Comments on: The Adventure of the Old School Fansite

The Adventure of the Old School Fansite

Iridic — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 13:49:51 -0800

Sherlock Holmes on Stage & Screen is a gallery of almost every significant actor who has ever played the great detective. Among their ranks are William Gillette, who was able to build himself a castle in Connecticut with the proceeds from his Holmes portrayal; Charlton Heston, who enacted a version of The Sign of Four onstage; Jeremy Brett, the superlative television Holmes; and, of course, Basil Rathbone, the South African actor whose name became synonymous with the role.

By: Iridic

Iridic — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 13:51:22 -0800

Unfortunately, Stage & Screen leaves off at some point around 2000. The best resource for tracking down post-millenial Holmes actors is IMDB's character search. It omits stage Holmes, of course, but makes up for it by including plenty of foreign film Sherlocks. Of these, one standout is O Xangô de Baker Street, which improbably casts Joaquim de Almeida as Holmes.

By: black bile

black bile — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 13:52:22 -0800

Warning: embedded audio.

By: Iridic

Iridic — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 13:56:49 -0800

Damn. Sorry about omitting the audio warning. And here's the corrected link for the IMDB search.

By: doctor_negative

doctor_negative — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 14:45:12 -0800

A good not-Sherlock Holmes movie, "They Might Be Giants", has George C. Scott playing a delusional Holmes in modern ('70s) Manhattan. A pretty good flick, IIRC.

By: MikeMc

MikeMc — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 14:58:41 -0800

Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce will always be the default Holmes and Watson in my mind. The only thing that tarnishes the memories of watching the old SH movies as a kid are the crappy "Holmes Vs. the Nazis" movies.

By: thomas j wise

thomas j wise — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 15:00:24 -0800

Sherlock Holmes on the Web is also hugely useful.

By: Steven C. Den Beste

Steven C. Den Beste — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 15:23:14 -0800

To me, Jeremy Brett was Sherlock Holmes. Once I saw him in the part I simply could not imagine anyone else playing the role.

By: PontifexPrimus

PontifexPrimus — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 15:41:19 -0800

Steven C. Den Beste: "To me, Jeremy Brett was Sherlock Holmes. Once I saw him in the part I simply could not imagine anyone else playing the role." I agree - those little facial twitches and quick smiles he did were incredibly fitting for the great detective. Too bad that his sickness showed in the later episodes; even if it looked somewhat fittting for an addicted, cocaine abusing Holmes it was still sad to compare his appearance and demeanor in those films with those first ones.

By: QuietDesperation

QuietDesperation — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 15:44:49 -0800

Funny how certain actors shape our imagninings. I'm with MikeMc - Basil Rathbone hit it just right for me. There is a certain element of hokum in Sherlock Holmes, which makes a bit of overplaying appropriate. The post-Rathbone Holmeses, in trying to be more "serious", miss the mark for me. No one can say, "The game's afoot" quite the way Rathbone did.

By: NinjaTadpole

NinjaTadpole — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 15:45:57 -0800

The older and iller Brett became, the more his angularity, hawkishness and pallor seemed to personify Holmes. He was good when he started, but he was exceptional when he died.

By: elendil71

elendil71 — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 16:22:13 -0800

A good not-Sherlock Holmes movie, "They Might Be Giants", has George C. Scott playing a delusional Holmes in modern ('70s) Manhattan. A pretty good flick, IIRC. I love this film. True, not really a Holmesian flick, unless you consider how much of an outsider Holmes would really have been in that era - or any I suppose. A rare cinematic gem about life on the fringes. And no-one did Holmes like Jeremy Brett. That bar is set in stone. Just watching his face in the dramatization of A Scandal in Bohemia, where Holmes comes as close as he's ever been to respecting a woman as an equal, is one of those "holy-crap" moments in television viewing history.

By: jacquilynne

jacquilynne — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 16:44:13 -0800

It's really a shame about the image resizing on that site. I'd have liked to see the details in the pictures more. Still, interesting and obviously a labour of love.

By: John Shaft

John Shaft — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 16:50:10 -0800

Speaking of performances, check out Robert Stephens in Billy Wilder's "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes". Absolutely terrific, especially in the final scene.

By: Man-Thing

Man-Thing — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 23:19:20 -0800

Jeremy Brett also played Watson opposite Chuck Heston on stage in the Crucifer of Blood. And, like John Shaft, I am a big fan of Wilder's film. I have it on laser disk (even though I don't own a laser disk player) and also on DVD. Christopher Lee played Mycroft Holmes in that movie, and has also played Sherlock on several occasions and Sir Henry Baskerville.

By: Summer

Summer — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 02:36:17 -0800

What about Rupert Everett?

By: kimdog

kimdog — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 05:22:54 -0800

Just another person here for whom Jeremy Brett will always be THE Sherlock Holmes. I was ter lashocked to find out that years earlier he had played Freddy in the film version of My Fair Lady with Audrey Hepburn (you know, before she was doing Gap commercials). Yup, that's him singing "The Street Where You Live". Look reaaaaaalllly closely.

By: Iridic

Iridic — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 07:15:26 -0800

Rupert Everett? A fine actor, but he's a little too square-jawed to be a proper Holmes. Among the current crop of actors, I'd much prefer another Jeremy to enact the part—Jeremy Northam. Once his hairline recedes a little more, that part will be his.

By: spiderwire

spiderwire — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 09:30:38 -0800

I just went to make sure they got Brent Spiner, and sure enough, they did. I am now satisfied.

By: squidfartz

squidfartz — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 10:50:24 -0800

Alan Rickman would make a wonderful Holmes. Then again, he could read the phonebook and I'd want front-row tickets.

By: Miko

Miko — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 12:34:40 -0800

Rickman could indeed do it - but there's no need. Brett's was definitive. If you're in that neck of the woods, and a Holmes junkie, do try to take a tour of Gilette's Castle. It's in a gorgeous state part, and he designed it to resemble a German ruin. It's complete with many quirky Holmesian features and a spooky hunting-lodge feel.

By: vronsky

vronsky — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:11:11 -0800

You are so right Quiet Deperation. I can hear him saying it in my mind right now. As a lad, I was so enamored of Rathbone's Holmes I named my dog Basil. Everyone thought it was from the herb (long A). Quickly got tired of trying to explain the Holme's connection. Subsequent dogs were all named Shep or Wolf or Jake.