I was introduced to Sherlock Holmes via the Conan Doyle short stories and books–you know, the way the Goddess intended. So, as Athena also intended, my mental image of Mycroft Holmes is of a big ole fat dude who could reasonably be portrayed by Robert Conrad, or perhaps Jeff Goldblum if he ate William Shatner first.
Now while I consider the best and truest format for a Holmes story to be CD’s text, I am not categorically opposed to the contemporary Holmes live-action adaptations. I enjoy watching Cumberbatch & Freeman interact; the Miller-Liu combo works in a completely different way, and it doesn’t hurt that Liu has great wheels often showed to advantage. (I suppose it’s possible there are good things to be said about the Downey movies but if so I don’t know what they are.) Nonetheless it bothers on a subtle–nay, auscultatory–level that the actors portraying Mycroft in the two TV series are both rail-thin. (I don’t recall what Mycroft looked lie in the movies as I put a great deal of effort into forgetting every moment of those…things.) Yes, I’m aware that Elementary!Mycroft was formerly globulous and lost weight due to leukemia or whatnot, and that Sherlock!Mycroft has been hinted to be formerly obese; they still both ring false to me. Presentist. Wrong.
But maybe that’s just me. Longtime Holmes fans: does a slender version of Holmes’ smarter brother seem off to you?
A bit. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie or TV adaptation that showed a truly fat Mycroft. Nicholas Meyer’s movie of his own book gave us Charles Gray as Mycroft, and he re-appeared in the role in the John Hawkesworth BBC/WGBH ones as Jeremy Brett’s brother. But he wasn’t fat. Christopher Lee played him the the Private Life of SH, but he wasn’t fat either (He’s also the only guy to play both Mycroft and Sherlock, IIRC). Neither of the current incarnations of Sherlock has a fat Mycroft.
Here’s the imdb page. I’m not familiar with all of these:
http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0036861/
I take it back – I se that Robert Morley played Mycroft in A Study in Terror. He’s definitely fat. But, on the other hand, he’s not a good Mycroft.
I actually haven’t gotten around to watching any of the adaptations you mention. If and when I do, I expect there will be so much “off” about them that a slender Mycroft will not be the one I focus on.
Possibly, but I’m not going to admit that. Instead I am going to claim that the hamsters ate a common and altered a pronoun in that sentence, which clearly should have read:
Mycroft Holmes is a big ole fat dude who could reasonably be portrayed by Robert Conrad, or perhaps Jeff Goldblum, if either ate William Shatner first.
I of course am not at fault. Anyone who disagrees is welcome to discuss the matter with my shotgun.
What about the adaptations CalMeachem mentioned? Like him, I can’t think of a truly fat Mycroft Holmes in film or tv either.
It did at first, but then so did the sniveling rat-like Professor Moriarty in BBC’s Sherlock. Then I got over it when I saw how fantastic they were at their roles.
When ever any of the current slim Mycrofts come on the screen, either my wife or I change the channel. It’s wrong. I always saw him (Mycroft) as sort of a Sidney Greenstreetesque character…but then again I always saw Greenstreet as the perfect Nero Wolf with Bogart as Archie, too.
Did I not EXPLICITLY say in the OP that the first man who reminded me of the merest aspect of those abominations would be stripped naked, bound & gagged, slathered with cooking grease, and dropped the a murder of crows?
It would bother me. When you’re adapting a literary character, and the source material references one solitary trait when describing that character, then your actor ought to have that trait. This is especially true in this case, since that trait points to the most significant difference between the brothers, and why Sherlock is the hero instead of Mycroft.
Mycroft is either a fat guy, or a Loonie dinkum thinkum. No other possibilities.
Greenstreet played Nero Wolfe on one of the radio adaptations. This is a shame, since you couldn’t see him, and see how appropriate he was. Rex Stout, who hated all such adaptations of his work (rightly, in most cases, I think) said that he liked Greenstreet at wolfe (although he didn’t necessarily approve of the show). I’[ve made the argument before on this Board that I suspect that the character of Gutman might have inspired Nero wolfe (He’s described in Hammett’s book as interlacing his fingers above his “central mound”, which is exactly the way Stout describes Wolfe. And “Maltese Falcon” appeared in the magazines before Stout’s first Nero Wolfe story. The jousting between Guttman and Spade is an awful lot like that between Nero and Archie, although not good-natured as theirs is.) I could easily imagine Stout, having seen Greenstreet embody the possible inspiration for Wolfe on the silver screen, and thus approving his playing the role.
Doesn’t bother me. I like when adaptations do their own thing. Following the source material slavishly is kind of boring. And in both versions very much do their own thing with Mycroft, taking only a few bits from the original stories. (plus, having a character that sits around in a Gentlemans club in NYC 2014 is a lot more bizarre than it would be in a story set in 1900).
Plus if that sort of thing bothers you, it seems kinda bizarre to pick the Mycroft character’s weight as the physical change that stands out, given the number of characters in that show that were given a completely different set of sexual organs.
I’m not into mystery and I never got into Holmes until the recent Ritchie adaptations. I know, I know, they are more adventure movies but they are great fun and I adore Jude Law and Downey, so there’s that. The only reason I even bring them up is to point out that movies like that bring even non-mystery fans like myself to the table. It actually made me go and read about half the books, which I have never done in my life.
But no, a skinny Mycroft has never bother me. Who the hell cares? It’s all about the acting. Can they pull it off? That’s what’s important.
The BBC show Sherlock has Mark Gatiss, who is not fat at all, and who does a wonderful, wonderful job.
Yes… Adaptions should be as close to the original as possible.
(Bummer about John Carter of Mars, given that Dejah Thoris is described as naked…)
At very least, if they’re going to make changes, there should be reasons for them. And an actual good reason for a large-bodied actor playing that part is that there aren’t enough roles out there for large-bodied actors! It’s accurate to the books and is beneficial to the acting community.
(Even worse than a slender actor would be a slender actor in a cushioned “fat suit.”)
No. As long as the actor gives the impression that he’s a shut-in, then they’ve captured Mycroft’s defining characteristic. So long as he gives the impression that he lives an insalubrious existence, a life devoid of physical exertion.
Now, a character like Stanley Yelnats, whose adiposity is a plot point – THAT’S grating as fuck.
While we’re waiting for the flaming bees to arrive, I’d like to point out that I know pairs of siblings with such a height dissimilarity. My oldest sister is about a foot taller than the one next to her in age, for instance.
There are many other reasons to dislike those movies, though the second one is saved by Moriarty.
Yes, Gatiss’ thinness in Sherlock bothers me a bit, but I figure it is meant to, like all the other things that have clearly been turned 180º, or, worse, 90º, or otherwise askew from the original. (I even find the slightness of Martin Freeman’s Watson a bit unsettling. I do not really recall how Watson is described in the books, and I certainly don’t expect him to be fat, but all the other screen Watsons I can recall have been fairly solid, husky fellows, and, in this respect Freeman seems wrong, and reminds me that I am not watching a regular Sherlock Holmes story.)
I figure this is all intentional, however. Sherlock is clearly meant to be discomforting; that is a large part of what makes it so gripping. The many ways it departs from the originals that we have become too used to, whilst still constantly referencing them, is a deliberate defamiliarization of the familiar, and is one (amongst several) of the ways in which the show unsettles us, and builds tension.