Murder by Decree

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A still from Murder by Decree showing the Goulston Street graffiti containing the word Juwes, which is portrayed erroneously as a Masonic term.

Murder by Decree is a 1979 Anglo-Canadian film involving Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson in the case of the serial murderer Jack the Ripper. As Holmes investigates London's most infamous case, he finds that the Ripper has friends in high places. The movie was directed by Bob Clark.

The film stars Christopher Plummer and James Mason as Holmes and Watson, and presents a largely different version of Holmes from the Rathbone days, with the aesthete still prevailing, yet tinged with a humanity and emotional empathy.

James Mason's Dr. Watson is also a departure. Although he may appear at first to resemble the bumbling Nigel Bruce version of the character, he soon shows his level head and scientific and medical training to be valuable assets.

The supporting cast includes Donald Sutherland, Susan Clark, John Gielgud and Geneviève Bujold. Frank Finlay plays Inspector Lestrade, a part he had previously portrayed in the similar 1965 film A Study in Terror.

The film's story of the plot behind the murders is taken from the book Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution by Stephen Knight. A nearly identical theory of the Ripper murders is found in the film From Hell, which features Johnny Depp playing a drug-addicted, nearly psychic Scotland Yard detective who bears obvious resemblances to Sherlock Holmes. (Ironically, From Hell was based directly not on Murder by Decree but on a comic book.)