Some Clarification on my Last Post

[rusty_armour]

Just to be clear, I don't object to Guy Ritchie's movie because it's new. Over the years, I've enjoyed a number of Sherlock Holmes pastiches, films and productions -- many of which weren't adaptations of original Holmes stories. My problem is that Ritchie's movie isn't Sherlock Holmes to me. I realize that a lot of people disagree with me and/or plan to see The Travesty anyway. That's fine. I'm certainly not going to try to stop you. However, as this is my LJ, I feel I should be able to exercise some freedom when it comes to my opinions. Still, because many of you are planning to see Ritchie's film, I'll try to make more of an effort to curb my...hostility.

I'm officially boycotting the film, but my tiny one-woman campaign will be addressing those pastiches, films and productions that I admire. I'm hoping it will be more interesting than simply reading posts in which I bash The Travesty. Okay, that was a bit of bashing right there, but I don't think it's something I can give up completely. *g*

Once again, I know that people will disagree with me, but here's a list of the actors I've enjoyed watching most as Sherlock Holmes:

1) Jeremy Brett - I believe he was the first actor I saw playing Sherlock Holmes and he made me want to read the entire canon. Before that, I think I had only read junior editions of the original stories. In my defence, it was junior high, those were the books available in the library, and I was 12 & 1/2 at the time.

2) Robert Stephens - I haven't found anyone who agrees with me (not that I care), but I love, love, love The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. I think some of the lines are absolutely priceless. And I think Stephens does a fantastic job of capturing the characteristics that makes Holmes Holmes.

3) Basil Rathbone - I know the Rathbone films get a lot of flak, but I still find Rathbone's performance captivating -- even when he's working with some of the flimsier scripts in that particular franchise. However, Twentieth Century Fox's The Hound of the Baskervilles is still my favourite adaptation of the novel. Although it takes some liberties with the original story, it does a wonderful job of capturing the spooky atmosphere of the Moors and has the most frightening hound I've seen to date. I'd also recommend The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (also released by Twentieth Century Fox in 1939) as it still makes some attempts to set the film in the Victorian era. Personally, I think it's worth it for the exchange between Holmes and Moriarty in that hansom cab and that kick ass chase up the Tower of London.

4) Christopher Plummer - Okay, I know he's Canadian, so this choice may seem biased, but I really think he did a brilliant job in Murder By Decree. I also think he may be one of the most emotional Holmes I've seen (e.g. with that scene in the insane asylum with Geneviève Bujold), but he was also able to switch off the emotion and be the colder Holmes we're accustomed to seeing. He also added little touches of humour and irony to some of his lines that seemed like something we'd see from Sherlock Holmes.

Comments

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I love Rathbone and all the flac his Holmes gets should be directed at a) the war office and b) Nigel Bruce, who also only did his job.
But I must say that two other great actors were in a previous travesty, ie. Richard Roxburgh as a "modernised" Holmes, and his stick fighting, drug taking ON THE JOB and homocidal mistakes, all of which replace actual skills and flaws the "real" Holmes had for no reason, look a bit like the blueprint for this?