DB7

Arthur Wontner deserves a mention too as his quickies were probably the first Holmes talkies.

penfold

Eille Norwood was terrific as Holmes....and the only film Holmes to have the personal approval of Conan Doyle....

Bit of a Bay Window, what??

batman

They were indeed. Wontner is almost the 'forgotten' Holmes because his films were overshadowed by Rathbone's. They were, however, incredibly successful on both sides of the Atlantic. I like Wontner but his performances tended to be quite smug, something which affected Rathbone's performances towards the end of his series.

I have seen several of Norwood's silent Holmes films and I think they are very good, especially as they are set in the 20s and you get to see a lot of that world via the location filming.

Wontner also appeared with Max in Sea Devils.

Bats.

I wish I had claws.

Windthrop

Clive Brook was the first talking Holmes in a couple of movies - niether are great and as so often Brook was cast because he English and well bred rather than suitable for the part. The one I want to see - though only the visuals survive (though ingenious technology and impersonations from the voice actors based on other performances from the cast could, I'm sure rectify that) - is the british 1932 version of the Hound with Robert Rendel. Who though a bit short was apparently considered quite good.

batman

I have seen Brook in Sherlock Holmes Master Detective and it is truly dreadful. I gather the earlier Brooks' movie Return of Sherlock Holmes (which does indeed pre-date Wonter's as the first talkie Holmes, my mistake in the earlier post) is even worse. Raymond Massey also had a go in those early days in one of my favourite Holmes stories, The Speckled Band. One of Brooks' Watsons, Reginald Owen was a most unsuitable Holmes in A Study In Scarlet which bore no relation to Doyle's story. He was the first of many unsuitable Holmes who have included Patrick MacNee, Edward Woodward, Stewart Granger and Roger Moore. I did, however, enjoy Charlton heston and Richard Johnson in The Crucifer of Blood. I saw a stage version of that film about fifteen years ago and the actor playing Holmes was really awful ..... it was Mark Greenstreet.

Bats.

I wish I had claws.

Windthrop

I saw Greenstreet - wooden and spoke too quickly. Bits of set fell down during the performance but he just ploughed on rather ad lib.

mariocki

Rathbone was great but the films suffered IMO because of the buffoonery of Nigel Bruce's Watson which didn't accurately reflect the Conan Doyle books. Brett was superb though and his portrayal followed the books more closely.
As for Hound Of The Baskervilles, I actually quite enjoyed Tom Baker's portrayal in the BBC production.

image45

Douglas Wilmer is definitely a Holmes I would love to see some more of!

"Seya next time!"

batman

You summed his performance up perfectly Windthrop. I wish bits of the set had fallen off when I saw it, at least we'd would have something to smile about.
Bats.

I wish I had claws.

Aaryk Noctivagus

I never minded Nigel Bruce at all... what spoils the Rathbone adventures for me was the updating to WWII... understandable in the times they were made... but completely spoil the later outings for me. They seemed to become frightfully silly and progressively poorly conceived.

mariocki

As a standalone character I didn't mind him but having read the books he just didn't ring true.

Windthrop

I agree about the updating - budget concerns no doubt. I would still recommend The Scarlet Claw and Faces Death as above average examples.

Aaryk Noctivagus

I thought it was mainly to do with WWII progaganda, so that the Nazis could be the bad guys - couldn't stay Victorian and have the Nazis

Windthrop

The Fox films were major budget films - support casts like Richard Greene, Ida Lupino etc. Fox had problems making 'A' films that had essentially character actors in the leads (albeit major ones) instead of conventional male and female leads. Thats one of the reasons they were discontinued. Universal picked up the franchise and modern dress was cheaper. They aren't all war based but many do exploit the 'blighty at war' scenario - the morale boosting speechs by Rathbone (one with Watson at the wheel of a car infront of a perilously thin looking back-projection and Watson steering of the vehicle bearing no relation to the said back-projection !) and as you've mentioned the nazi villains who were the favorite bogeymen of the time. They are in their own way entertaining and memorable even if there are too many left-hand drive cars in this country and the lady behind the bar in Faces Death has an accent that doesn't place itself geographically on this planet !

Harleybloke

Jeremy Brett, then 'King Bas'.

.....You couldn't hear it, if they were shooting at me with howitzers!