Which actor played Sherlock Holmes in the 1988 comedy film Without a Clue?

Michael Caine played Sherlock Holmes in the 1988 comedy film Without a Clue.

The film uses a deliberately comic reversal of the familiar Holmes premise. In its story, Dr Watson is the real detective, while Holmes is an actor hired to serve as a public front for Watson’s investigations.

Ben Kingsley plays Dr Watson, making the film’s central joke depend on the contrast between the supposedly brilliant detective and the more capable physician. Caine’s Holmes is theatrical, vain, and dependent on Watson’s hidden expertise.

Without a Clue was directed by Thom Eberhardt and released in 1988. It is not a straightforward adaptation of one Doyle story; instead, it builds a fictional explanation around the established Holmes-and-Watson partnership.