They Might Be Giants

They Might Be Giants is a 1971 American comedy mystery film based on the 1961 play of the same name (both written by James Goldman) starring George C. Scott and Joanne Woodward. Sometimes mistakenly described as a Broadway play, it never in fact opened in the United States. It was directed in London by Joan Littlewood in 1961, but Goldman believed that he "never got the play right" and forbade further productions or publication of the script. To coincide with the film's release, he authorized an illustrated paperback tie-in edition of the screenplay, published by Lancer Books. The film's title was later adopted as the name of a popular music group. Plot Justin Playfair (Scott) is a judge who retreats into fantasy after his wife's death, imagining himself to be Sherlock Holmes, the legendary fictional detective. Complete with deerstalker hat, pipe and violin, he spends his days in a homemade criminal laboratory obsessing over plots hatched by his (Holmes's) archenemy, Professor Moriarty.