The film doesn't quite hold together. It should either be an hour longer, or thirty minutes shorter. The third story, the main story, is probably too baggy and long, put against the more spry and fun opening two of the stitched-anthology, but it is tremendous fun, and emotionally quite effective.
However, the film is an uneasy length, you cannot argue, but God do I enjoy it. A mid-tier Billy Wilder film sure, but it is still an excellent watch, thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end. I remain as enthusiastic about it as I was when I first saw it 25 years ago.
It is sly and witty, in the best Wilder and IAL Diamond way, with only a notion towards a satiric view of Holmes, rather it is almost wholly an elegant telling of a Holmesian story.
