The earliest American film adaptation of Sherlock Holmes was in 1916 when actor William Gillette portrayed Holmes in a silent film.
A 1922 Sherlock Holmes movie starred John Barrymore as Holmes and Roland Young as Dr. Watson.
Young as Dr. Watson is shown on left and Barrymore as Sherlock Holmes is on right.
In this 1939 film Nigel Bruce (on left) was cast as Dr. Watson and Basil Rathbone (on right) as Holmes.
André Morell was cast as Dr. Watson (on left) and Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes (on right) in this 1959 movie.
The 1988 British comedy Without a Clue featured two of the Briton's best-loved actors, Michael Caine (on left) as Holmes and Sir Ben Kingsley (on right) as Watson.
This Sherlock Holmes movie turns the tables with the novel premise that Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character created by Dr. Watson to allow him to solve crimes incognito.
However, when the public demands to see Holmes in person, he hires an alcoholic unemployed actor, Reginald Kincaid (played by Michael Caine), to play Holmes.
Jeremy Brett (on left) as Sherlock Holmes and David Burke (on right) as Dr. Watson appeared in a series of Sherlock Holmes movies. Edward Hardwicke later replaced David Burke as Dr. Watson in the Jeremy Brett series.
Until the latest movie, most agreed that Jeremy Brett was the best Sherlock Holmes. The consensus seemed to be that he played the definitive Sherlock Holmes roll.
Charlton Heston played the part of Sherlock Holmes when it played in Los Angeles for two months ending January, 1981. It is interesting that Jeremy Brett, who played the best Sherlock Holmes roll on camera, played the roll of Dr. Watson in the LA production of the stage play, which featured Charlton Heston as Sherlock Holmes.
The latest Sherlock Holmes movie stars Jude Law as Dr. Watson (on left) and Robert Downey, Jr. as Sherlock Holmes (on right).A short preview of this movie found on the Internet shows enough unrealistic violence and action one would expect them to be wearing Superman suits. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is probably rolling over in his grave.
Re-runs of the Jeremy Brett series have been airing on Public Broadcasting. They were filmed about 20 years ago and are nearly as popular here in America as they were in Britain when they were first released.
They are in black & white and appear to have authentic scenery and props. I watch them when I get the chance and enjoy the old trains and horse-drawn carriages, which seem to be appropriate for 1880’s London.
A picture of my cave
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