{"id":4700,"date":"2007-11-07T14:14:24","date_gmt":"2007-11-07T21:14:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4700"},"modified":"2024-06-16T12:07:05","modified_gmt":"2024-06-16T19:07:05","slug":"murder-by-decree-1979","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4700","title":{"rendered":"Murder by Decree (1979)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;You create allegiance above your sworn allegiance to protect humanity: you shall not care for them, or acknowledge their pain. There lies the madness.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Murder-by-Decree-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Murder-by-Decree-Poster-201x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"201\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-23730\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Murder-by-Decree-Poster-201x300.jpg 201w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Murder-by-Decree-Poster-85x128.jpg 85w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Murder-by-Decree-Poster.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 201px) 100vw, 201px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nSherlock Holmes (Christopher Plummer) and Dr. Watson (James Mason) try to unravel the mystery of Jack the Ripper, who has been killing prostitutes across London; when they learn that a high-level conspiracy may be behind the murders, they attempt to track down the woman (Genevieve Bujold) who holds the key to the entire affair.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Christopher Plummer Films<\/li>\n<li>Detectives and Private Eyes<\/li>\n<li>Genevieve Bujold Films<\/li>\n<li>Historical Drama<\/li>\n<li>Jack the Ripper<\/li>\n<li>John Gielgud Films<\/li>\n<li>James Mason Films<\/li>\n<li>Murder Mystery<\/li>\n<li>Prostitutes and Gigolos<\/li>\n<li>Serial Killers<\/li>\n<li>Sherlock Holmes Films<\/li>\n<li>Susan Clark Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nThis oddly unsatisfying Victorian-era thriller should be much better than it is: despite the inspired casting (Plummer and Mason are wonderful together), an effective recreation of foggy London, several unexpectedly humorous moments, and a satisfying denouement, it&#8217;s <u>too bloody difficult<\/u> to follow. Only during the final 15 minutes of the film &#8212; once Holmes neatly unravels the entire affair in front of the British prime minister (John Gielgud) &#8212; does one finally understand who all the key players are, and why Holmes has been tracking them; indeed, <em>Murder by Decree<\/em> is a rare thriller which may be more enjoyable upon second viewing. Plummer and Mason are the main reasons to check this one out. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Christopher Plummer as Holmes<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/murder-decree-holmes.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/murder-decree-holmes.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4702\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>James Mason as Watson<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/murder-decree-watson.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/murder-decree-watson.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4703\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Susan Clark as frightened prostitute Mary Kelly<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/murder-decree-susan-clark.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/murder-decree-susan-clark.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4704\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Watson chatting with a prostitute who&#8217;s inordinately proud to still have all her teeth<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/murder-decree-tooth.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/murder-decree-tooth.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4705\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>The clever ending, in which Holmes solves everything<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/murder-decree-ending.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/murder-decree-ending.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4701\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, but fans of Sherlock Holmes will certainly want to check it out. Listed as a Sleeper and a Personal Recommendation in the back of Peary&#8217;s book. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0079592\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/movies.nytimes.com\/movie\/review?_r=1&#038;res=9A00EEDF1331E432A2575AC0A9649C946890D6CF&#038;oref=slogin\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.moria.co.nz\/horror\/murderbydecree.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/murder-by-decree\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;You create allegiance above your sworn allegiance to protect humanity: you shall not care for them, or acknowledge their pain. There lies the madness.&#8221; Synopsis: Sherlock Holmes (Christopher Plummer) and Dr. Watson (James Mason) try to unravel the mystery of Jack the Ripper, who has been killing prostitutes across London; when they learn that a high-level conspiracy may be behind the murders, they attempt to track down the woman (Genevieve Bujold) who holds the key to the entire affair. Genres,&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4700\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4700"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97936,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4700\/revisions\/97936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}