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Sherlock Holmes (Martin Fric) has a delicate new mission, to find a
double for Fernando XXIII (Vlasta Burian), the cowardly leader of the
South European kingdom Portorico, who fears to be killed by anarchists at
his first public appearance in more than a year - and Holmes has to travel
all the way to Prague to find the right candidate, Lelicek (also Vlasta
Burian of course), a penniless simpleton always on the run from his
debtors - so to escape their clutches and actually make some money,
Lelicek lets himself be persuaded by Holmes to follow him to Portorico
rather effortlessly. The switch between Fernando and Lelicek goes so
swiftly that not even the queen (Lída Baarová) notices, and she likes
how Lelicek handles affairs - things like changing the anthem of the
country to a happier tune or actually gouverning with some reason rather
than out of timidity. Thing is, the real Fernando's fears that he might be
assassinated at his first public appearance in a year were all but
ungrounded, and it's only due to a coincidence that the bomb - placed by
the King's own cabinet no less - goes off harmlessly in the court's main
fountain. And while Holmes is trying to track down those who are behind
the assassination attempt, Lelicek tries to get friendly with the queen's
double ... but ends up in bed with the actual queen - and she likes it
quite a bit. Then though Holmes is trapped by the anarchists, who then
deliver a grammophone to Lelicek that holds a bomb. But even if Lelicek is
ignorant of the bomb, to blow him up is not quite that easy. Now
it would most certainly be wrong to call Lelicek in the Services of
Sherlock Holmes a timeless comedy, in terms of worldview, attitude,
humour, and everything else its deeply rooted in the 1930s, and taken as a
whole might not stand the test of time all that well - but that said, the
movie has many a funny moment, especially the scene where Lelicek is to be
bombed to Kingdom Come and almost (and without his knowledge) takes his
assassins with him, with the bomb sitting on his own robe is hilarious -
but on the downside the movie's not all that well-structured, doesn't
balance comedy and suspense all that well, and some of the humour is a bit
on the crude side. But as a document of its time, it's totally watchable
... and also for the occasional snicker of course.
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