Your Favorite Sherlock Holmes Movie?

[MissGoddess]

She had beautiful, feline eyes! And I always liked her voice...she sometimes spoke with what sounded like a southern accent...I don't know if it was real or not.

[feaito]

The 1979 "Murder by Decree" with Christopher Plummer and James Mason.

[JackFavell]

Those are beautiful, kingme.

[Mr. Arkadin]

Murder by Decree has its origins in Stephen Knight's Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution. A short documentary about the book, created in the mid-seventies with Knight, is now available on youtube:

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The first Holmes film I am aware of is Sherlock Holmes Baffled (1903), made by Biograph. There was also a Danish company that did a series of Sherlock movies, starting around 1908. I did record the 1922 Barrymore film recently on TCM, but I have not had a chance to watch it yet.

Here's a link that might be of some help:

http://www.worlds-best-detective-crime- ... ilm01.html

Another good source might be Willam K. Everson's OOP book The Detective in Film.

[feaito]

Thanks for those youtube links Mr. Ark.

[klondike]

From Wikipedia:

Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution is a book written by Stephen Knight first published in 1976. It proposed a solution to five murders in Victorian London that were blamed on an unidentified serial killer known as "Jack the Ripper".

In an attempt to solve the mystery, Knight presented an elaborate conspiracy theory involving the British royal family, freemasonry and the painter Walter Sickert. He concluded that the victims were murdered to cover up a secret marriage between the heir to the throne, Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, and Annie Elizabeth Crook, a working class girl. There are many facts that contradict Knight's theory, and his main source, Joseph Gorman (also known as Joseph Sickert), later retracted the story and admitted to the press that it was a hoax. Most scholars dismiss the theory as a fantasy, and the book's conclusion is now widely discredited.

Nevertheless, the book was popular and commercially successful, going through 20 editions. It was the basis for the film Murder by Decree and the graphic novel From Hell, as well as other dramatisations, and has influenced crime fiction writers, such as Patricia Cornwell and Anne Perry.

[MissGoddess]

I didn't know William K. Everson did a book on detectives in film, I might look that up, thank you Klon.

How dearly I'd love to see those early Biograph Sherlocks. Isn't it an amazingly enduring character????

[Rita Hayworth]

I didn't know William K. Everson did a book on detectives in film, I might look that up, thank you Klon.

How dearly I'd love to see those early Biograph Sherlocks. Isn't it an amazingly enduring character????

Miss Goodness and Klondike ... and Everyone Else
Being retired ... I read about 3-5 books a month, and I remembered William K. Everson did a book on detectives in film ... I may have to do a little (the title of the book) research on it ... but I do recalled checking it out at my local library. He does an excellent job helping all film-goers and film-lovers (in this particular genre) to understand more about it. It's highly recommended ... I read that book not to long ago.

[Mr. Arkadin]

From Wikipedia: There are many facts that contradict Knight's theory, and his main source, Joseph Gorman (also known as Joseph Sickert), later retracted the story and admitted to the press that it was a hoax. Most scholars dismiss the theory as a fantasy, and the book's conclusion is now widely discredited.

Never said the theory was true, just that Murder by Decree was based on Knight's book. Still, I remember seeing the documentary on PBS and checking out the film in the early eighties on Beta or VHS. I was around twelve at that time and while I was always a skeptical child (and still am) about conspiracy theories, that movie and doc scared the heck outta me!

I seem to remember Knight diving headlong into the subject of Freemasonry after his success with The Final Solution. I think he died of a brain tumor and fans of his books were blaming Freemasons for his death.

[klondike]

Hey, no question, Ark, Murder By Decree is a cool flick, regardless what level you enjoy it on (and you can even find little bits of homage to it in Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes); I just thought the postscript on Stephen Knight was an intriguing follow-up on the embeds . .
As for those wingnut theories on his sudden demise . . yeah, sure, all us traveling men have the power to control the vascular pressure inside other humans . .

[Mr. Arkadin]

No problem. I like Gone With the Wind, but find irritation with people who would see the film as historical fact, or an accurate view of the south.

Murder by Decree was mentioned by several as their favorite Holmes film and I thought I'd share a bit of its background for those who might be unaware. As I've said before, if I had to choose films based on historical accuracy, I wouldn't find many films that met my criteria. People who get their history from movie plots are rather foolish to put it kindly, but revisionist history, or a bit of fibbing often makes for a really good film.

Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke have always defined Holmes and Watson for me, but I must say there is something special about Plummer and Mason's performances in Murder by Decree. BTW, I liked your choices. Private Life and Seven Percent Solution are excellent deconstruction works of the Holmes persona and mystery movies in general.

[MissGoddess]

I finished The Pearl of Death last night...another good entry in the series to be sure. Interesting that the villain was such an insignificant looking little man. Rondo Hatton was scary, and pitiful, like Frankenstein's monster.

I wonder if Fleming was inspired by Holmes to create his 007 character?

[MikeBSG]

James Mason is wonderful as Watson in "Murder by Decree."

Isn't there a Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper movie from the Sixties that is based on an Ellery Queen novel?

There was a made for TV movie in the Seventies, "Sherlock Holmes in New York" that had Roger Moore as Holmes. What I remember the most about that was John Huston as Moriarity. He was terrific in that role.

I also like "They Might Be Giants," in which George C. Scott plays a modern man who thinks he is Holmes.

[Rita Hayworth]

James Mason is wonderful as Watson in "Murder by Decree."

Your assessment of James Mason as Watson is exactly how I felt about it. He was superb, crafty, and very supportive to Christopher Plummer who played Sherlock Holmes.

[JackFavell]