I have just discovered this great film. I 've really had ages to laugh like that! The thing is I didn't find so funny the joke about "arty morti", which seems to be everyone's favorite! Is it something I don't understand because of my english or....what??
[I kind of feel like Holmes now! :) ]
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Sheerlock Holmes is tryin to sort out the case and all he can come up with is - Arty Morty. It is just funny because all this bother about tryin to figure it out - he thinks he solves the case and then he talks utter rubbish. That isnt my fave joke thou.
Your out of your tree - its not my tree (benny and joon) SAM ROCKS!
I believe the "Arty Morty" reference goes back to Sir Arthor Conan Doyle's original Holmes stories. "Moriarty" is Holmes' half brother and his greatest nemisis. "Mori arty" - "Arty Morty"
shareNice idea, but Moriarty is not Sherlock Holmes's half-brother.
Holmes has an elder brother called Mycroft. Moriarty has two brothers, one of whom, rather oddly, shares the same first name, so we have Professor James Moriarty and Colonel James Moriarty. The other brother is a station-master in the West of England. We don't know his given name.
As I take it the whole point of the Arty Morty business is that there's no point to it at all.
It's just the surreal insanity of it. Pure British humour I reckon. Personally I mark this down as one the laughingest moments of my life. It does lose its lustre the more you see the film but for the first time... classic
shareYes Ithink you're right there. To me it's the way Caine delivers the line. He's absolutely got it, he's worked it out. And the fabulous expression of stupified excitement even though he's completely without a clue.
This was the film where I discovered what a master of comic acting Caine really is!
Don't forget that "Arty Morty" was what Herlock Shomes' nemesis was called in the MAD-magazine parody in the 50s. And Watson was Whatsit.
shareI've always assumed that it is in parody/honour of doing anagrams in general, which is a pastime that seems to be much more widespread in Britain than anywhere else. It is sort of geeky, like bird-watching or train-spotting.
So I assumed that the fact that *Holmes* spends hours on it, even though it is of no importance for the case, and then comes up with something as ridiculous as "arty morti", is on the whole a satirical comment on that rather pointless pastime.
"I am a bear of very little brain, and long words bother me."
I don't think so, because it's not a pastime, is it? It's an attempt, however feeble, to solve a problem. I'd say the scene is a parody of various code-breaking incidents in the Holmes canon - see The Dancing Men, The Valley of Fear, The Gloria Scott.
shareIt is also a parody I think of the many movies where the villain disguises himself with a poor anagram of his name. How many Alucard's have there been in movies and books?
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I think it's not just the name Arty Morty, but the whole set-up and Caine's delivery of the line. He struggled all night and for a moment is proud of his discovery, which is utter nonsense. It really doesn't read funny at all, but it does play funny. My friends and I saw it in the theater 20 years ago, and when I went home that night, I remembered that as one of the funniest parts--just for it's absurdity.
shareIt's Michael Caine's face that is funny. His powers of deduction are far from elementary and his annagram has no point. see the frozen smile, then the look of despair when he realises his achievement is pointless. Genius acting!
I love Caine's whole performance in this film, Another classic moment when he tells the dog up in Windermere "You're not the Hound of the Baskervilles you know"
I'm already laughing . . . . . .
its my favourite scene in this hilarious movie
holmes is trying to figure out a clue and thinks its in the name moriarty so rearranges the letters and all he can come up with is arty morty
still makes me laugh
It would seem the OP is asking WHY the moment is so funny. I believe it's because of the triple joke involved. First, Holmes comes up with a complete absurd solution yet states "I've got it!. Second, there is the pause, as both the audience and seemingly Holmes himself consider what was said for a second, leading to the third part, where Holmes realizes and reacts to his own buffoonery. In short, there's the brief expectation that Holmes has actually accomplished something, segueing into the realization that he has failed miserably again.
shareplus fourth, he botches the anagram. Moriarty has 8 letters, Arty Morty has 9 letters.
shareI think this is one of the best jokes in the film. It's hilarious and delivered perfectly. It gets me every time.
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