FILM · 2009 · USA
Sherlock Holmes
- Directed by
- Guy Ritchie
- Runtime
- 129 min
- Studio
- Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures, Silver Pictures
68 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Sep 2026
Eccentric consulting detective Sherlock Holmes and Doctor John Watson battle to bring down a new nemesis and unravel a deadly plot that could destroy England.
Summary: TMDB
42 Interesting Facts About Sherlock Holmes
- #002
Contains a major spoiler — show
The three murders committed by the men and the attempted killing of Parliament correspond to four Greek elements. The first was a funeral rite (earth), the second drowning (water), the third a sacrifice (fire), and the fourth poisonous gas (air).
- #003
Contains a major spoiler — show
Whenever a character is killed or believed to have been killed, a crow appears.
- #004
Contains a major spoiler — show
In the film's original theatrical release, Professor Moriarty, who is seen only in shadow, was voiced by Andrew Jack. This was done before Jared Harris was officially cast as Moriarty in the sequel Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011). However, since the latter's premiere, all new DVD and Blu-ray copies, as well as all television broadcasts, have had Harris's voice dubbed over Jack's to maintain continuity.
- #005
Robert Maillet (Dredger), while filming a fight scene, accidentally knocked Robert Downey Jr. (Sherlock Holmes) to the ground.
- #006
After Guy Ritchie signed on as director, he insisted that two of the most common Sherlock Holmes clichés be dropped entirely: the "Elementary, my dear Watson" joke and Holmes's deerstalker.
- #007
The line Holmes and Watson recite together after examining Lord Blackwood's coffin, "The game's afoot; follow your spirit: and upon this charge, cry--God for Harry! England and Saint George!", is taken from William Shakespeare's Henry V.
- #008
The film shows Watson pressuring Holmes to meet his fiancée Mary Morstan. Holmes is reluctant to do so. In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories, Mary Morstan is introduced as a client (in the novel "The Sign of Four"). She and Watson fall in love while helping Holmes with her case, and at the end of the novel he proposes to her.
- #009
Rachel McAdams, struggling to escape the grip of wearing a tight corset every morning, fooled the crew by eating a large oatmeal breakfast and pushing her stomach out or not lacing up. In the end, however, they caught on to her trick.
- #010
The stories describe Holmes as an expert in Baritsu. In the film, however, the martial art Holmes uses is Wing Chun (famously practiced by Ip Man Yee and Bruce Lee). Robert Downey Jr. is a real-life practitioner of this art, and the fight scene between him and David Garrick at the Punch Bowl Pit was coordinated with the help of a trainer.
- #011
Cinematographer Philippe Rousselot used a special high-speed digital camera specifically to shoot the Punch Bowl fight scene. The key moment when Holmes punches his opponent in the jaw was filmed in real time as a one-second shot and turned into a seven-second shot without any post-production assistance.
- #012
Contains a major spoiler — show
Despite Moriarty's obsession with the Blackwood Device and his statement of how important it is to his plans, it plays no significant role whatsoever in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011). However, "The Final Problem" states that Moriarty was involved in multiple criminal enterprises, so it is possible he had other plans for the device.
- #015
The film contains numerous references and allusions to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novels and stories. Included are: * "The game is afoot." (from "The Abbey Grange," as well as the original source of the phrase, William Shakespeare's "Henry V"). * "Because I was looking for it." ("Silver Blaze"). * "You have the grand gift of silence, Watson. It makes you quite invaluable as a companion." ("The Man with the Twisted Lip"). * "Crime is common, logic is rare." ("The Adventure of the Copper Beeches"). * "My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work." (The Sign of Four). * "It makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on whom I can thoroughly rely." ("The Boscombe Valley Mystery"). * "Data, data, data. I cannot make bricks without clay." ("The Adventure of the Copper Beeches"). * "One begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts." ("A Scandal in Bohemia"). * "There is nothing more stimulating than a case where everything goes against you." ("The Hound of the Baskervilles").
- #016
Rachel McAdams, Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr. reportedly performed most of their own stunts.
- #017
The bridge under construction is Tower Bridge, which was worked on from 1886 to 1894.
- #018
The story "The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual" mentions that Holmes practices shooting with his pistol by arranging VR (Victoria Regina) in bullet holes on his wall. In the film, Holmes shoots VR into the wall of his room with a gun.
- #019
The English bulldog belonging to Holmes and Watson is named Gladstone. It appears to be named after William Gladstone, who served four times as Prime Minister during Queen Victoria's reign. Gladstone is also a type of bag used by doctors at the time to carry their medical supplies, named after the man. William Gladstone is likewise the namesake of the billy club used by police in the United Kingdom and elsewhere.
- #021
Mary asks Watson whether she can read his diaries about his adventures with Sherlock Holmes. Of the sixty Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Watson is the narrator in all but four: two are narrated by Holmes ("The Blanched Soldier" and "The Lion's Mane") and two by an omniscient narrator ("The Mazarin Stone" and "His Last Bow").
- #023
Robert Downey Jr. read many Sherlock Holmes stories and watched The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984) to learn more about the character.
- #025
Contains a major spoiler — show
All the events take place in 1891. After the events at the shipyard, once Holmes and Watson are released, Inspector Lestrade gives Holmes a newspaper ("The National Police Gazette"). Its headline is "London In Terror" and it is dated Friday, 19 November 1891, yet oddly the first newspaper, which foretold Blackwood's execution and was given to Holmes by Watson in his rooms, is dated 13 November 1890. This places the story in the period when Holmes was believed dead in the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stories. According to "The Final Problem," Holmes and Professor Moriarty apparently plunged to their deaths over the Reichenbach Falls in May 1891. Holmes did not reveal that he had survived until the spring of 1894, as told in "The Adventure of the Empty House."
- #026
Contains a major spoiler — show
In interviews, Guy Ritchie stated that he is a fan (and practitioner) of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which became popular in mixed martial arts. Toward the end of the film, Holmes and Watson fight Dredger and finally manage to subdue him with an armbar and a modified rear naked choke, both popular Brazilian jiu-jitsu techniques.
- #027
At around 02:27, as Holmes runs down a spiral staircase, it is the SAME spiral staircase used in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), on which Professor Trelawney goes to her Divination class.
- #031
Contains a major spoiler — show
Lord Blackwood's "final" words, "Death is only the beginning," are the same words inscribed on Imhotep's sarcophagus in The Mummy (1999).
- #032
The scene in which Holmes and Watson draw a series of deductions from a dead man's watch closely mirrors a similar sequence in "The Sign of the Four" (such as Holmes's ability to trace a carriage's route while blindfolded), where Holmes uses nearly identical observations (scratches around the watch's keyhole, pawnbroker's marks inside the case) to draw information from a watch belonging to Watson's late brother. Holmes's passing reference to locking Watson's chequebook in his desk parallels a similar remark in "The Adventure of the Dancing Men," which commentators such as William S. Baring-Gould took to mean that Watson had a gambling problem, an interpretation the film adopts. Holmes also uses a riding crop as a weapon throughout the film, as in "A Case of Identity." In "The Six Napoleons," it is described as his "favorite weapon."
- #033
Contains a major spoiler — show
In the newspaper Lestrade gives Holmes when Holmes is released on bail, headlined "London In Terror: Blackwood Lives and the Devil Walks With Him," the names of Blackwood's first five victims, all women, are given. They are: Susan Willis, Margaret Coile, June Gray, Mary Wilson and Sarah Moss. The woman whose murder Holmes intervenes in is revealed to be named Beatrice Church.
- #037
The Bible passage Blackwood reads in his cell was from Revelation 13:4.
- #038
The screenplay for this film appeared on the 2008 Black List, the list of the year's "most liked" unproduced screenplays.
- #040
This was Guy Ritchie's first film that was not rated R in the United States and was rated 12 in his home country, the United Kingdom, and the first in which he was not part of the writing process.
- #041
It was delivered to some cinemas under the fake title "Elementary Education."
- #043
Sphinxes appear in many scenes throughout the film: the cemetery, Blackwood's father's black magic room and Reordan's makeshift laboratory.
- #044
When the barrels outside the slaughterhouse begin to explode and Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) looks at Irene (Rachel McAdams), the number 221 can be seen on one of the still-intact barrels, the same number as Holmes's address (221 Baker Street).
- #045
Before Jude Law was cast, Colin Farrell was in talks to play Watson.
- #048
Jude Law had previously appeared in Shoscombe Old Place (1991), in the Granada series The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1991).
- #049
Rocco Ritchie, the son of director Guy Ritchie, has an uncredited role listed as "Boy in the Street" in the titles section.
- #052
The name Lord Blackwood may be derived from "The Haunted Grange of Goresthorpe," Conan Doyle's earliest surviving work of fiction, which he unsuccessfully submitted to Blackwood's Magazine.
- #053
Rachel McAdams appeared in Doctor Strange (2016) alongside Benedict Cumberbatch. Both Benedict and Robert Downey Jr. play Sherlock Holmes characters and appear in the Marvel Universe, in Doctor Strange (2016) and Iron Man (2008).
- #055
Five actors from the Marvel Cinematic Universe appear in this film: Rachel McAdams, who plays Christine Palmer in Doctor Strange; Robert Downey Jr., who plays Tony Stark/Iron Man in most Avengers-related films; Jude Law, who plays Yon-Rogg in Captain Marvel; and Eddie Marsan and Robert Maillet, who appeared in Deadpool 2.
- #059
In the film, Sherlock states that he believes Captain Tanner is 'a real fish.' It is a coincidence that Clive Russell plays 'The Blackfish' in HBO's Game of Thrones.
- #060
The uniforms worn by the navy are the same as those worn by the railway workers in Return to Cranford: Part One - August 1844 (2009).
- #063
Rachel McAdams and Kelly Reilly had also appeared together in the series True Detective (2014). In this film they do not share a single scene.
- #066
Italian censorship visa # 103106 was issued on 16 December 2009.
- #067
The film premiered in 2009, the 150th anniversary of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's birth.
- #068
Neil Marshall was assigned to direct.
Sources & editorial notes
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