Mandragora

I am currently enjoying watching Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes in the series made for the BBC in 1968. Last night I watched this version of The Hound of The Baskervilles, bearing in mind all the time the wonderful version he made for Hammer. I thought it a creditable production and very well done, except two sequences where Watson stumbles across the cave where Holmes is hiding on the moor and a floorboard creaks as he enters the cave and in the final sequence when Sir Henry is attacked by the hound on the moor and part of the grass moves as Holmes and Watson rush to save Sir Henry. I accept these minor flaws in the best early Dr Who tradition of moving cave walls. Despite this ramble my main point here is to ask members which actor created their favourite Sherlock Holmes? I know there are odd ones here and there but I think that Jeremy Brett successfully redefined the role, creating a dark and melancholy figure, clearly subject to personal vices such as an occasional does of opium and an obsessional nature. I am also very fond of Peter Cushing’s gentlemanly characterisation. Oh and a mention for Douglas Wilmer as well, a quintessential English crime fighter of villains.

I was Amy Turtles sex slave...

batman

Personal Favourite: Basil Rathbone.
Most Accurate re 'The Canon': Jeremy Brett. Runner Up: Douglas Wilmer.

I know I am in a minority but I also like the Matt Frewer series from a few years ago, especially
the version of The Sign of Four.

Bats.

I wish I had claws.

Joenoir

I am not an authority of the great detective, but I enjoyed the 1940s series and Basil Rathbone's interpretation of the role. However, I did appreciate the more authentic take on the stories by the makers of the Jeremy Brett series. I'm not sure if there has ever been a successful version of The Hound of the Baskervilles?

Start every day with a smile and get it over with.

batman

I have seen many different versions and most of them have things in their favour.

IMHO Brett's version of The Hound Of The Baskervilles was hampered by a very slow pace and by not being able film actually on Dartmoor, but it did, of course have Brett himself.

Rathbone's version is my favourite. It is very atmospheric and Nigel Bruce's Watson hadn't at that point descended into comic buffoonery.

I watched a Russian version recently. It was very good but too 'Russian' to be fully effective for a Brit like me.

Cushing's film version is good and benefits enormously from a great portrayal of Watson by Andre Morell. His BBC version suffers in a similar way to Brett's but at least they filmed some of it on Dartmoor.

Of the more recent versions the Frewer one is the weakest in that series but I quite like the Richard Roxburgh film, although he was miscast.

The one I would love to see is a 1930s German version which is reputed to be excellent.

A totally successful version ... IMHO not yet ... but I live in hope.

Bats.

I wish I had claws.

christoph404

I really liked the Christopher Plummer James mason combo as Holmes and Watson, "Murder By Decree" but I would go with the popular consensus and rate Jeremey Brett as my favourite closley followed by Basil Rathbone.

billy farmer

my favourite movie holmes was basil rathbone and jeremy brett was my favourite tv holmes the other sherlock holmes actors i like are peter cushing, douglas wilmer, john neville, robert stephens, christopher plummer, ian richardson and nicholas rowe.

716Jones

Douglas Wilmer is definitely my fovourite Holmes. Basil Rathbone was very good, it was just that the films weren't! Should have got a better scriptwriter and stuck to the original Conan Doyle stories.

Windthrop

I think Rathbone is still the most memorable Holmes and although I initially I disliked the Cushing film it has grown on me and apparantly it very highly regarded amongst Sherlockiansand the Time Out film guide even sticks its neck and calls it the 'greatest Sherlock Holmes film ever made'. Well I haven't seen every Holmes movie but I do like the Baskerville curse retelling - it is the best of any of the versions. The film as a whole is very atmospheric which is where most of the other versions fail. Cushing was a fine if waspish Holmes. His TV series was one of the first made in colour and like a lot of TV around that era suffers from filmed location shots mixed with overlit studio interiors (and paper thin sets) which don't really match up.

Brett was, as Batman said, more 'canonical' and by and large faithful to Conan Doyle but the series sadly went off the rails when stretching short stories to feature length - The Eligible Batchelor and The Sussex Vampire were absurdly padded beyond recognition. The last series was a mistake because Brett was ill and should never have been made.

Ian Richardson could have been a fine Holmes but the adaptation were feeble despite a considerable amount of talent involved.

Rathbone, Brett and Cushing are still the yardsticks to my mind with Hammers Hound for all the liberties it takes the best film.

Aaryk Noctivagus

My Favourite Sherlock Holmes = Jeremy Brett

My Favourite Sherlock Holmes on the big screen = Robert Stephens

dremble wedge

Basil Rathbone for me as he was the first I saw although Brett is marvellous.

Peter Cushing was good as an elderly Holmes too in The Masks of Death although I remember the film being a bit dodgy.

I also liked John Neville in A Study in Terror and Christopher Plummer in Murder by Decree

D Cairns

Stephens and Brett are a nice couple, especially as they were best mates!

I like that Stephens is quite a distance from our concept of Holmes -- he's more like Oscar Wilde -- but can still connect to the role. After Rathbone fixed the image in all our heads, the best approach is to go for something quite different, but not TOO different. Peter Cook's interpretation didn't work, but Peter Cushing's was superb. The one thing that doesn't work for me is when the recent BBC attempts tried to make Holmes blandly handsome.

batman

One person who hasn't been mentioned is Ronald Howard who was in the 50s Tv series. Although the stories were generally pretty awful, I thought Howard was quite good as a younger Holmes, something which hadn't been seen at that time as far as I know.

Bats.

I wish I had claws.

Mandragora

My apologies for not including Basil Rathbone in my meagre list. I must take a peek at his version of The Hound of The Baskervilles. I also found the Brett version too slow. I like the Cushing BBC version as an example of TV drama of the time and a certain understatement in its production. It’s a long time since I read the book so I am not sure which the most accurate version is. As for a successful version then it’s interesting how filmmakers take a book and present it as a film sometimes with the statement ‘based on the story by.’ I think I have taken the versions I mentioned as seen, but I would be interested to read the book again and then view them. I am still waiting for a film of Bram Stokers Dracula that is faithful to the book. I wonder if the early German version of The Hound is available?

If I were handing out medals then I would give Brett and Cushing equal gold and Wilmer a bronze. I am saving the silver for when I have viewed more of Rathbone...

I was Amy Turtles sex slave...

Aaryk Noctivagus

Rathbone was the first I saw also... and reigned supreme until Brett came along... and then I saw Stephens. Rathbone is probably my number three

Aaryk Noctivagus

There will probably be two that don't work when we get to see Hollywood's new action Holmes interpretation.

http://www.moviesquad.com/category/Coming-to-a-theatre-near-YOU!/Sherlock-Holmes--action-adventure-sleuth/

The only hope for this project is that Neil Marshall is Directing.