SHERLOCK HOLMES FACES DEATH
Your October 2005 RMC results are in!
The Preshow Entertainment was: LE PETOMANE, PARTI AVEC LE VENT.
Based on a true story, this period piece, set in a France that has uneven English accents, is about the life of Joseph Pujol. Or maybe it's about the obsession Dr. Baudouin has with Pujol's talent. It wasn't clear. In any case, Pujol, as a boy, discovers his talent for sucking water into his, umm, nether region. A lot of water. When he grows older, he discovers his talent is not limited to water, and by sucking in air he can make amusing noises with his farts.
Meanwhile, Dr. Baudouin is obsessed with examining Pujol's ass. He must study it for scientific reasons. But after several examinations, Pujol wants nothing of it.
Pujol goes on to win the heart of the butcher's daughter Elizabeth, and the approval of the crowd at the Moulin Rouge.
This short, being submitted to the Academy Awards, Sundance, and other fests, was written, directed, and produced by my friend Steve. He did an awesome job of producing it. Shot on the Universal lot and at the Tower Theater in downtown L.A., LE PETOMANE looks and feels like a real movie. Unfortunately, it didn't crackle for us. I think we all appreciated the acting and the production, but felt it was long and not as funny as it should have been. Still, the film is getting lots of praise from other people who have seen it. Perhaps we were a tough room. In any event, I am so proud of Steve. He had an idea and went for it. And I'm so thrilled that the brief role of the "Diagnosing Doctor," played by a fellow with the acting chops of Paul Simon, didn't destroy the movie. It was not nearly as bad as I thought.
The random film chosen was made over 50 years ago by Universal, and coincidentally may have been shot on the very same backlot as LE PETOMANE.
On August 4, after seeing THE PEARL OF DEATH at RMC, I wrote in this very space, "I sure hope we get more from the Sherlock Holmes Series." Hello? What's this? My wish comes true. Barely two months later comes SHERLOCK HOLMES FACES DEATH.
Like PEARL, DEATH has no Moriarty, and no "Watson! The needle!" But it does have Holmes and his deductions, observations (more steely-eyed than usual), and of course, battles with Scotland Yard's inept Inspector Lestrade.
This movie, based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's THE ADVENTURE OF THE MUSGRAVE RITUAL, begins with a man getting attacked at a retreat where Dr. Watson is staying as attending physician. Holmes decides to see if he can solve the attempted murder. Once there, we are introduced to all of the borders, servants, and owners of Musgrave Manor. And each one is immediately a suspect. But I'm not telling you whodunit.
SHFD spins the haunted house theme by making it a sanitarium, therefore providing colorful suspects. Adding to the mystery- secret passageways, cellars not opened for hundreds of years, a raven at the local tavern, lightning storms that take out a knight in armor, and clocks that strike 13. And I know the "tiled floor as a chessboard thing" has been done a few times, though I'm not sure who came first.
And Peter Lawford is in the tavern, uncredited!
The quality of these movies amazes me, considering how fast they were cranked out (this was the third one released in the year 1943, and another three in '44, and yet another three in '45). They're all great movies. "No shit, Sherlock" indeed.
Okay, that's 2 down, 12 to go! We love the Sherlock Holmes series!
Tags: random movie club, sherlock holmes, le petomane
