Apparently, this short film was intended as a pilot episode for Sherlock Holmes TV series that was never bought. And, while the film seems competent enough in how it looks and sounds, the story is a mess--and fans of Conan Doyle will most likely pick up on this.
"The Man Who Disappeared" is based on the great Conan Doyle story, "The Man With the Twisted Lip". This original story, in my opinion, is one of the best stories among the many Conan Doyle stories. It is perfect or at least near-perfect. So, you wonder who was the idiot who thought to radically change the story?! Instead, the 'improvements' serve to make the story a lot LESS interesting. Plus, it seems to be very nervy to change the story--and to this great a degree. Surely Doyle would NOT have approved of this bastardization and it the new story didn't make a lot of sense.
Overall, the film is competent but undistinguished as far as the acting and direction go, but the story is very weak. It's really mostly of interest to Holmesophiles (cool word, huh?).
"The Man Who Disappeared" is based on the great Conan Doyle story, "The Man With the Twisted Lip". This original story, in my opinion, is one of the best stories among the many Conan Doyle stories. It is perfect or at least near-perfect. So, you wonder who was the idiot who thought to radically change the story?! Instead, the 'improvements' serve to make the story a lot LESS interesting. Plus, it seems to be very nervy to change the story--and to this great a degree. Surely Doyle would NOT have approved of this bastardization and it the new story didn't make a lot of sense.
Overall, the film is competent but undistinguished as far as the acting and direction go, but the story is very weak. It's really mostly of interest to Holmesophiles (cool word, huh?).