[EveningStar]

ping

[Charles Henrickson]

There are three great portrayers of Holmes: William Gillette (the first and most prolific, but whose work was mostly pre-film); Basil Rathbone; and Jeremy Brett. I have seen everything Rathbone and Brett did, and they each are excellent.

Like Lord of the Rings and Hercule Poirot, so also with Holmes. The books are a unique and unbeatable experience, but the films (Jackson's LOTR, Suchet's Poirot, and Rathbone's and Brett's Holmes) are enjoyable also.

[Daveinyork]

Does the new movie Holmes smoke, or has political correctness done to Holmes what it has done to Bond?

[Ole Okie]

I acquired the complete canon of Sherlock Holmes when I was about 14 or 15. Ordered it from Sears and Roebuck around 1938. Still have it, aged and worn though it be.

Amazon offers most of the Holmes stories free on Kindle. There are some stories missing, evidently for political correctness, like “A Study in Scarlet”.

I always enjoyed Rathbone’s portrayal of Holmes.

[Blind Eye Jones]

in the stories, Doyle made Holmes into a morphine addict and habitual cocaine user – a quick line here and there in the movie would have surely explained some of the detective’s idiosyncrasy and behavior.

A quick line (no pun) wasn't needed. But there was a quick action that suggested it: Holmes drinking the eye solution. That eye solution was cocaine that Dr. Sigmund Freud thought highly of and had wanted to patent for eye surgeries (if memory serves me right). Downey has quite a history of drug abuse and maybe he didn't want any overt references.

I was relieved that there was no political subtext -- thinking at first that Holmes would be a new sponsor/hero for the recent atheist movement (adherence to science and all that) -- like other movies that are out this season. This film was refreshingly neutral. I'm liking neutral movies all the more and so will the public. Holmes to be enjoyed as Holmes, however, quirky and bohemian.

[Political Junkie Too]

It was the reinvention of Dr. Watson as a a charming and handsome man of action

I haven't seen the movie yet, but I've seen the Rathbone and Brett series, and read all the Doyle stories.

The Rathbone movies dumbed down the character of John Watson. The Brett series restored some of the original intent.

In the short stories, Dr. Watson is a war hero from Afghanistan. He's wounded in battle, recuperates in a British hospital, and then starts a medical practice in London when he meets Sherlock Holmes. Watson is introduced to Holmes via an acquaintance. They become roommates.

What is special of the Holmes series is the method of storytelling. All but four of the stories are written in the first-person of Dr. Watson. This makes the character of Holmes even more vivid as seen through Watson's eyes, but also makes Watson a strong character in his own right.

-PJ

[Colonel_Flagg]

I have a friend across the pond who swears Jeremy Brett’s rendition of this classic figure in the 80s and 90s for British television was the most true- to-form.

Jeremy Brett.

Best.

Holmes.

Ever.