Exciting Discovery!

[rusty_armour]

It's finally happened. Kongsberg Maritime has found the Loch Ness Monster! Well, actually, it's the 30 foot model of the Loch Ness Monster that was created for The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. Unfortunately, this first model sank in Loch Ness and a new model (the one that's actually seen in the film) had to be used in its place. Not surprisingly, Billy Wilder moved the Loch Ness shoot to a large water tank in the film studio. Anywaaaaaay, you can find an article about the discovery of this Loch Ness Monster model here if you're interested. Many, many thanks to pyrateanny for sending me a link to this article and for sharing the happy news with me in the first place. :-)

This is a very strange YouTube video that uses an image of the second Loch Ness model, but it might give you some idea of what the first model looked like:

"Film's lost Nessie monster prop found in Loch Ness" (Watch on YouTube)

And here's a cooler vid of the sonar sweep search of Loch Ness that resulted in the discovery of the first Loch Ness Monster model:

"Sonar footage reveals Loch Ness Monster...film prop" (Watch on YouTube)

Yes, I'm a massive geek. Even worse, I'm a Sherlock Holmes geek. However, even if you don't think this is an exciting discovery, you should at least find the technology behind the discovery exciting.

Comments

[crimsoncorundum]

Fascinating. :) I'd never heard of this, but then I don't know anywhere near as much as you do about the fandom. Thanks for sharing.

[rusty_armour]

This isn't the best known Sherlock Holmes film. Unfortunately, it bombed at the box office, though it has gone on to become greatly loved and admired in the years that have followed. It was a very big influence on Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss when they were conceiving Sherlock. Their Mycroft is practically lifted from The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, not to mention certain lines and the gay jokes. Saying that, I think this is one of those films that people either love or hate -- possibly because it's a mixture of hilarious comedy and drama. This isn't a great trailer, but it might give you an idea of what The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes is like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTBTDeFfAE0