The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES by Billy Wilder and I.A.L Diamond THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES FADE IN: BRASS PLAQUE - DAY Engraved on it are the words: COX & CO., Bankers. Reflected in its shiny surface are double-decker red buses, and other present-day London traffic. INT. BANK VAULT - DAY An iron gate opens, and two bank guards come in. One of them switches on the lights. On the shelves which line the walls are dusty strong-boxes, document cases, wrapped packages, etc. The guards move along the shelves searching for something. WATSON'S VOICE Somewhere in the vaults of a bank in London is a tin dispatch box with my name on it. It is not to be opened until fifty years after my death. The guards find a battered tin dispatch box with the name JOHN H. WATSON, M.D., painted on it. They remove it from the shelf, set it down on a table. The box is tied with heavy cord, the knots sealed with wax. Strung on the cord is the key. WATSON'S VOICE It contains certain mementos of my long association with a man who elevated the science of deduction to an art -- the world's first, and undoubtedly most famous, consulting detective. While one of the guards dusts the box off, the other cuts the cord with a pair of scissors. He then inserts the key in the lock, turns it, raises the lid -- revealing the dusty contents of the box. OVER THIS, SUPERIMPOSE THE MAIN TITLE.