Holmes and Dr. Watson take on the case of a beautiful woman whose husband has vanished. The investigation proves strange indeed, involving six missing midgets, villainous monks, a Scottish castle, the Loch Ness monster, and covert naval experiments.
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes is comparatively mild Billy Wilder and rather daring Sherlock Holmes, not a perfect mix, perhaps, but a fond and entertaining one.
– Vincent Canby,
New York Times,
1 Jan 2000
rotten:
Before the movie is 20 minutes old, Wilder has settled for simply telling a Sherlock Holmes adventure.
– Roger Ebert,
Chicago Sun-Times,
23 Oct 2004
fresh:
Wilder's second most underrated masterpiece.
– Andrew Sarris,
New York Observer,
29 Sep 2005
fresh:
A wonderful, cruelly underrated film.
– Geoff Andrew,
Time Out,
9 Feb 2006
fresh:
It is in large part old-fashioned, in that it's mile-wide and ancient-history Sherlock Holmes, but it's also handsomely produced and directed with incisiveness by Wilder.