Sherlock Holmes

[kensei]

I finally just saw "Sherlock Holmes" with Robert Downey Jr. Great film, but disappointed that at no point in it does Downey put on a deerstalker. Even with the new take on Holmes as an action hero type, the familiar garb would have been nice to see at least in some scenes. But I couldn't help but raise my eyebrows a bit at how Holmes' nemesis Lord Blackwood is arrested for the murders of five women that have taken place before the film begins as part of a black magic plot. Anyone else think Jack the Ripper had a none too subtle influence on the film's writers in that part? I'm not sure what year it is supposed to take place in, but it shows Tower Bridge under construction which took place between 1886 and 1894, encompassing the Ripper murders.

And just as an aside, there is a scene near the end where the characters run through underground tunnels from Parliament to Tower Bridge in what seems like only minutes. Quite an accomplishment when they are actually three miles apart. But ah well, that's dramatic license for you.

[Mycroft]

As far as I am aware, Holmes rarely wore the deerstalker in the Conan Doyle books. The idea that Holmes always wore a deerstalker has been put into people's heads by Hollywood and Basil Rathbone's portrayal of the character.

[Madam Red]

It was really only the illustrations where Holmes wore that outfit. Not in the actual books, if I recall.

But yeah, I noticed that as well, the second time I watched it. But these five woman- and nearly a six- were apparently of the upper classes.

[Steven Russell]

Doyle never described Holmes as wearing a deerstalker. The illustrator, Sidney Paget, is the man responsible for that image of the great detective. From memory, I think it was in "Silver Blaze" though I may be wrong on this. Holmes only ever wore his "ear flapped travelling cap" when venturing out into the country. He would never have worn it in town. Likewise the Inverness cape.

Regards,

Steve.

[The Grave Maurice]

A gentleman of that era would never have worn a deerstalker in town. The deerstalker was a hat for the country only. When in the city, Holmes would have worn a bowler or top hat. And Madam is right: the text never mentions a deerstalker, but only a "peaked" hat. It was Sidney Paget, the first illustrator, who decided it was a deerstalker.

[The Grave Maurice]

I'm sorry, Steve, I didn't mean to step on your excellent answer. My daughter came home in the middle of my reply, and I didn't notice your response.

[Steven Russell]

No problem, Maurice.

Regards,

Steve.

[Steven Russell]

Dear all,

I've just watched what must be one of the weirdest (and worst) SH movies ever. Simply called "Sherlock Holmes" and made in 2009, it aired last night on the Syfy channel which should, I suppose, have put me on my guard. I sat stupefied through the whole thing. Anyone else watch this bizarre effort?

Regards,

Steve.

[Mycroft]

Dear all,

I've just watched what must be one of the weirdest (and worst) SH movies ever. Simply called "Sherlock Holmes" and made in 2009, it aired last night on the Syfy channel which should, I suppose, have put me on my guard. I sat stupefied through the whole thing. Anyone else watch this bizarre effort?

Regards,

Steve.

Personally, I am physically unable to watch any tv or film called Sherlock Holmes, that does not have Jeremy Brett in it.

[Steven Russell]

Dear Mycroft,
I agree completely with you that Jeremy Brett is the best Holmes ever to hit the screen. But I feel you are doing yourself a disservice by refusing to watch Peter Cushing or Basil Rathbone. Please do try the BBC audio recordings with Clive Merrison as Holmes and Michael Williams as Watson. They are every bit as good as Brett and Hardwicke, and that's GOOD.

Regards,

Steve.

[Jonathan H]

I saw the Downey Jr 'Sherlock' and thought it was a God-awful abomination.

Of course, if you are a purist then nothing can ever equal Jeremy Brett on the small screen in the '80's. As for features nothing will ever come close to the Basil Rathbone 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' (1939).

I am not a purist and am happy to see interesting adaptations of the original, such as Nicholas Meyer's 'The 7% Solution' from the mid-70's where Holmes and Sigmund Freud team up to solve a case, and the detective's addiction. Even the flat-footed Michael Caine vehicle, 'Without a Clue', had its moments.

Tim Burton's recent merging of 'Alice' and 'Oz' is, I think, superb.

But this ...

A disgraceful excuse of a movie -- already a frenetic computer game -- and so ashamed of its literary origins that it never lets the excellent Downey Jr have a proper go at the role. It's just one tedious CGI explosion/chase/fight after another.

Yet another depressing example of the infantalizing of popular culture.

[belinda]

Personally, I am physically unable to watch any tv or film called Sherlock Holmes, that does not have Jeremy Brett in it.

I feel the same way

[kensei]

Well, I confess to not being as well versed in the history of Holmes on the screen as some of the rest of you. I saw the 1959 Peter Cushing version of "The Hound of the Baskervilles" at a recent sci-fi/fantasy con (which was good and featured Christopher Lee), and I vaguely remember seeing 1970's "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes" with Robert Stephens as Holmes, which involved the Loch Ness Monster and from what I now read on Wikipedia to refresh my memory sounds absolutely godawful (Holmes doing drugs, pretending to be gay, etc.) although it also featured Christopher Lee who is always a class act. I've read HOTB, which I absolutely loved, and also "Sherlock Holmes Vs. Dracula- The Adventure of the Sanguinary Count" by Loren D. Estleman, a really skillful blending of Bram Stoker's tale with Holmes injected into it.

But let's not beat up on Downey's effort too much, ok? I thought it was very enjoyable. I especially liked the sequences in which Holmes was fighting and was able to project the fight half a dozen moves forward in time in his mind in able to win. These days in the movies, in which there seems to be very few original ideas left, it's just kind of what we have to accept. Sometimes I go with it and sometimes I don't. The 2004 Clive Owen-Keira Knightley version of "King Arthur" I thought was a huge disappointment. But now we have Russel Crowe's "Robin Hood" coming this summer. Let's all cross our fingers!

[Robert]

Hi Mycroft

I don't remember Rathbone ever wearing a deerstalker. Perhaps he did for the one or two films they made that were set in Victorian times, but surely not for the contemporary WW2 films?

[Steven Russell]

Rathbone

Try a Google image search for Basil Rathbone. You will see him in a dreerstalker in about half of the images.