The Sherlock Holmes Thread

[OHebel Wring]

I remember as a youth watching one of the BBC mysteries (but at the time didn't even know it was sherlock Holmes, was just interested in the mystery part of it) with my mother, but I haven't seen any of them all the way through after having become a "Holmesian".  I will check them out though, because I have heard from a variety of sources that they are incredible.

My question on the "are they any good" was in regards to the books about Holmes and prof. Challenger together...

[Vincent M. Dantes Esq.]

Recently I acquired and finished the new PC game, Sherlock Holmes - The Awakened. The game isn't merely Lovecraftian, it actually pits the Great Detective against the dreaded cult of Cthulhu! It is an absolutely fantastic game! My only complaint with it was that I completed it in a mere two days, and that being a mystery/puzzle adventure game, it has next to no replay-ability. I highly recommend it!

http://www.sherlockholmes-thegame.com/

Also recently, I picked up a DVD collection of 10 classic black and white Holmes films at our local Eckerd drug store for an astounding $7.99. The films contained in the collection are:

Dressed to Kill
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon
Terror by Night
The Woman in Green
The Sign of Four
Murder at the Baskervilles
The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes
The Speckled Band
A Study in Scarlet
Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace

The find brought up memories of one of the favorite movies of my youth, The Young Sherlock Holmes. What a great film!

[Dax]

It's not bad.  It's three linked stories, one of them in the style of Dr. Watson's narration, and they wove together a lot of ACD stories and elements of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds.  I'd give it a 7.5.

I also picked up a book recently that I had seen reviewed on Wired, titled Shadows Over Bakerstreet.  Its a series of short stories by current Scifi authors, in which Holmes stories take place in a Lovecraftian 'verse.

is it any good?  Like i was saying earlier in the thread, I pretty much stick with the ACD versions, but would be willing to read something that doesnt stink.

[Simon Hogwood]

I also picked up a book recently that I had seen reviewed on Wired, titled Shadows Over Bakerstreet.  Its a series of short stories by current Scifi authors, in which Holmes stories take place in a Lovecraftian 'verse.

That doesn't sound half bad - I'll have to see if I can find it anywhere. Could you post a link to the review?

[Dax]

I agree, Jeremy Brett was the best.  We've seen pretty much all of the Holmes mysteries that he did.

And, many years ago, we saw him on stage, together with Edward Hardwicke (Dr. Watson) in the West End of London in a two-man play titled "The Secret of Sherlock Holmes".   That was really something.

O'Hebel Wring: you HAVEN'T seen Jeremy Brett as Holmes?

Oh, really... look. I don't want to press the issue, as you say: you are a traditionalist, and I can respect that.
But those BBC versions were extremely faithful to the texts, and he is absolutely wonderful as Holmes. Many say he is the best. I agree with them.

You should at least check some of them out. It's wonderful to get a good BBC art director's take on what Victorian London was like.

[Dax]

I'll do you one better.  Here's a link to customer reviews on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/0345452739/ref=cm_cr_dp_pt/104-8749598-1487167?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books

That doesn't sound half bad - I'll have to see if I can find it anywhere. Could you post a link to the review?

[Simon Hogwood]

Thanks - now I have to find this book. The line,

possibly one of the few times Holmes has been menaced by a Gatling gun

in the review clinches it.

[irisclara]

I think the story is titled The Creeping Man.

There are also a number of pastiches in which steampunk elements have been introduced into the Holmes 'verse.  I am presently reading a set of stories written by Manly Wade Wellman and Wade Wellman, which put Holmes and Professor Challenger in H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds.

There is another one later that discusses a person who attempts to extend his life by altering his genes into those of a monkey.
This, of course, causes the victim to take on traits of a monkey, like climbing walls, crawling around on his knuckles, etc.

Manly Wade Wellman is really cool. I never knew he wrote Holmes stories. Now I've got something new for my local bookseller to acquire.

As for the Creeping Man, I don't remember any kind of life extension in that. In fact that doesn't ring any bells from Holmes at all. Could it be The Island of Dr. Moreau?

[The Grand Duchess]

I think the story is titled The Creeping Man.

There are also a number of pastiches in which steampunk elements have been introduced into the Holmes 'verse.  I am presently reading a set of stories written by Manly Wade Wellman and Wade Wellman, which put Holmes and Professor Challenger in H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds.

There is another one later that discusses a person who attempts to extend his life by altering his genes into those of a monkey.
This, of course, causes the victim to take on traits of a monkey, like climbing walls, crawling around on his knuckles, etc.

Manly Wade Wellman is really cool. I never knew he wrote Holmes stories. Now I've got something new for my local bookseller to acquire.

As for the Creeping Man, I don't remember any kind of life extension in that. In fact that doesn't ring any bells from Holmes at all. Could it be The Island of Dr. Moreau?

No, Creeping Man.

"Lowenstein! The name brought back to me the memory of some snippet from a newspaper which spoke of an obscure scientist who was striving in some unknown way for the secret of rejuvenescence and the elixir of life. Lowenstein of Prague! Lowenstein with the wondrous strength-giving serum, tabooed by the profession because he refused to reveal its source. In a few words I said what I remembered. Bennett had taken a manual of zoology from the shelves. “ ‘Langur.’ “ he read. “ ‘the great black-faced monkey of the Himalayan slopes, biggest and most human of climbing monkeys. Many details are added. Well, thanks to you, Mr. Holmes, it is very clear that we have traced the evil to its source.”

“The real source,” said Holmes, “lies, of course, in that untimely love affair which gave our impetuous professor the idea that he could only gain his wish by turning himself into a younger man. When one tries to rise above Nature one is liable to fall below it. The highest type of man may revert to the animal if he leaves the straight road of destiny.” He sat musing for a little with the phial in his hand, looking at the clear liquid within. “When I have written to this man and told him that I hold him criminally responsible for the poisons which he circulates, we will have no more trouble. But it may recur. Others may find a better way."

http://sherlock-holmes.classic-literature.co.uk/the-adventure-of-the-creeping-man/ebook-page-10.asp

[Mercury Wells]

I agree, Jeremy Brett was the best.  We've seen pretty much all of the Holmes mysteries that he did.

Mr. Rathbone was also good 

[5tephe]

Yes, Rathbone WAS Holmes, for a very long time, in the way that Connery IS Bond.

But once Jeremy Brett came along....
He talks in interviews (many of them readable as his quotes on his IMDB profile) about doing little things with Holmes, like NOT wearing a deerstalker and smoking a Meerschaum unless he was in the country, or the original story stated that he did. He makes the point that Holmes is hardly ever described wearing it, and that he always dressed appropriately for the occasion.

He also talks about having to fight the screenwriters to make the screenplays more true to the original stories. After all, that was the stated objective of the series. Many many productions had done all sorts of Holmes stories, but very few had done the original Conan Doyle cannon.

[Vincent M. Dantes Esq.]

I'll definitely need to look into more Brett movies. I've mostly only seen Rathbone films, but of all of the Holmes films I've seen, my favorite actor to play the Great Detective is Christopher Lee.

[Charlie Mortdecai]

If you've not seen them, then you simply must see the Brett interpretations - you will not be disappointed. He was born to play Holmes.

Just out of interest, here's a scan of his and Edward Hardwick's (Watson) autographs. I got them from someone who worked on the Granada set during filming. Mr Brett died, regretably, soon after.



Charlie

[John Sunlight]

 Does anyone remember that 2003 Masterpiece Theater adaptation of "The Hound of the Baskervilles" ?

I remember it being quite faithful to the original novel. For instance, Holmes smoked cigaretttes (as he does in the stories) instead the  pipe you commonly see him with in most Representations and even intraveneously injected cocaine in one scene. The only thing that bothered me was the fact that the actor who portrayed Henry Baskerville couldn't do a proper American accent. Also, who here suspects that the titular hound of the story may been genetically tampered with (to increase its size, intelligence, and aggresiveness) by a certain doctor named Moreau?

[Dax]

Christopher Plummer made a pretty good Holmes movie, called Murder by Decree, with James Mason as Watson.  It involved the Whitechapel murders.

[irisclara]

I think the story is titled The Creeping Man.

There are also a number of pastiches in which steampunk elements have been introduced into the Holmes 'verse.  I am presently reading a set of stories written by Manly Wade Wellman and Wade Wellman, which put Holmes and Professor Challenger in H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds.

There is another one later that discusses a person who attempts to extend his life by altering his genes into those of a monkey.
This, of course, causes the victim to take on traits of a monkey, like climbing walls, crawling around on his knuckles, etc.

Manly Wade Wellman is really cool. I never knew he wrote Holmes stories. Now I've got something new for my local bookseller to acquire.

As for the Creeping Man, I don't remember any kind of life extension in that. In fact that doesn't ring any bells from Holmes at all. Could it be The Island of Dr. Moreau?

No, Creeping Man.

"Lowenstein! The name brought back to me the memory of some snippet from a newspaper which spoke of an obscure scientist who was striving in some unknown way for the secret of rejuvenescence and the elixir of life. Lowenstein of Prague! Lowenstein with the wondrous strength-giving serum, tabooed by the profession because he refused to reveal its source. In a few words I said what I remembered. Bennett had taken a manual of zoology from the shelves. “ ‘Langur.’ “ he read. “ ‘the great black-faced monkey of the Himalayan slopes, biggest and most human of climbing monkeys. Many details are added. Well, thanks to you, Mr. Holmes, it is very clear that we have traced the evil to its source.”

“The real source,” said Holmes, “lies, of course, in that untimely love affair which gave our impetuous professor the idea that he could only gain his wish by turning himself into a younger man. When one tries to rise above Nature one is liable to fall below it. The highest type of man may revert to the animal if he leaves the straight road of destiny.” He sat musing for a little with the phial in his hand, looking at the clear liquid within. “When I have written to this man and told him that I hold him criminally responsible for the poisons which he circulates, we will have no more trouble. But it may recur. Others may find a better way."

http://sherlock-holmes.classic-literature.co.uk/the-adventure-of-the-creeping-man/ebook-page-10.asp

Good heavens! I had totally forgotten about that story. Indeed, I was thinking of The Crooked Man.

I fully agree with the previously stated superlatives regarding the portrayals of Mr. Brett and Mr. Hardwick. A joy to behold.

[NazT]

Henry Baskerville couldn't do a proper American accent.

    Ha ha ha usually its the other way round and the actor they get to play an English/Scottish/Welsh/ or Irishman cant do the accent fer toffee!...    I wish they wouldnt do that... whats wrong with getting an actor with that accent to play that part? 

But back to the thread and yes I agree 110% that Jeremy Brett is by far THE best Holmes there has ever been (altho I loved the Basil Rathbone ones as well) IMHO.  And some of the scenery is just incredible like the study of (I think it was) Thaddeus Sholto or Bartholomew Sholto (same man played both).  And the city scenes were just superb!.

[Chuzzlewit]

The only thing that bothered me was the fact that the actor who portrayed Henry Baskerville couldn't do a proper American accent.

Many apologies for the Holmesian pedantry, but on behalf of an actor friend from a certain great nation...

From Chapter 3:

"Then, how can I assist you?"
"By advising me as to what I should do with Sir Henry Baskerville, who arrives at Waterloo Station"--Dr. Mortimer looked at his watch--"in exactly one hour and a quarter."
"He being the heir?"
"Yes. On the death of Sir Charles we inquired for this young gentleman and found that he had been farming in Canada. From the accounts which have reached us he is an excellent fellow in every way."

[Simon Hogwood]

Thanks - now I have to find this book. The line,

possibly one of the few times Holmes has been menaced by a Gatling gun

in the review clinches it.

I love interlibrary loans.

I'm also quite fond of this book. The best story is probably the first - "A Study in Emerald", by Neil Gaiman - it alone was worth tracking the book down for. The twist at the end is mindblowing, but that's all I'm saying.

The rest of the stories weren't bad either. It was particularly interesting how Holmes was portrayed differently, sometimes as a skeptic and other times as having prior knowledge of Cthulhu, et al.

Speaking of Holmes pastiche, has anybody read PJ Farmer's Adventure of the Peerless Peer? Is it any good?

[CinnamonAndSpite]

O'Hebel Wring: you HAVEN'T seen Jeremy Brett as Holmes?

Oh, really... look. I don't want to press the issue, as you say: you are a traditionalist, and I can respect that.
But those BBC versions were extremely faithful to the texts, and he is absolutely wonderful as Holmes. Many say he is the best. I agree with them.

You should at least check some of them out. It's wonderful to get a good BBC art director's take on what Victorian London was like.

Agreed. While Rathbone was my second love (Holmes of the Book being my first), Brett was Holmes. He remains a favorite love of mine, and I have half the DVD Holmes in my Collection. Having long been a devoted Holmes fan, I must give this series my ardent thumbs up. I also appreciated how Watson was not portrayed as a blithering idiot, which I always find most distracting.

Christopher Plummer made a pretty good Holmes movie, called Murder by Decree, with James Mason as Watson.  It involved the Whitechapel murders.

Yes! That movie was quite brilliant from what I remember!

As for Holmes and Steampunk, I would say that more than being so much a literal Steampunk setting, it should be put on the great list of influences. So many Victorian Archetypes, characters, stylings can be gleaned from Arthur Conan Doyle's books that it makes them more than worthy to list as must-haves in a Steampunk's library. However, this is a point of view from someone who was long a Victorianaphile, and lived a great deal of my young life inside books from the period.

[Atterton]

I actually have the collected works laying next to me, and it does have The Creeping Man in it. I hadn´t gotten around to reading that but I will now. There was indeed an air rifle, the weapon often used by Moriarty´s second in command and made by a blind german weapons manufacturer. Who knows what other kind of technological marvels that german might have made ehh?  Shadows Over Baker Street is good, but I prefer the story The Hanged Man´s Puzzle from it.

[Dax]

Agreed. While Rathbone was my second love (Holmes of the Book being my first), Brett was Holmes. He remains a favorite love of mine, and I have half the DVD Holmes in my Collection. Having long been a devoted Holmes fan, I must give this series my ardent thumbs up. I also appreciated how Watson was not portrayed as a blithering idiot, which I always find most distracting.

Christopher Plummer made a pretty good Holmes movie, called Murder by Decree, with James Mason as Watson.  It involved the Whitechapel murders.

Yes! That movie was quite brilliant from what I remember!

As for Holmes and Steampunk, I would say that more than being so much a literal Steampunk setting, it should be put on the great list of influences. So many Victorian Archetypes, characters, stylings can be gleaned from Arthur Conan Doyle's books that it makes them more than worthy to list as must-haves in a Steampunk's library. However, this is a point of view from someone who was long a Victorianaphile, and lived a great deal of my young life inside books from the period.

At the risk of repeating myself, and of showing my age, seeing Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke on stage in The Secret of Sherlock Holmes is one of my best memories from my time in London. 

And I agree, I truly enjoyed watching Murder by Decree.  I also recommend Young Sherlock Holmes. 

[CinnamonAndSpite]

You saw it on stage? You tempt me to envy!!!

[Dax]

You saw it on stage? You tempt me to envy!!!

I did indeed, 18 years ago at the Wyndham Theatre, near Leicester Square.  It was a two-man production, written for Brett and Hardwicke, and the stage was a representation of 221b Baker Street. 

I've also had a few drinks in the Sherlock Holmes Pub at Charing Cross, formerly the Northumberland Arms Hotel - anyone get the reference?  And on my way to work every day, I would travel the length of Baker St, passing the plaque at the site of 221b.  Since then, I've seen the Holmes museum on Baker St.

As far as plays go, I've also seen Martin Landau performing the title role in Dracula, at the Kennedy Center.  And for those of you who are fortunate enough to still live in the UK, I understand that The Woman in Black is still running in the west end.  Its worth seeing.

Damn, I'm old...

[CinnamonAndSpite]

*nearly faints from envy*