"Infinitely More Mysterious" [DEVI]

Those familiar with Otto Penzler, BSI ("The King of Bohemia") are acutely aware of his impact in the mystery publishing world, including that of Sherlock Holmes.

Most widely known for his Mysterious Bookshop in New York, he has a keen eye for rare and valuable books, as well as an uncanny sense of the up and coming talented mystery authors. Otto himself is no stranger to writing, as he had an early career in journalism that we heard about firsthand from Otto in a very informative interview on Episode 17 of I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere (as a complete aside, our favorite two minutes of the interview are from the 26- to 28-minute mark - see if you agree).

He is also no stranger to publishing and editing, as he founded the Mysterious Press in 1975 and ran it until 1989 when he sold it to Warner Books. Otto has also been editing under the Otto Penzler Books imprint for Harcourt for the last seven years or so, and last year he reacquired Mysterious Press from Warner.

Today, the Mysterious Press has added a modern twist to its business model: MysteriousPress.com.

As Otto describes in his blog post, the original Mysterious Press was unique in that it offered dust jacketed and limited editions in the mystery genre. Acknowledging the difference in the publishing industry in the 21st century, the new Mysterious Press will be entirely electronic/digital. In conjunction with Open Road Media, the e-books will feature some of the most acclaimed authors in the mystery, suspense and espionage world.

We won't delve into each of them here (Otto does that on his site), but will note that the selections are fairly robust now, with sections such as short stories, Edgar Award-winners, hard-boiled, noir and more. No Sherlock Holmes titles - yet - but we heard from Otto and expect to see some soon.

Also, it's helpful to note that the Mysterious Press has a Facebook page and Twitter account, in a nod to how communicating in the digital medium is important, especially when your customers are consuming your products digitally. They can be found at http://facebook.com/MysteriousPressCom and @eMysteries.

We here at the Baker Street Blog wish Otto and the staff of MysteriousPress.com every success. We're certain they'll do well.


When you make purchases from the links we share, it provides us with a stream of revenue to help keep this site running. Thank you for your generosity.
--

"Out of The Black Shadows" [TWIS]

It's a story worthy of Conan Doyle himself - a "lost" early Holmes film that loosely adapts two key stories in the canon, and that is now freely available for viewing.

The Sleeping Cardinal (better known in the USA as Sherlock Holmes' Fatal Hour) is a 1931 film with Arthur Wontner as Holmes and Ian Fleming as Watson, serves as a loose adaptation of "The Adventure of the Final Problem [FINA]" and "The Adventure of the Empty House [EMPT]". Like many early sound movies, the direction is still rather theatrical, focusing mainly on discussions in rooms rather than a more dynamic presentation.

Details about how the film became "lost" can be found its entry on the Internet Archive, which also allows for embedding and (like Public Domain Torrents) downloading the film in various formats.

But judge for yourself - is this a hidden gem ripe for rediscovery? A film that should have remained lost? Or is it just another one of many Holmesian adaptations that just simply needs to be enjoyed on its own merits?

This mystery, dear reader, is entirely yours to solve....

If you're not able to view the Hulu video, it's also available on YouTube.

 
If you would care to purchase the DVD from Amazon.com, it's available by clicking here or via the image below. In addition, the other three titles from the Wontner series are available on DVD: The Sign of Four, The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes and Murder at the Baskervilles. All are worth watching, if only to appreciate the transition of Sherlock Holmes from silent to "talkies" prior to the arrival of Basil Rathbone.

Editor's note: This is a guest post by Gordon Dymowski. Gordon regularly covers the intersection of Sherlock Holmes and the entertainment industry for The Baker Street Blog. You can also find him at Blog THIS, Pal! and Comic Related.

When you make purchases from the links we share, it provides us with a stream of revenue to help keep this site running. Thank you for your generosity.
--

          

"Preposterous" [3GAB]

We have an update to share on Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows:

The latest movie posters have been released (on Yahoo! again), one each featuring Holmes and Watson. You may recall we made an update in July ("Long Shadows Trailed Down" [HOUN]) in which we shared the latest posters and the first appearance of the trailer for the film. You may see them again by clicking through to that link.

The updated posters are equally as dramatic, featuring Holmes (again with a pistol) and Watson in profile, the former with the Eiffel Tower in the background, the latter with the Clock Tower behind him. Both can been seen below the latest trailer, which is available on the official website for the movie, http://sherlockholmes2.warnerbros.com. The site is beginning to come to life and we'll keep you updated on what we find.

Is it just us, or does there seem to be even more explosions and action scenes than in the last film?

Here are the posters:






We can tell that there's some Hollywood magic afoot in these images, as there's more smoke around the buildings than in the 1890s London sky...

What do you think? Are you ready for the latest installment in the Guy Richie-directed franchise?

--

"High-Class Jobs" [CHAS]

The world of technology lost a visionary yesterday as Steve Jobs passed beyond the Reichenbach.

As you know, we cover the intersection of Sherlock Holmes and popular culture here on the Baker Street Blog. So you're probably wondering, "what could Steve Jobs possibly have to do with Sherlock Holmes?" You might be surprised at the answer.

One of the earlier references we can find is that in 1986, Jobs purchased Pixar from Lucasfilm. That was the company that later became famous for the likes of Toy Story and Cars, but in 1985 had already contributed film history by creating the first completely computer-generated image of a character in Young Sherlock Holmes.

Last spring when the iPad launched, we covered the world of apps that were connected with the Sherlockian world in a post titled "Most Intense Application" [BLAC]. We highly recommend taking another look at that entry, as there are some gems. Since then, many others have sprouted.

If you would like to check these out, please just click through on the links provided.

Sherlock Holmes - 3D Classic Literature by Ideal Binary, Ltd. is an e-book that recreates the reading experience in 3D. You can read all of the stories that are in public domain in the United States on this app.

There's another newfangled reading "experience" for the multitaskers among us. These days, the younger generation seems to be able to to 15 things at once - texting while watching television while working on the laptop while listening to music while ignoring a parent - so Sherlock Holmes w/ Booktrack (Soundtracks for Books) - Speckled Band - Booktrack was invented. Personally, I used to be satisfied with some classical music on the grammophone while I was thumbing the pages of the Canon.

From a French developer comes another app called Byook, which is a multimedia reading experience. In this case, you can get S.Holmes and with it comes shrieks, thunder, rain, other sound effects, animation and a real page-flipping experience. In this case, "The Speckled Band" is the subject again. It might be interesting to pit this and the Booktrack against each other for comparison.

If these particular apps aren't your speed, again, you can check that original post ("Most Intense Application" [BLAC]). Alternatively, we have provided a little search widget that will allow you to explore based on the search terms you provide:





Today, we stand on the terrace to remember Steve Jobs. But like Conan Doyle before him, his work will outlast him and his contribution to society will touch millions of lives.

When you make purchases from the links we share, it provides us with a stream of revenue to help keep this site running. Thank you for your generosity.
--

"A Certain Selection and Discretion" [IDEN]

With the success of the recent Robert Downey Jr. Holmes film - and the speculation and anticipation for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, it would be hard to believe that before now a theatrical film of Holmes with an atypical director would be successful in the marketplace.

After all, one only has to look to 1970's The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, directed by Billy Wilder, as an unsuccessful example....which is a shame, because it is a very underrated gem in Sherlockian film canon, providing a fascinating postmodern look into the Great Detective. Here's a video of the trailer with brief commentary from producer/director Dan Ireland:





In many ways, this version of Holmes is a more radical reinterpretation of the canon than the Downey film. In the first full scene, for example, Holmes (Robert Stephens) begins chiding Watson (Colin Blakely) for "exaggerating" certain things in his writing. (Yes, Wilder and writing partner I.A.L. Diamond are definitely playing "the Great Game.")

Although many critics and commentators have focused on the "subtext" of the Holmes/Watson relationship, what is so much more radical is that Stephens' Holmes seems much more...emotional. Lively. Possessing a certain depth and range of character that approaches a Jeremy Brett-style approach to the role.(Colin Blakely's Watson, however, tends more towards the buffoon-ish). Although Wilder directs this in a more straightforward style than his other work, it only serves to highlight the emotional underpinnings of the film - Private Life not only contains gorgeous footage and a wonderful soundtrack, these bring the performances forward, and quite frankly, make this an underrated gem of a movie.

What's even more remarkable about this film is that it was originally conceived as a three hour movie consisting of four separate stories, one involving Holmes in his youth. Sadly, due to cuts the movie is only two hours long with two distinct stories - one focusing on a Russian ballerina; the other a more intricate plot involving brother Mycroft (played by Christopher Lee, the only actor to play both Mycroft and Sherlock), Inverness, and....well, that would be telling. Thankfully, the DVD release contains scripts, shots, and footage from the "lost" portions of the film as part of the 'Special Features' selection.

Admittedly, there was a certain selection and discretion in what Conan Doyle wrote about in his stories - after all, he lived in a much different time with different standards. Many films have attempted to fill in the gaps of what we knew about Holmes, but The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes does so in an entertaining and thoroughly engaging way.

This is a must-view for any Sherlockians. Very highly recommended.

Editor's note: Gordon regularly covers the intersection of Sherlock Holmes and the entertainment industry. You can also find him at Blog THIS, Pal! and Comic Related.

--

"Where All Gossip Is Welcome" [VALL] - September 2011

This is the latest issue of Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press, Peter Blau's ("Black Peter") monthly newsletter of Sherlockian or Doylean gossip, published in print form since 1971 and as a text-only digital archive on Sherlocktron since 1985. In agreement with Peter Blau, we've arranged to publish facsimiles of the print newsletter here, so online readers can see what the newsletter looks like. Below the scan you can find links to the sites mentioned in the text - in most cases, directly to the article, video or publication, to save you from having to search for the terms.

The following is the September 2011 issue; please feel free to share it via email, social network, or embed it on your own site.

Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press September 2011
Links (in order of mention):

• Animated version of the Dancing Men [video - embedded below]
• Booktrack
• AudioFile Listeners' Guide to Sherlock Holmes
• 6 Beloved Characters That Had Undiagnosed Mental Illnesses
• Town Head - inspiration for "The Speckled Band"
• 221B Badger Street [cartoon]
• Sherlock Holmes Strikes Back!
• Theatre Arts Guild
• Mrs. Sherlock Holmes Takes on the NYPD
• Jeremy Brett scholarship
• LEGO Minifigure Detective [Amazon.com]
• Selena Jones Mysteries
• I Write Like
• Darlock Holmes and Dalek Watson
• The Great Sherlock Holmes Debate
• Barefoot on Baker Street
• A Study in Sherlock
• Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce switch roles! [mp3]
• Russian Sherlock Holmes series
• Maria Konnikova's Sherlock Holmes blog series on ScientificAmerican.com
• Sherlock Holmes dinner at the Victorian Villa Inn
• Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol at Artist Repertory Theatre

When you make purchases from the links we share, it provides us with a stream of revenue to help keep this site running. Thank you for your generosity.
--