The United States

The United States The next......the best of me......you're going to be... As our tale begins, Pietro Venucci hurls obscenities at his younger sister, Lucrezia,

believing that she has dishonored their family name by falling in love with his rival, a workman named Beppo.

Pietro strikes her before racing off to take revenge on the man whom she loves.

And thus begins the adventure of the six Napoleons.

In his book, A Study in Celluloid, Michael Cox recalled,

It was June Wyndham Davies who spotted John Kane as a likely adapter for this episode.

She had seen his play, Murder, Dear Watson, at the Mill at Sanning, and enjoyed it as an ingenious

pastiche. Now, the author was asked to give us a straight version of one of the most famous

stories in the canon. He and David Carson certainly gave us a vigorous opening, but also

allowed for a touch or two of humor throughout.

And, as we learned from our discussion with David Carson earlier this year,

the long, opening shot of this episode was actually an homage to one of the director's favorite filmmakers, Louis Mall.

Eager to discover how this sequence was achieved in Mall's Atlantic City,

Carson convinced the Granada crew to work with him to recreate the titular moment.

The result was a complex shot of moving walls, dollies, and tracks that managed to paint a complex emotional picture wrapped inside a worthy nod to a classic film.

Back at Baker Street, Holmes, Watson, and Inspector LaStread lounge near the fire, enjoying tobacco, port, and each other's company.

Anything remarkable on Handler Street?

No. Anything remarkable on handistry?

No.

Nothing in particular?

Then tell us about it.

...