes tries to point it out, but Watson tells him to hush, this is Watsonâs case, no hinting! â and so Watson ends up deducing the case of the âmurderedâ (actually post-coital) honeymooners. Itâs an entirely coherent solution, as tight as any canon case, and Holmes spends most of the scene leaning against the door in a âTake me, you fool!â sort of posture, beaming at Watson. However, when Watson sets about confirming his theories -- as any good detective should do -- it finally comes out that theyâre in the wrong room. :-( Holmes is really very kind about it, and offers to let Watson have a go at the real murder scene. Watson, however, is too let-down to do so, and so Holmes puts his arm around Watsonâs shoulders in a comforting sort of way, and they walk off down the hall together. Itâs all quite adorable, if you can put aside the impending embarrassment Watson is going to feel when he realizes that he has mistaken two sleeping people for two dead ones.
Obviously, of the four scenes, the two that are most worth your time are âUpside-Down Roomâ and âNaked Honeymooners,â and happily, we have parts of the performances for those two. I keep meaning to put them up on youtube â as near as I can tell, most fans of the movie havenât seen them â but Iâve been too lazy to actually do it, sorry.
