Anthony (Keith Coogan) and Miss Eells (Dody Goodman) team up to find a treasure hidden by the town's late millionaire philanthropist. There are also occasional and ultimately unnecessary interruptions from summer-stock Sherlock Holmes and Watson characters.
Bellairs's original story is there, behind the scenes, and helps The Clue According to Sherlock Holmes limp along but the additions and deviations mangle Bellairs's original story. Kimmer Ringwald gets sole writing credit for the program, having altered the clues, the hunt, and even the final treasure. This reviewer does not understand how or why Ringwald gets the credit with Bellairsian characters running amuck solving a Bellairsian inspired-puzzle looking for what becomes a Ringwaldian treasure thanks to Ringwaldian clues. And of Holmes: the inclusion of Doyle’s characters is baffling as they serve only as "hosts" and read about young Anthony's exploits in their newspaper. By reading and discussing the story they move the plot along but really only interrupt to remind us what we have seen. Thankfully the Holmes and Watson scenes were cut for the re-release of this a decade or so later. The edited version does identify Bellairs and shares a title with the source book.
In the end Anthony still wins by using his head and finds what he's been after.
This program fails as a faithful adaptation of the original book but then it was never billed as such. It is not a major motion picture release but merely something from the golden days of made-for-television afterschool specials with production values and acting to match. Enjoy it for what it was.
Walter Lornten
No comments:
Post a Comment