On the trail of the cinematic Sherlock Holmes
The LA Times reports that UCLA plans to screen the old Sherlock Holmes classic films.
I like Basil Rathbone in his early films as Holmes, but I was not crazy about Rathbone/Holmes fighting Nazis in the later films. Holmes was out of his time and element in those films.
I was also a big fan of Jeremy Brett as Holmes on PBS’ Mystery! The series was very faithful to Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories.
The Times piece did not go into who was the worst Holmes. I would nominate Roger Moore, who played Holmes in a TV movie called Sherlock Holmes in New York. Patrick Macnee played Watson in the film. Moore and the film were truly awful.
Moore was also the worst James Bond, in my view, although I did like him as the Saint in the 1960’s TV series.
I look forward to seeing the old films on TV again.
Latest posts by Paul Davis (Posts)
- On crime & thrillers: Agents of Treachery — a collection of superb spy fiction - September 21, 2010
- On crime & thrillers: Frederick Forsyth offers a fact-based story of an all out war on the drug lords - September 7, 2010
- John le Carre’s spook world - September 5, 2010
- On crime & thrillers: Don Winslow’s Savages is a fast-paced, wild and funny crime story - August 24, 2010
- Spy writer vs. spy writer: John le Carre calls Ian Fleming’s iconic James Bond character a neo-fascist gangster - August 20, 2010
Print This Post
Paul, a few years back, when he was still playing the great detective on television, I read in an interview with Jeremy Brett that he held Basil Rathbone’s portrayal of Holmes in high regard – not the stories, really, so much as the character.