I watched 2 of the Jeremy Brett as Holmes episodes last night. I’m convinced that Brett is the best Holmes ever. I’ll be watching two more tonight.
I used to be a huge Basil Rathbone as Holmes fan, but Brett is better. Aside from the fact that they actually talk about him using Cocaine (which never happened in the old shows), he really brings out the twitchy, anti-social, eccentric Holmes. Burke as Watson is much better than Nigel Bruce ever was, too.
Anyone have a different opinion? Why?
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I agree, Brett was (for me) by far the best. I can’t watch any Holmes without comparing them (unfavorably) to him. It’s a shame he died relatively early in life.
Jeremy Brett is Sherlock Holmes. Basil Whatshisname is just a wanna-be
Who’s Burke? I thought that Edward Hardwick (sp?) played Watson in the Jeremy Brett series. And Harwick is the best Watson. With him, you can actually imagine Watson as being a competant doctor (albeit one who’s lousy at solving mysteries )
Au contaire’ my friend. The 1939 movie “The Hound of the Baskervilles” did mention, obliquely, to Holmes’ use of cocaine. The last line of the movie “Watson, the needle” was not restored in prints until 1975 according to this site .
I was a 14 year old, and as I was big Holme’s fan at the time my mom took me to some art theatre in Akron (didn’t know we had any of those) to see this limited re-release. I remeber quite clearly the advertisements mentioning the drug-use being alluded to.
I second the opinion of Nicol Williamson, I love “The 7 Percent Solution”. Wonderful pastiche.
So, who’s the best Watson from the Granada series? Burke or Hardwicke?
Pistols at dawn, sir. My seconds shall call upon yours.
David Burke was the first gentleman to play Dr. Watson opposite Jeremy Brett for the Granada television series “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes”. He was later replaced with actor Edward Hardwicke. Both men did a great job and while, I lean towards Hardwicke as the better of the two at capturing the essense of the retired army doctor, I enjoyed them both.
Another vote in favour of the unbeatable Brett/Burke partnership. Brett is a sad loss.
How about a nomination for the worst Homes and Watson combination? My vote would go to Christopher Plummer and James Mason in Murder by Decree. It’s one thing to complain that Watson shouldn’t be a bumbling idiot as per Nigel Bruce, but Holmes as a bumbling idiot? Dr Watson (Mason) had to run the whole show in that film with Holmes (Plummer) routinely stumbling into traps and needing to be physically carried by the good doctor at one point.
Before I saw the Granada series I always pictured Holmes as Basil Rathbone - but since it HAS to be Jeremy Brett.
He really ‘fleshed out’ the character - a lot of the Holmes stories don’t really give too much personal detail to the role - but Brett’s portrayal is masterly…
As for the ‘nastiness’ and ‘drugs’ aspect - the BBC in the UK recently screened a version of Hound of the Baskervilles starring Ian Hart as Holmes
He wasn’t bad either - the drugs angle was - if anything - OVERdone really but the ‘nastiness’ was left-out mostly (and Watson was played quite ‘dumb’) - the entire thing would be an ‘acquired taste’ to a Brett-fan but it passed the time
I can’t recommend the Granada/Brett SH series enough tho - fabulously well done they are…
(Star Trek fans will note that a member of the TNG cast even appears in one - who, shall remain a mystery for now
Jeremy Brett is about the best Holmes I’ve ever seen. I loved the Granada/WGBH productions (at least untilo the end, when Brett was dying but they pumped the series anyhow with a set of bloated narratives). I’ve heard that Peter Cushing did a set of Holms shows that were never released in America, but were quite good. I’ve aso seen John Wood on stage (in the Royal Shakespeare Company production of the Doyle/Gillette play “Sherlock Holmes”) and thought he did an excellent job.
As for th worst Holmes – What about
Roger Moore (!!!) in the TV movie “Sherlock Holmes in New York”. Good story, awful casting all around.
Charlton Heston (!!) in “Crucifer of Blood”. I like Heston, politics aside, but he’s no Holmes.
Reginald Owen in “A Study in Scarlet” – the world’s only fat Sherlock Holmes. Holmes should never be fat. Or use a telephone.
I also hated the guy in the very recent PBS adaptation of “The Hound of the Baskervilles”. Holmes as a young smartass is a bad idea. Especially with an unconvincing CGI dog.
Most of the Peter Cushing Holmes programmes were deleted by the ever-lovable BBC … who have redeemed themselves, partly, by making the Cushing version of The Hound of the Baskervilles available on VHS and DVD as part of the BBC Special Interests range. It’s available in PAL or NTSC video, or Region 0 PAL.
Not having seen this one yet myself, I’d agree that Jeremy Brett was the best Holmes. The latest Hound adaptation wasn’t really all that good.
IIRC, he suffered from severe depression (to the point of making at least one public service-type announcement about depression) and played Holmes as a fellow sufferer.
A biography came out a few years back, which included pics of him from War and Peace with Audrey Hepburn. The book was a bit overdone, however.
Having seen a good chunk of Holmes and Holmes-related things (Do see "They Might be Giants!)
I discovered the Granada Jeremy Brett Holmes series in sixth grade and I’ve LOVED it ever since. I’m pretty sure I’ve watched every episode within an hour of my home. I’m not quite sure which one it is, but I remember a spectacular episode where he does some leaping over chairs. He’s so spot on it’s just amazing. I love their version of the Hound of the Baskervilles, as well as pretty much all the others. Great stuff.
Oh, and UncaStuart, you’re right! It’s too weird to see him as dapper little Freddy Einsford Hill.
A bit of a nitpic, capacitor– Holmes was never addicted to cocaine – he turned to it for relief when the world provided nothing in the way of adequate intellectual stimulation for him. It was a distraction from boredom.
I don’t recall the Jeremy Brett version of Silver Blaze – how did they work it in? There’s no mention of cocaine at all in the story, unless I am much mistaken.
With regards to the OP, Jeremy Brett was born to play Sherlock Holmes, and that series did more to redeem the authentic image of Holmes after the disservice that Hollywood did to him. I don’t know who that wooly old fellow with the deerstalker and the Meerschaum pipe was, but he sure as hell wasn’t Sherlock Holmes. Good on him for hunting down those Nazis, though. :rolleyes:
All versions of Holmes have something to recommend them. Even the recent travesty of Hound of the Baskervilles was fun gothic horror with Richard E. Grant doing a great turn. “Sir, I must confess… I covet your skull.” (Yes, I know the line got transposed in this version, but it was a great delivery) …I love “Young Sherlock Holmes” too.
But… Jeremy Brett simply owns. It just isn’t even close.
MPI Home Video is releasing their second round of Brett/Granada DVDs this Winter. Hound of the Baskervilles just came out a couple of weeks ago. I’m hesitant to buy more of them, however, because the quality control is so bad. I bought the box set and only two of five discs would even play. Exchanged it for a new set, and had the same problem across multiple DVD players. Emailed MPI about many times, never got a single response.
So I’m saving up for the super-expensive but undoubtedly high quality Japanese DVDs.
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