HERE have been so many depictions of Sherlock Holmes over the years that, to many people, they all become an amorphous blob of characteristics, such as a long gaunt face, a well-endowed proboscis, and (of course) some smoking implement, usually of a wooden nature — an adjective which seems to apply equally well to many of the lesser-known actors falling flat in their ulsters.

Bob Bryne, in his essay The Definitive Holmes, writes:

The name Sherlock Holmes is uttered, and we all form an image in our minds. It might be a drawing by Sidney Paget or Frederic Dorr Steele, or maybe Basil Rathbone or Peter Cushing. Over a century with the great detective has given us very clear images of how we think he looks.

Since Charles Brookfield did a short skit entitled “Under the Clock” in 1893, Sherlock Holmes has been portrayed on stage, screen and radio far beyond anyone’s ability to count. Each medium (publishing, stage, movies and television) has seriously affected the way Holmes is viewed by current and succeeding generations.

This excellent piece has many graphics included (be sure to click on the links to see them), and serves as a tight little survey of the most popular depictions — to include them all would be next to impossible.

Byrne also has a series of other great Sherlockian content on this site of his, Sherlock Holmes on Oxford Lane (a.k.a., HolmesOnScreen.com), including pieces on various key actors, quizzes, original fiction, an essay on how the Canon’s themes reflect Joseph Campbell’s journey of the hero, and much more. Well worth a visit.

T seems that one of the most maligned Holmes films (with the exception of any picture starring Dudley Moore) is the 1975 Gene Wilder auteur comedy The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother (see the IMDB entry). I’m haven’t actually seen this film for nearly twenty years (and even then, it was a chopped-apart television version), but I might soon get my chance again. Last month, it was finally re-released on DVD. R.J. Carter at the media review site The Trades has a mostly positive review:

When crucial papers are stolen from Queen Victoria’s trusted aide, the world turns to Sherlock Holmes to solve the case.

Unfortunately, he’s not available. But Sherlock delegates the case to a lesser known S. Holmes — his younger brother, Sigerson (Wilder). An inventor, a fencer, and a darned fine singer, Sigerson is nonetheless bitter about the fame heaped upon his older brother, “Sheer Luck” Holmes.

Read the rest. Holmes fans, of course, will no doubt recall the name Sigerson from a complete different context….

ERE there be monsters. Or was that dragons? Hmmm. It could have been turkeys, I guess. Actually, it doesn’t matter very much, because a quick trip to your local video store will bring you all three, in the form of the latest DVD “based upon the masterpiece of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World.” A friend of mine recommended this. I had no idea he hated me so much.

The newfound technology of digital filmmaking is a godsend to young and energetic Orson Welles wannabes, eager to take advantage of a 90% savings off the budget needed for a celluloid masterpiece, and thereby translate their visions into a magnum opus to transcend the ages. Or, then again, it allows every opportunist to hawk their motley wares to those bedazzled by shiny objects. Like DVD covers.

The Asylum is a small production outfit that specialises in digital movie-making, mainly for the direct-to-video market (or so I gather). I’ve heard a number of good things about their low-budget War of the Worlds, which supposedly made up for its lack of high-end special effects with good acting and writing. Very recently, their latest picture, entitled King of the Lost World, depicting a giant ape on its cover (along with the word “King” duly emphasised) was released to stores simultaneously with Peter Jackson’s King Kong to the theatres. Coincidence?

Now, I like to try to find both positives and negatives in almost every film I watch, regardless of the overall quality. Thus, I can find faults with Citizen Kane, and I can find merits to Plan 9 from Outer Space. But, as the supreme diety is my witness, I cannot think of a single thing I liked about this film. Let me summarise, as best I can, in an effort to warn you off this film. Yes, there are spoilers here, but if you watch this film for plot, you will be sorely disappointed anyway.

(more…)

HILE my collection of Sherlock Holmes DVDs are well rounded-out with Brett, Rathbone and others, some of the earliest films have always eluded me, and in particular those of Wontner and Owen as the Master Detective. I did find Wontner’s The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes for $1 in the discount bin at a local department megastore beginning with the letter “W” (which shall remain nameless), but all three copies they had were defective, crashing Windows and refusing to be read by either Mac OS X or Linux. And so it was a pleasant surprise to trip across four Wontner and Owen films online in a BitTorrent archive, free for download in several different formats and qualities, including iPod-ready video. (The films actually fell into the public domain years ago.) They can be found in the Mystery section of site called PublicDomainTorrents.com.

The quality is not the greatest, of course –the films were made in the 30’s, and these copies are not taken from the masters– but they’re still a great find for me nevertheless. If you’re interested in downloading some of these little treasures, point your favourite BitTorrent client (I use Azureus) to PDT and catch Reginald Owen in A Study in Scarlet (1933, and bearing no resemblance whatsoever to the novel), and Wontner in The Sign of Four (1932), The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes (1935), and Murder at the Baskervilles (1937, a.k.a., Silver Blaze). There are also four of Universal’s Rathbone/Bruce films from the 1940’s, namely Dressed to Kill, Terror by Night, The Woman in Green, and Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon. You may have noticed the latter four films offered cheaply from many different distributors, and the reason is elementary: no copyrights = no royalties.

Note that getting torrents requires you to have a high-speed connection, and sometimes a lot of patience — the download speed depends on how many other people are downloading and/or sharing the same files. If you’re stuck on dial-up, find the downloads too slow, or the technology of torrents proves intimidating, you can also have them mailed to you as DVDs, AVI files, or even iPod-ready videos, for just a small copying and shipping fee.

If you’re so inclined, you can also convert and burn these files to make your own DVDs. Ah, a weekend project! And don’t forget: VLC is an excellent free player that handles all these media files with aplomb.

f you’re familiar with the Grenada television series with Jeremy Brett, have a high-speed Internet connection, and are possessed of a strong bladder, wander on over to the Sherlock Holmes Literary Song Videos site. These are scenes from the series re-cut into music videos, and some of them are quite clever indeed. In particular, I can recommend “Everything I Own”, a touching tribute to the relationship of Holmes and Watson set to the sappy 70’s song from Bread, and “The Boxer”, the story of an oft-destitute Holmes seeking work in a world full of hardships, set to the classic Simon and Garfunkel tune.

Note that these videos are in MP4 format. If you have problems playing them, I can wholeheartedly recommend VLC, a free media player which handles almost everything flawlessly. It performs much better than QuickTime, even on my Mac.

n case you missed it, your local (United States) PBS station may be airing Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking once again tomorrow night (Sunday, March 12), although in some places it was broadcast last week. Not based upon any story of the Canon, this made-for-TV BBC production teams Rupert Everett as Holmes with Ian Hart as Watson against a psychopathic serial killer. While I’m not sure if I believe Everett is the “sexiest Sherlock Holmes ever” (to believe anything of the sort would be an affront to my masculinity), and I did find myself raising an objection or two against the characterisation of Holmes at certain points, I still quite enjoyed this film. The overall production was very slick and somewhat gritty, and there were a number of piquant moments, such as when Holmes was lectured about the pathology of the criminal mind by Watson’s psychologist fiancee. While purists may take offence at certain points of the story –they wouldn’t be purists, otherwise– I can still heartily recommend putting aside a couple of hours for this one. Just put the kids to bed first.

Also available on DVD from Amazon (amongst other sellers, of course).