Still vividly remember Brett’s expressions and mannerisms as Holmes from the mid-eighties when I watched the episodes on TV on saturday evenings. In fact, I think I idolized Brett/Holmes as the epitome of high-strung über-cool.
I somehow missed this until now. I’ve been watching the Brett series on PBS (Tor/Buff) since spring. He’s fabulous!
Brett is best, for all the reasons stated.
But Rathbone remains my favourite.
To be fair, Brett has the advantage of appearing in better-written material. Basil Rathbone movies aren’t much like the Doyle stories. It’s somewhat like comparing Sean Connery to Roger Moore as James Bond.
Still and all, Brett rox Sherlock Holmes. I got a very slight gay vibe from the performance, which added to the complexity of the Holmes character. No wonder he never married!
And the scene in The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot where he gives up cocaine and buries his syringe remans the most memorable moment in the Holmes canon.
Okay, along with all the others.
[grumble]Argh! Damn work interfering with discussion of one of my favorite subjects! I’m late but can finally contribute something.[/grumble]
Yes, Brett! I still remember how astounded I was in the late 1980s seeing the series on PBS. Absolutely brilliant acting on all parts, great sets, wonderful writing. It caused me to go out and buy a set of the stories and was astounded to see that many of the lines were lifted directly from Doyle’s writing. This changed by the time of the later adaptations but by that time I was hooked and heading towards being obsessed. Brett is still the perfect Holmes for me for all of the reason listed by others.
In the Sherlockian world this can be quite a contentious debate. Many steadfastly prefer Rathbone and there are many who despise Brett. I think Rathbone does a decent job but it hampered by piss-poor scripts and a bumbling Watson that is forced upon the world. There are earlier portrayals of Holmes that are seldom seen but who many claim are brilliant. These include Clive Brook from 1930 and Peter Cushing from a 1968 BBC series, but for me none hold a candle to Brett.
Elendil’s Heir, I’m very envious of you having seen The Secret of Sherlock Holmes. In 1989 I was in London on vacation but did not realize that the play was on. (This was early in my interest.) On the day I had to leave London I stepped out of a bookstore, looked up the street, and saw the marquee announcing the play. It is one of my biggest regrets that I didn’t know of it the night before so that I could have attended.
Jeremy Brett got me hooked on the subject and now Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle are my primary hobby. This has lead to having a library with 700+ books and magazines on the subject, friends and contacts throughout the world, me being considered a leading expert on Doyle, and my introduction to the SDMB because of Dex’s article on Sherlock Holmes a number of years ago.
Another vote for the divine Jeremy Brett. Wonderful.
Mycroft H., did you peek in on that thread where I was asking for suggestions for what to get my boyfriend for Christmas? He’s a big Sherlock fan and I was originally going to get him one of those original annual Strand collections and “something else”, and I was asking for suggestions for “something else”, but now my Alibris order has fallen through and I’m torn on what to get him. I don’t want to spend a metric asston (and you can, VERY easily, on this) but I want to get him something really, really cool.
Whenever I read any Holmes story now (as I am wont to do, every couple years), I see Jeremy Brett in my head. 100% perfect in every way.
I particularly enjoy that lightning-fast, fleeting smile he uses when Sherlock is pleased. Brilliant!
Zsofia, no, I missed your earlier thread. There are periods when I don’t hit the Board as much as I would like to. I’ve found it and will read through it to make sure I don’t suggest something that has already been discussed or otherwise make a fool of myself.
As long as there is still time, I would love to give some thoughtful input. If you want to contact me directly, please do so. (E-mail address should be current.) A definition of “metric asston” would help determine a budget and gauge a response.
Last year my wife got me the Soviet version of Holmes with Vasilij Livanov. Very well done as long as you don’t mind reading subtitles. Livanov got an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his efforts. But, in returning to the OP, still not as good as Brett!
I like Tom Baker in the old BBC “The Hound Of The Baskervilles”: Sherlock Holmes played by Doctor Who as Doctor Who.