Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes (1854–1957, according to William S. Baring-Gould) is a fictional detective of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, created by British author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Holmes is famous for his prowess at using logic and astute observation to solve cases.

Adaptations

The stories were very popular as adaptations for the stage, and later film, and still later television. The Universal Sherlock Holmes (1995) by Ronald B. DeWaal lists over 25,000 Holmes-related productions and products.

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Stage

The actor most associated with Holmes on stage was William Gillette, who wrote, directed, and starred in a popular play about Holmes from 1899 (filmed in 1916), while the stories were still being published. His version of Holmes, dressed in deerstalker hat and Inverness cape and smoking a large curved pipe (a calabash), contributed much to the popular image of the character. There are occasional hints of the deerstalker hat in Paget's original illustrations for The Strand, but it is by no means a regular accoutrement. Doyle's text is even vaguer, referring only to a travelling cap with earflaps in the passages with the relevant illustrations. He is also described as smoking several different types of pipes, varying them with his mood.

Related Topics:
William Gillette - Deerstalker - Inverness - Pipe - Calabash

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The calabash pipe is associated with Sherlock Holmes only because such a large pipe is easy for spectators at a play to see and because it's easy to hold in the mouth while doing other things.

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The air chamber in the pipe has a cooling and mellowing effect on the smoke. Holmes preferred harsh and strong tobaccos and would therefore eschew such pipes.

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A number of plays, a musical and a ballet have been written around Holmes.

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Film

Sherlock Holmes is the single most frequently filmed fictional character with almost 200 film appearances to date. Only Dracula comes close to matching his record.

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The first known film featuring Holmes is Sherlock Holmes Baffled, a one-reel film running less than a minute, made by the American Edison company in 1900. Many similar films were made in the early years of the twentieth century, most notably the 13 one- and two-reel films produced by the Norwegian Nordisk Film Company between 1908 and 1911. In 1911 the American Biograph company produced a series of 11 short comedies based on the Holmes character with Mack Sennett (later of Keystone Cops fame) in the title role.

Related Topics:
1900 - Nordisk Film Company - 1908 - 1911 - American Biograph - Mack Sennett - Keystone Cops

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The next significant cycle of Holmes films were produced by the Stoll Films company in Britain. Between 1921 and 1923 they produced a total of 47 two-reelers, all featuring noted West End actor Eille Norwood in the lead with Hubert Willis as Watson. A later British series produced between 1933 and 1936 starred Arthur Wontner as Holmes.

Related Topics:
Stoll Films - Britain - 1921 - 1923 - Eille Norwood - Hubert Willis - 1933 - 1936 - Arthur Wontner

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The 1988 film Without a Clue, starring Ben Kingsley as Watson, was a clever comedy in which Watson was the true genius of the duo, and Holmes was a fictional character invented to cover his own crime-fighting activites. Public demand forces him to hire a hopelessly womanizing and alcoholic actor (played by Michael Caine) to impersonate Holmes.

Related Topics:
1988 - Without a Clue - Ben Kingsley - Michael Caine

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Many other films loosely involving Holmes have been released including Billy Wilder's The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes with Robert Stephens and Colin Blakely as Holmes and Watson, and Young Sherlock Holmes with Nicholas Rowe playing the sleuth in his schooldays. A Study in Terror (with John Neville and Donald Houston) and Murder by Decree (with Christopher Plummer and James Mason) both involved Holmes and Watson investigating the murders by the Whitechapel serial killer Jack the Ripper.

Related Topics:
Billy Wilder's - The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes - Robert Stephens - Colin Blakely - Young Sherlock Holmes - Nicholas Rowe - A Study in Terror - John Neville - Donald Houston - Murder by Decree - Christopher Plummer - James Mason - Whitechapel - Serial killer - Jack the Ripper

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Basil Rathbone as Holmes

Rathbone's career as Holmes began with The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, both made by 20th Century Fox and released in 1939 – the first Holmes films to be set in Victorian, rather than contemporary, times. These were followed by a series of 12 films (and a cameo appearance in the 1943 comedy Crazy House) produced by Universal from 1942 to 1946, set in the present and frequently pitting Holmes against Nazi agents. Although only the first of Rathbone's films was based directly on material by Conan Doyle, many fans feel that his portrayal most faithfully captures the Holmes of the original stories, due in part to his resemblance to Sidney Paget's original Strand illustrations.

Related Topics:
Rathbone - 20th Century Fox - 1939 - 1943 - Universal - 1942 - 1946 - Nazi

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As well as his film performances, Rathbone has played Holmes in 219 radio performances, on television and on the stage. One of these, a record of The Red-Headed League, was sampled 19 years after his death to provide the voice of Holmes for the 1986 Disney animated film, The Great Mouse Detective.http://www.basilrathbone.net/faq.htm#used

Related Topics:
1986 - Disney - Animated film - The Great Mouse Detective

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Nigel Bruce played Watson to Rathbone's Holmes, playing the man as a bumbler and somewhat foolish, which is contrary to Doyle's depiction (although, as supposed chronicler, it is unlikely Watson would have dwelt over-much on his own deficiencies).

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Radio

One famous radio appearance starred Orson Welles as Sherlock Holmes in an adaptation of one of William Gillette's plays. This was broadcast in September of 1938 as part of the "Mercury Theater on the Air" series on CBS Radio.

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Throughout the early 1940s on American Radio, Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce performed as Holmes and Watson, respectively, in several series of canonical and original Sherlock Holmes stories. When Rathbone finally departed the role before the 1947 season, Tom Conway played Sherlock Holmes opposite Nigel Bruce for one season. After a change of networks, there were two more pairings: John Stanley as Holmes and Alfred Shirley as Watson in 1947-1948 and John Stanley and Ian Martin in 1948-1949.

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John Gielgud played Holmes for BBC radio in the 1950s, with Ralph Richardson as Watson. Gielgud's brother, Val Gielgud, appeared in one of the episodes, perhaps inevitably, as Mycroft Holmes. As this series was co-produced by the American Broadcasting Company, known American actors also appeared, such as Orson Welles as Professor Moriarty in The Adventure of the Final Problem.

Related Topics:
John Gielgud - BBC - 1950s - Ralph Richardson - Val Gielgud - American Broadcasting Company - Orson Welles - The Adventure of the Final Problem

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There have been many other radio adaptations (over 750 in English), including a more recent BBC Radio 4 run featuring Clive Merrison as Holmes and Michael Williams as Watson. Together, the two actors completed radio adaptations of every story in the canon between 1989 and 1998. A new series consisting of original stories written exclusively by Bert Coules was then commissioned, but following Williams' death from cancer in 2001, he was replaced by Andrew Sachs. The complete canonical run is available on CD and audio tape. Four of the five original stories transmitted in 2002 are also available on audio cassette, and four of the five original stories transmitted in 2004 are also available on CD.

Related Topics:
BBC Radio 4 - Clive Merrison - Michael Williams - Bert Coules - Cancer - 2001 - Andrew Sachs - CD - Audio tape

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Television

There have been many television adaptations of the better-known Sherlock Holmes tales, notably The Hound of the Baskervilles, over the years. Many aficionados consider the Granada Television adaptation from 1984, with Jeremy Brett as Holmes, as the most faithful depiction of the stories ever produced. Initially with David Burke and subsequently Edward Hardwicke as a capable Watson, all but 19 of the Conan Doyle stories were filmed before the premature death of Jeremy Brett from a heart attack in 1995. Between 1984 and 1994, 36 episodes and five films were produced over six series. Many regard Brett's performance as near-perfect; although his portrayal of Holmes as neurotic and somewhat arrogant, masterly as it is, is seen by many as being at odds with Doyle's descriptions of Holmes as more suave and congenial. Brett and Hardwicke reprised their roles as Holmes and Watson in 1988-89 in a West End stage play, The Secret of Sherlock Holmes, written by Jeremy Paul (the secret being that Holmes had "invented" Moriarty as a challenge to his investigative ability).

Related Topics:
Television - Granada Television - Jeremy Brett - David Burke - Edward Hardwicke - Heart attack - 1995 - 1984 - 1994 - 1988 - 89 - West End

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There had also been a BBC TV series in the 1960s with Douglas Wilmer and Nigel Stock. Peter Cushing, who had earlier played the detective in the Hammer version of The Hound of the Baskervilles, later took over from Wilmer in the lead role. The 24 part 1980 series Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson starred Geoffrey Whitehead as Holmes and and Donald Pickering as Watson.

Related Topics:
BBC - 1960s - Douglas Wilmer - Nigel Stock - Peter Cushing - Hammer - The Hound of the Baskervilles - 1980 - Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson - Geoffrey Whitehead - Donald Pickering

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Sherlock Holmes was played by Commander Data (Brent Spiner) on two episodes of Star Trek The Next Generation.

Related Topics:
Commander Data - Brent Spiner - Star Trek The Next Generation

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An animated series, Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century, brings Holmes into the future through the marvels of science. There is also a Japanese animated series called Sherlock Hound featuring animal characters. Several of its episodes were directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Another Japanese anime program Case Closed features a main character by the name of Conan, and is based on Sherlock Holmes.

Related Topics:
Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century - Sherlock Hound - Hayao Miyazaki - Case Closed

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A limited run series aired in England, and also on PBS in the US featured actor Ian Richardson as Dr. Joseph Bell, who solved (fictonal) crimes with the aid of his young pupil Arthur Conan Doyle.

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