A century-long mystery
Sherlock Holmes would not seem a natural subject for popular movie treatment. The man himself is an abstracted cold fish, his so-called adventures are resolved through cold rationality rather than by fisticuffs or gunplay, and there's scarcely a hint of romantic interest attached to his name. Moreover, he remains an enigma—we plumb few depths of character in studying his exploits in sixty stories and novels.
Yet, I can think of no other literary figure with nearly as numerous and diverse interpretations on screen, apart from the recurring monsters of the supernatural. Actors—often among the best of their generation—seem to relish the opportunity to portray this odd specimen of humanity. From the earliest days of cinema right up to the current year of writing, more than a century later, we get Sherlock Holmeses rolling out of film and television studios like clockwork.
For some reason, despite however definitive any interpretation may appear in its day, very shortly we the public keep wanting more Holmes.
There are few movies actually called The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, as that title refers to Arthur Conan Doyle's first collection of short stories about the Victorian-era detective (which is on our Greatest Literature list). However, the stories have been made into countless films and television features over the years all around the world, as have the novels and the stories from Doyle's previous and subsequent publications.
So we'll run through the various Holmes series and one-offs without worrying overly about which books they adapt—with special attention to the many attempts at The Hound of the Baskervilles, Doyle's purported masterpiece.
The
first actor associated with Sherlock Holmes—and who still holds
the record for appearances as the consulting detective—played him on film
only once. With Arthur Conan Doyle's endorsement,
American actor William Gillette rewrote Doyle's attempt at a
play, called simply Sherlock Holmes, and performed the lead thousands of times from 1899 to 1932. Gillette
introduced the deerstalker cap, the curved pipe and the phrase
"Elementary, my dear fellow", which have stuck to the character
as much as any features created by Doyle. He also humanized
Holmes and—horrors for Sherlockian purists!—had him fall in
love.
Holmes restored
No known copy of Gillette's silent movie of 1916 exists. The first movie adaptation of Sherlock Holmes had been a 1908 Danish silent film. British thespian Ellie Norwood became best known in this era for playing Holmes in forty-five shorts and two features from 1920 to 1923—the most silver-screen appearances as the sleuth by any actor then or since.
The most notable surviving entry of this time may be Sherlock Holmes (1922) with the great classical and film actor John Barrymore. As might be guessed this entry is based on Gillette's stage play, rather than directly on any one of Doyle's works.
In
the latter twentieth century, this film, once thought lost, was
rediscovered and restored, with more additions and revisions in
2001. Some sequences are still jumpy, mssing a few key frames—such as the one shown in this still when Holmes
(Barrymore) temporarily disarms arch villain Moriarty (Gustav von Seyffertitz).
For the most part though, we get a very good idea of both the
original film and the Gillette play.
The story cannibalizes a number of Holmes stories, particularly "A Scandal in Bohemia", and starts differently from the Doyle canon. Watson is an Oxford University student whose friend, a European prince, is framed for murder by a Moriarty-led gang. Watson turns to another classmate, Holmes, for help. When we first see the future detective he is wandering country lanes musing on philosophy and love. But after his first experience with criminality ends tragcially, he finds his calling and devotes his life to bringing Moriarty to justice.
The film follows, sometimes confusingly, the battle of wits between the two. It ends with justice triumphant and Holmes engaged to be married. Barrymore's famous profile is perfect for Holmes, his rheumy eyes are expressive and his athletic body appropriately graceful. One wonders what a great Sherlock he might have made if we also had the benefit of his commanding voice.
Roland Young's Watson is a non-entity once the story gets rolling, but the women have more to play with. Carol Dempster, who was barely twenty-one at the time, flashes her own big eyes finely as the love interest Alice Faulkner, who has letters that could blackmail the prince—a role similar to that of Holmes's "the woman" in the stories. Future gossip columnist Hedda Hopper is similarly effective as a villainess.
German actor Seyffertitz establishes the model for Moriarties to come. (But is it my imagination or is he made up to look, despite his name, like a stereotypical Shylock-style Jew?) Also, watch for future Thin Man detective William Powell in his first movie role as a Moriarty henchman.
At the end, as he is led away by cuffs, Moriarty hisses (or so we imagine) at Holmes: don't think for a minute this is the end. Alas, the two actors never meet again as rivals on screen, but their continuing battles are played out in countless films to come.
