They Might Be Giants

After his wife's death, a retired judge named Justin Playfair withdraws into a fantasy in which he is Sherlock Holmes, dressing the part and hunting wrongdoing through the streets of New York. His brother Blevins, more interested in Justin's fortune than in his wellbeing, has him placed under psychiatric care. The psychiatrist assigned to his case, Dr. Mildred Watson, finds herself drawn to her patient, goes along with his theories, and eventually joins him as his assistant. Their pursuit of a supposed Professor Moriarty carries the pair through Manhattan.

Anthony Harvey directed the film, his second feature after The Lion in Winter, from a screenplay by James Goldman. George C. Scott and Joanne Woodward lead the cast, with Jack Gilford, Lester Rawlins, Al Lewis and Rue McClanahan among thirty-one credited performers. Universal Pictures and the Newman-Foreman Company produced it, with Paul Newman among the producers.

The film runs 98 minutes and mixes comedy with mystery. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.7 from around 3,600 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 6.9 from a much smaller pool of about 60. The two audience scores sit close together, indicating a generally favorable but not enthusiastic response, and the far larger IMDb sample suggests that assessment is the more representative one.