The Return of the World's Greatest Detective (1976)

Genres - Comedy, Mystery  |   Sub-Genres - Detective Film  |   Run Time - 73 min.  |   Countries - United States  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson

Larry Hagman stars as an incompetent New York motorcycle cop who suffers a head injury. Upon awakening, he's convinced that he is actually Sherlock Holmes, on the trail of the elusive Professor Moriarity. Jenny O'Hara plays a psychologist named Watson, who of course finds herself the would-be Sherlock's assistant. As it happens, the ersatz Holmes manages to solve a genuine mystery, and at the end it appears that he and Watson will continue to operate as a team. At least, that's what the producers hoped when they filmed this movie-length pilot for a potential TV series. Like most Sherlock Holmes spoofs, The Return of the World's Greatest Detective (aka Alias Sherlock Holmes) didn't sell, though the real Holmes (in a manner of speaking) enjoyed a 1980s renaissance on British television.

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Keywords

delusion, detective, impersonation, investigation, love, mental-illness, police, private-detective, social-worker, worker