Movie Review: Sherlock Holmes Series with Jeremy Brett

In view of the fact that some director has decided to make yet another movie version of the Sherlock Holmes stories, I decided to post some thoughts on what I believe to be the most perfect video series of the Conan Doyle books and the man who will always be, to me at least, the quintessential Sherlock Holmes.

I have seen other variations of Sherlock Holmes in movies, but Brett embodied Holmes like no other. He captures the very essence of Holmes that Conan Doyle portrayed in the books: the fidgeting, the gestures, the voice, everything. His acting might seem a little over the top, but then again so was the character. Brett is simply offering audiences a physical manifestation of what Conan Doyle created in his books, and he does it in a way that is truly brilliant. Apparently, the new movie will have Robert Downey, Jr. in it. No offense to RDJ -- who is an extremely talented actor -- but if the set images I've come across so far are any indication, the movie will probably be on the same scale as the rather diabolical version of Beowulf that was released a year ago or so. (Granted, there are better actors in the upcoming Holmes movie, but it looks as though the director is taking the wrong approach to the stories.) It seems that there's some need to make Holmes "sexy" (and I'm sorry to say that I've even seen a few YouTube fan videos of Brett, commenting on how sexy he is). There really is something seriously wrong with society when the greatest expression of admiration for a person or character is to portray or refer to him as sexy. I don't get it. And I feel like it's a serious violation of the character and Conan Doyle's brilliance in creating him to reduce him to sexiness. But maybe I'm just too far behind the times. (I think I'll stay there, though...)

All of this aside, let me do a quick review of the different movies and series collections in which Brett starred.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

This might arguably be the best set available. Each episode is spot-on, and there's very little deviation from the books. Additionally -- and this is the case in all of the videos -- the setting is amazing. The filmmakers have quite literally reproduced Victorian London perfectly, and 221B Baker Street in excellent detail. David Burke plays Dr Watson in this series, although he is replaced by Edward Hardwicke in the later series. I don't know why, but to be honest it wasn't until my second or third viewing of all the videos that I realized Dr Watson looked different. (Clearly, I haven't learned much from Holmes's methods...) Both actors are obviously so authentic in the role that they kind of melded into one another.

This series covers the following stories:

A Scandal in Bohemia
The Dancing Men,
The Naval Treaty
The Solitary Cyclist
The Crooked Man
The Speckled Band
The Blue Carbuncle
The Copper Beeches,
The Greek Interpreter
The Norwood Builder
The Resident Patient
The Red Headed League
The Final Problem

The Return of Sherlock Holmes

This is probably my favorite series of episodes. Holmes returns -- obviously and quite literally -- from an assumed death, and his zest for life and his eagerness to step back into his previous work and continue solving "those little problems that plague the lives of Londoners" is clear.

This series includes the following episodes:

The Empty House
The Abbey Grange
The Second Stain
The Six Napoleons
The Priory School
Wisteria Lodge
The Devil's Foot
Silver Blaze
The Bruce Partington Plans
The Musgrave Ritual
The Man with the Twisted Lip

The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes

In terms of episodes, this has never been my favorite series for some reason, but I think that's because the stories are darker. That being said, this is still an excellent series and well worth viewing. The acting, as always, is excellent, and the attention to detail is wonderful.

This series includes the following episodes:

The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax
The Problem of Thor Bridge
The Boscombe Valley Mystery
The Illustrious Client
Shoscombe Old Place
The Creeping Man

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

Jeremy Brett was actually dying when these episodes were being filmed, so there's a decided sadness to them. He's clearly ill, and yet he's still Sherlock Holmes, embracing the character and giving audiences a memorable performance. I'm watching these episodes for the first time right now, and they are definitely worth making part of my collection.

This series includes the following episodes:

The Three Gables
The Dying Detective
The Golden Pince-Nez
The Red Circle
The Mazarin Stone
The Cardboard Box

In addition to the episodes mentioned above, Brett portrayed Holmes in several longer film versions that were (I believe) shown on television:

The Hound of the Baskervilles -- An excellent version.

The Sign of Four -- I'm still waiting for it from Netflix, but I suspect (based on reviews) that it will be very good.

The Last Vampyre -- The acting is excellent, but the storyline is just too bizarre to work. I'd pass on this one, at least as far as owning it.

The Eligible Bachelor -- This one was a major clunker for me. It departed far too much from the original short story and utilized unnecessarily weird filming techniques. Apparently, there were many who enjoyed it (see the Amazon reviews at the link), but I didn't really care for it at all.

The Master Blackmailer -- Still waiting for it from Netflix, but it's gotten good reviews on Amazon. Here's hoping for a great episode.