Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)

Country of Origin: USA
Year of Production: 1985
Running Times: 109 mins
Format: Technicolor     35mm
Ratio: 1.85:1
Sound: Dolby   70mm     6-Track

PRODUCTION
Production Companies: Amblin Entertainment / Paramount Pictures
Executive Producers: Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Steven Spielberg
Producer: Mark Johnson
Associate Producer: Harry Benn
Unit Production Manager: Donald Toms
Production Coordinator: Carol Regan

SCRIPT
Script: Chris Columbus
Characters: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

DIRECTION
Director: Barry Levinson
2nd Unit Director: Andrew Grieve
1st Assistant Director: Michael Murray
2nd Unit 1st Assistant Director: Peter Bennett
2nd Assistant Director: Ian Hickinbotham
3rd Assistant Director: Peter Heslop

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Stephen Goldblatt
2nd Unit Director of Photography: Steven Smith
Camera Operator: Colin Corby
2nd Unit Camera Operator: John Golding
Clapper Loader: Martin Foley
2nd Unit Clapper Loader: Clive Jackson
Focus Puller: Rawdon Hayne
2nd Unit Focus Puller: Alan Annand
Gaffer: Martin Evans
Best Boy: Ray Meehan
Key Grip: David Cadwallader
2nd Unit Key Grip: Philip Jones
Camera Trainee: Will Willis
Stills: George Whitear
Grip Equipment: Grip House Ltd
Cameras and Lenses: Panavision

EDITING AND POST PRODUCTION
Editor: Stu Linder
Assistant Editor: Peter Culverwell
Apprentice Editor: Neil Kirk
Post-Production Supervisor: Arthur Repola

MUSIC
Music: Bruce Broughton
Orchestra: Sinfonia of London
Orchestrators: Mark C. McKenzie, Don Nemitz
Music Mixer: Eric Tomlinson
Music Editor: Curt Sobel
Music Recorded At: Abbey Road Studios

SOUND
Production Sound Mixer: Tony Dawe
Re-Recording Mixer: Michael Casper, Robert Thirlwell, Bill Varney
Supervising Sound Editor: Paul Bruce Richardson
Sound Editing Production Assistant: Scott Arundale
ADR Editor: Avram D. Gold
ADR Assistant: James Simcik
Post Production Dialogue: Norman B. Schwartz
Assistant Sound Effects Editor: Cindy Marty
Additional Sound Effects Editors: George Anderson, Michael Benavente, Pamela Bentkowski, Lucy Coldsnow, Gary Wright
Foley Walkers: Gary Hecker, Dan O'Connell

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Make Up Supervisor: Peter Robb-King
Make Up: Nick Dudman, Jane Royle
Key Hair: Joan Carpenter
Hair: Hilary Haines
Costume Designer: Raymond Hughes
Assistant to Costume Designer: William McPhail
Costumer: Hilary Watson
Wardrobe Supervisor: Paul Vachon

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects Supervisor: Kit West
Special Effects Technicians: John Baker, Jeff Clifford, Terence J. Cox, Rodney Fuller, Trevor Wood
Animatronics Supervisor: Stephen Norrington

VISUAL EFFECTS
Visual Effects: Industrial Light and Magic
Visual Effects Supervisor: Dennis Muren
General Manager: Warren Franklin
Production Coordinator: Erik Jensen
Visual Effects: Pamela Marcotte (uncredited)
Animation Supervisors: Ellen Lichtwardt, Bruce Walters
Computer Animation: David Defrancesco, David H. Salesin, Craig Good, Don Conway, Eben Ostby, John Lasseter, Robert L. Cook, William Reeves
Effects Animators: Barbara Brennan, Gordon Baker, Jack Mongovan
Rotoscope Artists: Donna Baker, Sandy Houston, Terry Sittig
Animation Camera: Jay Riddle (uncredited)
Creature Fabrication: David Sosalla
Puppeteers: Bob Cooper, Marghe McMahon, Sean Casey, Anthony Laudati, Blair Clark, Jay Davis, Tony Hudson (uncredited)
Matte Photography Supervisor: Craig Barron (uncredited)
Optical Supervisor: John Ellis
Head Optical Cameraman: Kenneth Smith
Optical Camera Operator: Don Clark
Optical Lineup: Ed Jones, Ralph Gordon
Assistant Cameramen: Patrick McArdle, Robert Hill
Editors: Mike Gleason, Howard Stein
Assistant Editor: Kim Costalupes
Effects Art Director: Dave Carson
Equipment Engineering: Michael MacKenzie, Udo Pampel
Glass Consultant: Eric Christiansen
Titles and Opticals: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Power 6/32 Computer Systems: Computer Consoles Inc

Glass Man Sequence
Glass Man Sequence: Pixar Animation Studios
Coordinators: Douglas Scott Kay, George Joblove

Harpy Sequence
Go-Motion Animation: Harry Walton
Cameramen: Michael Owens

Pastry Sequence
Motion Supervisor: David Allen
Effects Cameraman: Scott Farrar

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Production Designer: Norman Reynolds
Art Director: Fred Hole
Assistant Art Director: George Djurkovic
Assistant Art Director: Gavin Bocquet
Property Master: Peter Hancock
Property Department: Philip McDonald, Mickey Pugh
Chargehand Dressing Prop: Dave Midson
Construction Manager: William Welch
Set Decorator: Michael Ford
Illustrator: Michael Ploog
Chief Draftsman: Reg Bream
Draftsman: Peter Childs
Junior Draftsman: Jonathan McKinstry
Art Department Junior: Sarah Horton

MISCELLANEOUS
Script Supervisor: Cheryl Leigh
2nd Unit Script Supervisor: Libbie Barr
Supervising Accountant: Fred Harding
Production Accountant: Tony Miller
Assistant Accountants: Irena Butcher, Robert C. Campion (uncredited)
Accounting Assistant: Vivienne Hammer
Production Assistants: Caroline Trainor, Katrina Mitchell
Assistants to Executive Producers: Mary Radford, Julie Moskowitz, Kate Barker
Assistant to Producer: Susan Moore
Assistant to Barry Levinson: Marie Rowe
Fitness Consultant: David Allan
Comptroller: Bonne Radford
Unit Drivers: Danny Burns, Joe Lind, Ray Jones, Ron Narduzzo, Roy Hyatt
Unit Publicist: Alan Arnold
Publicity Secretary: Rebecca West
Secretary to Producer: Margaret Street
Secretary to Associate Producer: Virginia Ashton

LOCATIONS
Locations: Eton College, Windsor, Berkshire, England, UK; Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK
Location Manager: Steven Lawrence

STUNTS
Stunt Arranger: Marc Boyle
Fencing Master: Arthur Howell
Wire Man: Bob Harman

CASTING
Casting: Irene Lamb; Mike Fenton / Judy Feinberg

CAST
Nicholas Rowe (Sherlock Holmes)
Alan Cox (John Watson)
Sophie Ward (Elizabeth Hardy)
Anthony Higgins (Rathe / Ehtar)
Susan Fleetwood (Mrs Dribb)
Freddie Jones (Cragwitch)
Nigel Stock (Waxflatter)
Roger Ashton-Griffiths (Lestrade)
Earl Rhodes (Dudley)
Brian Oulton (Master Snelgrove)
Patrick Newell (Bentley Bobster)
Donald Eccles (The Reverend Duncan Nesbitt)
Matthew Ryan, Matthew Blakstad, Jonathan Lacey (Dudley's friend)
Walter Sparrow (Ethan Engel)
Nadim Sawalha (Egyptian tavern owner)
Roger Brierley (Mr Holmes)
Vivienne Chandler (Mrs Holmes)
Lockwood West (curio shop owner)
John Scott Martin (cemetery caretaker)
George Malpas (school porter)
Willoughby Goddard (school reverend)
Michael Cule (policeman with Lestrade)
Ralph Tabakin (policeman in shop window)
Nancy Nevinson (hotel receptionist)
Michael Hordern (voice of older Watson)

PLOT SUMMARY

At a boys' boarding school in England, a young John Watson first meets Sherlock Holmes. The two become firm friends and investigate a sinister conspiracy to assassinate a group of British businessmen by members of an ancient Egyptian cult.

Holmes purists may object, but Young Sherlock Holmes is a fun if lightweight romp that seeks to add some sort of back story to the Holmes legend. The fact that little of it jibes with what little we know of the Great Detective's youth is fairly unimportant - this was never intended to be anything other than a fun kid's film and on that level it works extremely well.

Argentina
Video Distributor: Argentina Video Home

Germany
Laserdisc Distributor: Philips (63317)

USA
Theatrical Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Video Distributor: Paramount Home Video
Laserdisc Distributor: Paramount (LV 1670); Paramount (LV 1670-WS)

Argentina
Rating: 13

Chile
Rating: 14

Finland
Rating: K-14

Sweden
Rating: 11

UK
Rating: PG

USA
Rating: PG-13

1986
Academy Awards, USA
Best Effects, Visual Effects (Dave Allen, John Ellis, Dennis Muren, Kit West) - nominated

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, USA
Saturn Award Best Music (Bruce Broughton) - winner

1987
Young Artist Awards, USA
Exceptional Feature Film: Family Entertainment: Fantasy or Comedy - nominated

1985
December
6: USA - theatrical release

1986
February
6: Argentina - theatrical release

March
26: France - theatrical release
28: Finland, Sweden - theatrical release

1992
August
Day Unknown: Germany - laserdisc release (Philips (63317))

1996
December
31: USA - laserdisc release (Paramount (LV 1670-WS))

Before a lifetime of adventure, they had the adventure of a lifetime.

Pyramid of Fear
Das Geheimnis des verborgenen Tempels - German title
El joven Sherlock Holmes - Argentinian title
El secreto de la piramide - Argentinian / Spanish title
Pelon pyramidi - Finnish title
Le secret de la pyramide - French title
Ifjú Sherlock Holmes és a félelem piramisa - Hungarian title
Piramide di paura - Italian title
Mlody Sherlock Holmes - Polish title
Piramida strachu - Polish title
Tempelmysteriet - Swedish title

SEE ALSO
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
From Morf to Morphing: The Dawn of Digital Filmmaking (2001)
The Making of Jurassic Park (1995)

MAGAZINES

Premiere March 1986 p.12 (France)
review (by Michele Halberstadt)

KEYWORDS

sherlock holmes, boarding schools, teenagers, detectives, hallucinations, egyptology, cults, flying machines

Last Updated: 15 October, 2008