"The Colossal Schemes of Baron" [REIG]

While it's encouraging to know that Sherlock Holmes is being considered for cinematic outings from time to time - the last big screen flourishes having occurred with Young Sherlock Holmes and Without a Clue - the latest round of Hollywood rumors leaves a little to be desired.

Sherlock Holmes Reinvented
The first announcement occurred a couple of weeks ago when it was announced that none other than Warner Bros. were interested in backing a film by Madonna's soon-to-be-ex Guy Ritchie. In this gritty, action-based dramatization, we'll see a "reinvention" of the character as Ritchie rewrites an upcoming comic book by Lionel Wigram. According to the article, the focus will be on adventure, with Holmes's skills as a boxer and swordsman being highlighted. Rumor has it that Robert Downey, Jr. will take the lead.

If you ask me, the stories already have a good deal of adventure to them, and Holmes is already imbued with superhero-like powers that he doesn't need to be rewritten or sexed-up for the big screen. When will screenwriters and directors realize that they've got the makings of the perfect hero the way the character was written?

"Frankly Hilarious"?
The latest ugly rumor is that none other than Sacha Baron Cohen - yes, that's right, Borat - will team up with Will Ferrell to play Holmes and Watson in a comedy. How they'll manage to work the potty humor for which they're known into a treatment about the detective and his colleague is a mystery to me. One of the producers is Judd Apatow, who's been responsible for recent comedies such as Walk Hard, Knocked Up, Talledega Nights, and the 40 Year-Old Virgin (all titles meant to inspire confidence in his comedic judgment, I suppose).

But according to the co-president of Columbia Pictures, "Sacha and Will are two of the funniest and most talented guys on the planet, and having them take on these two iconic characters is frankly hilarious."

At least they're sticking to the right genre.

Has It Come to This?
I'm not trying to be a spoilsport here - publicity for the great detective is important as we try to keep his name in the spotlight - but think of the children! In these days when books are getting less attention and kids get more information through video games, the Web, multimedia and text messaging, we need to be circumspect with the material we're presenting to them.

What will coming generations think if they're introduced to Holmes and Watson via recent questionable productions like Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stockingand Sherlock Holmes and Baker Street Irregulars, or the above-mentioned projects? We can only hope that creative devotees will find a way to integrate more Canonically faithful movies.

Think of what the world would have been like if the Granada Television series with Jeremy Brett hadn't come along in the early 1980s. We would have been relegated to memories of John Cleese in The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It and Dudley Moore & Peter Cook in The Hound Of The Baskervilles. I shudder at the thought.

What do you think? Chime in with a comment below.

P.S. In case you're wondering, this is no joke, unlike my successful hoodwinking of many outlets with my April Fool's Day prank.

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"That Mask Which He Was Wont to Assume" [SIXN]

While searching on Brightcove, a video search and aggregation site - like YouTube, but with longer form videos - I came across a number of interesting Sherlock Holmes-related findings. Brightcove hosts its own content (powered by AOL Video), plus it links to other sites that host videos, giving you a wide range of stuff to choose from.

There were a number of the Basil Rathbone / Nigel Bruce films available for download. But more interesting to me - because the videos are less common and because of the lead actor's uncanny resemblance to some of the illustrations of Holmes (Frank Wiles in particular) - were the Arthur Wontner films. I've previously written about the availability of some of these through the Internet Archive, but this was the first time I had seen 3 of the 5 Wonter films available in such a shareable format. The first two Wontner films are unavailable - there are no known prints existing of The Missing Rembrandt (based on "Charles Augustus Milverton"), and The Sleeping Cardinal (based on "The Final Problem") was thought to be lost until a print was discovered in the U.S.

Feel free to watch the three here (note: you need to have Flash installed), download them directly from Brightcove, or to purchase your own copies through Amazon.

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"A Complete Set" [VALL]

When I first discovered Sherlock Holmes, it was on the printed page, but it couldn't have been at a better time in my life. It was the mid-1980s and there were a number of other outlets for my Sherlockian enjoyment. The Basil Rathbone-Nigel Bruce series was faithfully running on Saturday afternoon movie features on a local television station; the John Gielgud-Ralph Richardson old time radio series was available on cassette; and most importantly for me, the Granada series with Jeremy Brett was airing on PBS.

For me, Jeremy Brett has always been the consummate Holmes (up until the last dreadful series and long-form movies). Certainly, he was quirky; but so was Holmes. And he was blessed with such Canonically accurate settings, dialogue and wardrobe (at least in the beginning) that it felt like the stories came to life.

While I've long had a the series on video, pieced together through MPI productions and the original PBS airings from "Mystery!" with the inimitable Vincent Price giving the introductions, I've longed for a complete set on DVD. Well, that wait is over.

Now available from Amazon is Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Granada Television Series, a set of 12 DVDs with all 41 programs, for a total of 43 hours, from MPI Home Video. You'll find this handsome set tricked out with bonus features that include include three commentary tracks, interviews with Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke, an interview with Adrian Conan Doyle, a
report on the Sherlock Holmes Museum, and subtitles in Spanish and English. While it doesn't have quite as many bells and whistles as one might hope for from such a handsome set, it's a worthy addition to any Sherlockian's multimedia collection.

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"Don't You Smoke?" [ILLU]

First it was the politically-correct BBC bowing to current groundswell when they barred Sherlock Holmes from smoking in their recent production Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars starring Jonathan Pryce.

Now it seems that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) - the entity that is responsible for rating movies – is using smoking as one of the factors in deciding how to rate movies. They have not delineated any specifics, but it is thought that if a film already has a PG-13 rating thanks to levels of violence, drug use and sex, smoking will tip it over the edge to make it an R movie.

Evidently, anti-smoking activists think this doesn’t go far enough, as they would like to see an automatic R attached to any movie that features smoking. They want to protect the children.

But I ask: would a Sherlock Holmes movie with a tobacco-free Holmes help the kids? Would they be better off by seeing the first unofficial consulting detective without his pipe? Think about it: the entire world knows Sherlock Holmes because of his profile in his hat and his pipe. Remove the latter and he’s just a mad hatter.

Just think of the consequences:

• His three-pipe problem would become a three lollipop problem. Then you’ll have the anti-cavity lobby and the American Dental Association after you. Not to mention the creators of Kojak, who’d sue for copyright infringement.
• What would Holmes store in his Persian slipper?
• When he’s in a disputatious mood, what physical object would he choose?

These are the ramifications if the character were forced to go cold turkey. If he retained all of his addictions as we know them, it seems that any Holmes movie would likely receive an R rating, thus keeping away the younger crowd. As if we need any more obstacles in introducing Sherlock Holmes to kids…

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"There Is the Long Row..." [VEIL]

Further to the reports of a Sherlock Holmes movie being developed by Warner Bros. comes the news of a lead actor that will undoubtedly be more acceptable to readers of this blog. The initial reports were that Russell Crowe would be the lead, in a nod to Holmes' more physical side, and many Sherlockians were livid.

But you may be pleased to know that the producers have come to their senses and have instead settled on Nicholas Rowe as their choice. Astute Sherlockians will remember Rowe from the 1985 adventure film Young Sherlock Holmes, directed by Steven Spielberg, where he played a school-age Holmes who looked remarkably like Joseph Bell, the medical professor who inspired Conan Doyle.

The producers, who originally were going for toughness, have evidently agreed that Rowe, who stands 6 feet 4 inches tall, will undoubtedly be an imposing figure. And they're being mindful of the Canon as he perfectly fits Watson's description of Holmes from A Study in Scarlet:

"In height he was rather over six feet, and so excessively lean that he seemed to be considerably taller. His eyes were sharp and piercing, save during those intervals of torpor to which I have alluded; and his thin, hawk-like nose gave his whole expression an air of alertness and decision."

Rowe seems to be following in the footsteps of the late Jeremy Brett, as Rowe lost his longtime partner Lou Gish last year to cancer. You may recall that Brett went on with the Granada series shortly after he lost his wife Joan to cancer in the mid-1980s.

This is really welcome news, as Hollywood seems to get casting all wrong many times in Holmes films. It's encouraging to see an actor who can really inhabit the character - espeically one who proved himself in his previous Holmes outing.

Background info.

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"Many People Were Moving To and Fro" [EMPT]

For the Sherlock Holmes enthusiast who is all about old movies and who has a broadband connection, this post will be welcome information.

According to the Trouble in Paradise blog, the Internet Archive has public domain films that are available for viewing on its site and downloadable files you can transfer to disc and watch at home for free. There are a wide variety of films available, from Charlie Chaplin films to Stan Laurel comedies, to F.W. Murnau's legendary Nosferatu. It's worth a browse.

Most importantly, there are a number of Sherlock Holmes films from which to choose as well. You even get your pick as to a leading actor. Here are the Holmes movies currently available:

[Note: quotes have been taken from the excellent book Holmes of the Movies by David Stuart Davies. Highly recommended.]

Owen, Owen, He's Our Man

First up is Reginald Owen, appearing as a heavier and unconvincing Holmes in A Study in Scarlet (1933). Owen had just come off of his role as Dr. Watson to Clive Brook's Sherlock Holmes in the the 1932 film Sherlock Holmes. Why he was chosen for this role, I can only guess. David Stuart Davies writes "Owen seems to have been cast for the chief role because he has an English accent...". I have never appreciated his (ahem!) talent.


If He Can't Do it, Wonter Can
He certainly can. Davies writes "Of all the actors to peer out from under the brim of the deerstalker and exclaim 'Elementary, my dear Watson,' none has received more acclaim from film critics and Holmes purists than Arthur Wontner." Wonter bore a striking resemblance to Sherlock Holmes as portrayed by a number of artists and his approach was a calming, understated performance.

The Sign of Four (1932) was Wonter's second outing as Holmes and it followed the plot of the story of the same name. The production values were not as high as the first Wontner film, but the actor was as solid as ever. The other film available on this site is Murder at the Baskervilles (1937), originally titled Silver Blaze, as it was based on that story.

It Wouldn't Be a Film Entry without...Rathbone
Sherlock Holmes probably did more to help and hurt the career of Basil Rathbone than any other screen actor before or after him. Inextricably linked with the great detective, Rathbone's Holmes, according to Davies, was "an alert, energetic capricious and sardonic animal. Rathbone played with great style and authority..." Rathbone inhabited the persona for 14 films alongside the Boobus Britannicus extraordaire, Nigel Bruce.

Here we have three examples of their work together, Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1943), in which Holmes does battle with two foes: his hairdresser and Professor Moriarty. This has to be a favorite of many, as it features Holmes in three disguises throughout the film. Next up is , Terror by Night (1946), which finds Holmes and Watson and other strangers on a train. And finally is Dressed to Kill (1946), in which the Bank of England plates have gone missing and it's up to Holmes and Watson, using a music box melody, to find the thieves.

For more information on any of these films, check the IMDb (Internet Movie Database) or take a look at David Stuart Davies' seminal work Holmes of the Movies: The Screen Career of Sherlock Holmes

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"What One Man Can Invent, Another Can Discover" [DANC]

It's all over the news and the blogosphere today: Warner Brothers is bringing an upcoming Sherlock Holmes comic book to the big screen. It's being reported by the New York Post, the Movie Blog, and Variety.com, which wrote:

Exact storyline is being kept under wraps, but creative execs at Warners say they are looking for the "Sherlock" team to reinvent the sleuth and his loyal No. 2 Dr. Watson in much the same edgy way that Christopher Nolan has reimagined Batman for Warners.

Interesting. This could be a big break for the Sherlockian world, bringing much-needed publicity to our hero. The character received a revival in the 1970s, thanks to Nicholas Meyer's book and subsequent movie The Seven Percent Solution.

John Campea aptly puts what we've known all along:

The single greatest crime fighter and mystery solver in the history of fiction isn't Batman... it's Sherlock Holmes. Yes, the man who could tell what you had for breakfast 6 Tuesdays ago just by looking at the color of your tie is THE MAN.

We all know that Hollywood has taken liberties with the characters - Basil Rathbone as Holmes in the 1940s with Nigel Bruce as the bumbling Dr. Watson - but I wonder if they'll give us something closer to the true Holmes that we know. Perhaps that's what they mean by "reinvent."

Keep your fingers crossed.

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