Posted on 02/12/2021 2:00:42 AM PST by nickcarraway
The first ever mention of Sherlock Holmes came in A Study in Scarlet, published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual of 1887. Dr Watson is looking for lodgings, and meets an old acquaintance who knows of someone he could share with, but does not recommend.
More than 130 years on, Holmes remains Watson’s, and our, almost constant companion. Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective landed a Guinness World Record for the most frequently portrayed human literary character in film and television in 2012, beaten only by the (non-human) Dracula. He remains enduringly popular on screen: when Benedict Cumberbatch plunged off the roof at the end of the second series of BBC1’s Sherlock, more than nine million viewers tuned in to find out what had happened to him. Last year, Netflix estimated that, in just four weeks, 76 million households watched Enola Holmes, starring Millie Bobby Brown as the sleuth’s little sister and Henry Cavill as Sherlock.
And then there are the endless literary takes. There are Anthony Horowitz’s sequels, or Andrew Lane’s tales of a teenage Holmes. Star basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has written novels about Holmes’s older brother Mycroft; Nancy Springer wrote the Enola Holmes books, giving Holmes and Mycroft a younger sibling. James Lovegrove has combined the worlds of Holmes and HP Lovecraft in the Cthulhu Casebooks. Nicholas Meyer’s forthcoming The Return of the Pharaoh is drawn “from the Reminiscences of John H Watson, MD”, while Bonnie MacBird’s The Three Locks, a new Holmes adventure, is out in March.
“My step-grandmother, Dame Jean Conan Doyle, tried hard to stop the world doing what it liked with her father’s fictional characters. In the end she realised this was a fruitless exercise,” says Richard Pooley, director of the Conan Doyle estate and step- great-grandson of the author.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Kareem Abdul Jabbar wrote novels about Mycroft???
That’s an interesting bitof info.
I don’t really think Mycroft was an interesting character in the original stories.
If Arthur Conan Doyle didn’t write it it’s not Sherlock Holmes.
It’s parasites using someone else’s creation.
“Kareem Abdul Jabbar wrote novels about Mycroft???”
That was interesting to me, too. I’ll probably look into it. Here’s one avenue for further reading with Holmes you might enjoy: Laurie R. King wrote a series that gives Holmes a wife, Mary Russell, who is also a detective protege.
bookmark
Such a style constrains the author to portray only what Dr. Watson can observe himself.
-PJ
Appending to my earlier comment: like many FReepers, I did not read the article before posting so did not know that Laurie King’s novels are mentioned later in the piece. Mea Culpa... However, I do still recommend them if you enjoy Holmes.
The best actor to portray the famous sleuth is Basil Rathbone.
He made 14 Sherlock Holmes movies with Nigel Bruce (Dr. Watson) in the 30s and 40s.
Many film historians and critics - including Alan Barnes — feel that Rathbone was the best at portraying Holmes.
Some of the movies you can watch for free on YouTube: t.ly/G173
I have to go with Jeremy Brett.
Rathbone also portrayed Holmes on radio.
I don’t care for his politics, but Kareem is a smart and interesting guy.
From fighting Bruce Lee in a movie, to winning Celebrity Jeopardy, to scoring more points than anyone in basketball.
Sherlock Holmes is from late 1800s London. Otherwise, it’s not Sherlock Holmes.
The best movie portrayal I saw was The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.
He was the best.
If you think that’s bad, try (and I mean try, desperately) to read some of Robert Ludlum’s ghost writers that they used to try to keep that franchise going after his death. Ugh
It's a lot easier to sell a book or story by stealing a loved established character - then to create your own.
The 'reimagining' BS is self-serving drivel for lazy talent-less writers.
(I can sell inferior candy if I'm allowed to call it M&M's. Too bad copyright laws don't allow for copyrighting a character...)
I agree about Jeremy Brett. In my opinion, the Granada series (41 episodes) was by far the most faithful adaptations of the original Doyle stories. Everything was presented in late 1800’s England ... no automobiles or other modern gadgets.
Brett studied Holmes and, most agree, became Holmes on the screen. Every mannerism, gesture and tone was backed up by the original stories.
Reading Holmes is more enjoyable.
The visuals are better. “Hello, the house”.
Christopher Lee was great. His voice is haunting.
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