I have reviewed a ton of Sherlock Holmes films over the years since I am a huge fan of the original Conan Doyle stories. However, despite enjoying these films, I must admit that the many movies up until "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" have really done a disservice to the stories. Part of this is because they so often strayed from the original stories (which were gems) and partly because they portrayed Holmes in ways that were totally different from the stories.
The Sherlock Holmes the public assumes is from the Conan Doyle stories is actually mostly the product of the actor William Gillette. On stage and in silent films, he popularized the image of the deerstalker cap (which Holmes only really wore when traveling in the country--if even then), the curved pipe and the phrase "elementary, my dear Watson". Instead, in the books the Conan Doyle character would have dressed and acted exactly the way Jeremy Brett did in these TV mini-movies.
It's obvious that the makers of these films really cared. Holmes was like Holmes and the plots were almost always exactly like the stories with only the smallest of changes to fit the time frame and tell a cohesive story.
See these films. They are literate, intelligent and trust the original source material. I congratulate all those involved in these beautiful shows. Unfortunately, however, Jeremy Brett passed away a few years back and we won't see any more of these Holmes shows, though it is fortunate that before his death they brought so many of them to the screen. Too bad one of my favorites ("The Four Orange Pips") wasn't one of them. However, my very favorite ("A Scandal in Bohemia") was!
The Sherlock Holmes the public assumes is from the Conan Doyle stories is actually mostly the product of the actor William Gillette. On stage and in silent films, he popularized the image of the deerstalker cap (which Holmes only really wore when traveling in the country--if even then), the curved pipe and the phrase "elementary, my dear Watson". Instead, in the books the Conan Doyle character would have dressed and acted exactly the way Jeremy Brett did in these TV mini-movies.
It's obvious that the makers of these films really cared. Holmes was like Holmes and the plots were almost always exactly like the stories with only the smallest of changes to fit the time frame and tell a cohesive story.
See these films. They are literate, intelligent and trust the original source material. I congratulate all those involved in these beautiful shows. Unfortunately, however, Jeremy Brett passed away a few years back and we won't see any more of these Holmes shows, though it is fortunate that before his death they brought so many of them to the screen. Too bad one of my favorites ("The Four Orange Pips") wasn't one of them. However, my very favorite ("A Scandal in Bohemia") was!