THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
by
Billy Wilder and I.A.L Diamond
THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
FADE IN:
BRASS PLAQUE - DAY
Engraved on it are the words: COX & CO., Bankers.Reflected in its shiny surface are double-decker redbuses, and other present-day London traffic.
INT. BANK VAULT - DAY
An iron gate opens, and two bank guards come in. One ofthem switches on the lights. On the shelves which linethe walls are dusty strong-boxes, document cases, wrappedpackages, etc. The guards move along the shelvessearching for something.
WATSON'S VOICE
Somewhere in the vaults of a bank inLondon is a tin dispatch box with my nameon it. It is not to be opened untilfifty years after my death.
The guards find a battered tin dispatch box with the nameJOHN H. WATSON, M.D., painted on it. They remove it fromthe shelf, set it down on a table. The box is tied withheavy cord, the knots sealed with wax. Strung on thecord is the key.WATSON'S VOICE
It contains certain mementos of my longassociation with a man who elevated thescience of deduction to an art -- theworld's first, and undoubtedly mostfamous, consulting detective.
While one of the guards dusts the box off, the other cutsthe cord with a pair of scissors. He then inserts thekey in the lock, turns it, raises the lid -- revealingthe dusty contents of the box.
OVER THIS, SUPERIMPOSE THE MAIN TITLE.
The guards now start to remove the objects from the box,one at a time: -- A daguerreotype of Holmes, standing,and Watson, seated, in a a stiff studio pose; Holmes'deerstalker hat, his curved pipe, his magnifying glass;Watson's stethoscope, Holmes' revolver; a small enamelsign with the number 221B; a pair of handcuffs;
2.a sheet of music paper which is unrolled to disclose aviolin piece composed by Holmes, titled FOR ILSE von H.;A pocket watch, the back of which is opened to reveal aphotograph of Gabrielle Valladon; a signet ring bearingthe initials S.H. -- under which is concealed a compass;a worn morocco case -- inside which is an early-modelhypodermic syringe; a crystal ball which, when shaken,produces a snowstorm - and when the snow settles, we seea bust of Queen Victoria.OVER THESE OBJECTS, THE REST OF THE CREDIT TITLES ARESUPERIMPOSED.The last item out of the box is a thick stack ofmanuscript paper, bound with green ribbon. The guardundoes the ribbon, dusts off the top page, as CAMERAMOVES IN CLOSER. Written in ink, in the cursivepenmanship of the period, is the following paragraph:To my heirs:In my lifetime, I have recorded somesixty cases demonstrating the singulargift of my friend Sherlock Holmes --dealing with everything from The Hound ofthe Baskervilles to his mysteriousbrother Mycroft and the devilishProfessor Moriarty. But there were otheradventures which, for reasons ofdiscretion, I have decided to withholdfrom the public until this much laterdate. They involve matters of a delicateand sometimes scandalous nature, as willshortly become apparent.OVER THIS, WE HEAR THE VOICE OF DR. WATSON, reading thetext.DISSOLVE TO:YORKSHIRE LANDSCAPE - DAYA passenger train of the late Nineteenth Century ischugging through the early morning mist.WATSON'S VOICEIt was August of 1887, and we werereturning from Yorkshire, where Holmeshad solved the baffling murder of ColonelAbernetty.
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