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Матурски рад из Енглеског језика

Sherlock Holmes on film

Ментор: Ученик:
Милена Ђуришић, проф Тијана Вагић, IV-1

Београд, 2021. год.

 CONTENTS
Страна
1. About Sherlock Holmes 2

2. The original Sherlock Holmes 3

2.1. The book character...........................................................................................................3

2.2. Study in Scarlet................................................................................................................4

3. Sherlock Holmes in movies 6

3.1. The very beginning - William Gillette.............................................................................6

3.2. Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett.....................................................................................7

4. Sherlock Holmes in television series 9

4.1. Benedict Cumberbatch...................................................................................................10

5. The amazing Sherlock 12

Bibliography 13
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1. ABOUT SHERLOCK HOLMES

Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character created by the Scottish writer Arthur Conan Doyle.
The character was based on Dr. Joseph Bell, one of Conan Doyle's medical school professors.
The first appearance of this brilliant detective was in Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet,
published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual of 1887. This self proclaimed “consulting detective”
has been portrayed many times in different media by actors such as Basil Rathbone and
Jeremy Brett in the twentieth century to Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Downey Jr. in
more recent adaptations. Sherlock Holmes became a star character of many books, graphic
novels, movies and television series, each one a slight variation of the original books.

Sherlock Holmes uses the power of his intellect along with his unbeatable deductive skills to
solve complex crimes as well as for his own benefit.

I wanted to compare the way Sherlock Holmes was portrayed in one of my favorite
adaptations, alongside the original. I will showcase the original character of this great
detective from the Arthur Conan Doyle’s book, some popular movies and the television series
“Sherlock” (2010).

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2. THE ORIGINAL SHERLOCK HOLMES

2.1. The book character

In the original books, Sherlock Holmes is portrayed through the eyes of his companion and
dear friend, dr. John Watson. Through him, we see Sherlock as an eccentric man. He is very
focused on his work. Sometimes it goes as far as him shutting off completely while working
on a case. It is very hard to look at him as just a man of flesh and blood, and often times the
people around him have a very hard time doing so, as he is so impressive in what he does.

I have always been so mesmerized by how nonchalantly Sherlock made every case look so
easy to solve. No matter what was thrown his way, he always managed to keep one step ahead
of everyone else. Reading the original books after watching some of the more recent
adaptations really gave me a new perspective on this detective. He is described as a fairly odd
gentleman, as if he lived in his own world. Sherlock often seems to get very bored if he
doesn’t have a case to solve, but is also very picky about which case he chooses. He thinks
very highly of himself and often observes people around him as lesser in intelligence and as
his inferiors, overall. It takes quite a case to perk Sherlock’s interest.

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2.2. A Study in Scarlet

In the book “A Study in Scarlet” Sherlock’s deductive skills were described for the first time.
While examining the body he fell in sort of a trance of his own, mumbling his theories under
his breath and carefully, yet rapidly, looking for clues. After he made his deduction, the rest
were left in awe.

Throughout the book he makes a lot of questionable decisions but somehow they all turn out
to be right. It seems that it is better to just go along with what he does and not question it, for
a simple human mind cannot comprehend it.

In this confusing case, Sherlock’s “consulting detective” role was really nicely portrayed. The
police held him in high regard and clung onto his every word. He is a proud man so he liked
this very much. He was always subtly arrogant about his own wits. Of course no one but him
could catch on, but he would make sure to assert dominance everywhere he went.

The reader can very well see that his intelligence is beyond everyone else’s. But it only
appears that way when related to a case. Sherlock can tell different kinds of tobacco or a
random German word that can also very well be in English, but doesn’t know common
knowledge as basic as the Earth revolving around the Sun. This quite confused Watson at
first, until Sherlock explained it to him in such a way that it seemed so matter-of-fact.

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In “Study in Scarlet” he said: “You see, I consider that a man’s brain originally is like a
little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in
all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be
useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things, so that he
has difficulty laying his hands upon it. Now the skillful workman is very careful indeed as
to what he takes into his brain-attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him
in doing his work, but of these he has a large assortment, and all in the most perfect order.
It is a mistake to think that that little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent.
Depend upon it there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget
something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have
useless facts elbowing out the useful ones.”1 the brilliance behind this statement is
unbeatable. A person that is able to filter out any information that they find unneeded in their
work is a person that everyone should aspire to be.

1
“A Study In Scarlet”- Arthur Conan Doyle, page 9

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3. SHERLOCK HOLMES IN MOVIES

3.1. The very beginning- William Gillette

The first ever Sherlock Holmes movie was released in the year 1916 with William Gillette as
Sherlock Holmes. It was a silent film that was done based on a stage play from 1899, which
was based on the stories "A Scandal in Bohemia," "The Final Problem," and “A Study in
Scarlet” by Arthur Conan Doyle. They thought that all of the surviving prints of the 1916 film
were lost. However, in October of 2014, it was announced that a copy had been discovered in
a film archive in France.

Five years after Holmes had died in 1893’s “The Final Problem”, William Gillette was asked
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to do a stage play about the detective. Gillette asked Doyle, “May
I marry Holmes?” Doyle replied “You may marry him, or murder or do what you like with
him.” Before it was made into a film, Gillette played Holmes for 1 300 times on stage. He was
the one responsible for the way the detective is still perceived today, referring to the
deerstalker hat and the pipe.

It was a great challenge for the production to present Sherlock Holmes in all his glory in a
silent film. Most of Sherlock’s intellect lies in his deducting skills and the way he sees the
scene.

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How can you fully do justice to such a character without him speaking? Well, in 1919 after
WWI ended, the French reedited the film into a four chapter serial with French title cards.
This version was also tinted but it disappeared without a trace soon after. Luckily, in 2014 the
film was found in a mislabeled file in La Cinémathéque Française inventory.

In the years to come, many actors tried to fill in the shoes Gillette had left behind but very
few, if any, ever did.

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3.2. Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett

I decided to single out Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett because the way they portrayed
Sherlock made the greatest impression on me.

Basil Rathbone was the first Sherlock I saw in a film version. He played Sherlock in 14
movies between 1939 and 1946. One of his most famous movies is “The Hound of the
Baskervilles” which I really enjoyed watching. He had Gillette before him, who set the
standards really high for the portrayal of Sherlock. But even with that in mind, Rathbone
really did Sherlock a lot of justice.

I really enjoyed his approach to this character and the way he managed to give Sherlock a
kind of elegance of a gentleman was something I found really interesting. His visuals really
represented what Sherlock was supposed to look like. I noticed that, while expressing his
deductive skills, he carried himself with much less arrogance than other actors portraying
Sherlock. In my opinion, he seems almost friendly most of the time and solves the mysteries
with a more human approach than Sherlock usually does.

Rathbone gave Sherlock a more human side and I really liked the way he portrayed him as a
pleasant person, rather than a robot-like detective. In these movies people show him respect
and hospitality, rather than intimidation. They are impressed by how intelligent he is, but they
never feel uncomfortable or inferior to him.

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Basil Rathbone suffered a lot through his Sherlock journey. Because his Sherlock character
was so well presented, people adapted to the idea of him actually representing Sherlock. “I
was so badly typed,” he once said “that when I went back to New York I lost my own
identity. On the street no one ever said ‘Good morning, Basil,’ or ‘Good morning, Mr.
Rathbone.’ “They said ‘Good morning, Sherlock.’”.2

He desperately wanted to separate himself from the character but he somehow became the
embodiment of Sherlock Holmes. I suppose that is what happens when such a strong character
is played so well.

2
Los Angeles Times-From the Archives: Basil Rathbone Dies After 56-Year Career

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Jeremy Brett is known as the best Sherlock of semi-modern television. The way he tried to
bring out all Sherlock’s quirks really brought him together with the character, as he once said.
He played Sherlock for more than ten years and became one of the most famous
interpretations of the detective, for sure.

Jeremy was the one who made Sherlock a worldwide detective. His portrayal left people
admiring and even imitating Sherlock Holmes. If it weren’t for Brett, Sherlock’s name
probably wouldn’t be as public today, or at least it wouldn’t have spread as quickly as it did.

Many people said that, while watching Brett play Sherlock, they really believed it was him. It
seemed as if Sherlock himself stepped out of the books and onto the screen. The way he
spoke, dressed and moved, it was all so Sherlock-like. He really brought the character to life.

"More than any other actor since Basil Rathbone, Mr. Brett was regarded as the
quintessential Holmes: breathtakingly analytical, given to outrageous disguises and the
blackest moods and relentless in his enthusiasm for solving the most intricate crimes."3

“The actor regarded the detective as "a black-and-white figure moving through a world
of color," as a "man without a heart," but within those parameters he performed with a
demonic intensity.”4

3
New York Times article- Sept. 14th 1995
4
New York Times article- Sept. 14th 1995

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4. SHERLOCK HOLMES IN TELEVISION SERIES

Another popular variation of Sherlock Holmes were Sherlock television series.
“Sherlock Holmes” (1954 TV series) was the first American television adaptation of Doyle’s
stories, and the only version until 2012’s Elementary. (“The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes”
in the UK)

The Sherlock Holmes TV series from 1954 had 39 half-hour mostly original Doyle’s stories.
It was produced by Sheldon Reynolds and filmed in France with Ronald Howard as Sherlock
Holmes.

While he was alive, Doyle said he really liked the fact that every actor played Sherlock
differently, that way it didn’t become monotone. So I believe that the different portrayals of
Sherlock by different actors brought him to life even more.

In this series Reynolds wanted to represent the Sherlock from “A Study in Scarlet”.

“I was suddenly struck by the difference between the character in that book and that of
the stage and screen. Here, Holmes was a young man in his thirties, human, gifted, and
of a philosophic and scholastic bent, but subject to fateful mistakes which stemmed from
his over eagerness and lack of experience.“5

“In early stories like that one, Conan Doyle had not yet grown tired of his character,
who later became a literary monster for him. And, as literature, the earlier stories are
far better. But practically every stage and screen presentation of the detective is based
on the later stories.”6

“In my interpretation, Holmes is not an infallible, eagle-eyed, out-of-the-ordinary

personality, but an exceptionally sincere young man trying to get ahead in his

5
Barnes, Alan (2012). Sherlock Holmes On Screen: The Complete Film and TV History (Third ed.)
6
Haining, Peter (1994). The Television Sherlock Holmes. Virgin Books. p. 57.

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profession. Where Basil Rathbone's Holmes was nervous and highly-strung, mine has a
more ascetic quality, is deliberate, very definitely unbohemian, and is underplayed for
reality.”7

7
Haining, Peter (1994). The Television Sherlock Holmes. Virgin Books. p. 58

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4.1. Benedict Cumberbatch

The TV series that really had an impact on today’s modern society is the BBC show
“Sherlock” (2010). It was filmed in London and the role of Sherlock was so beautifully
portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch.

This is my favourite version of Sherlock and the one that got me into the story of this brilliant
detective. I was blown away by Benedict and how mind-blowing he made Sherlock. This
show brought Sherlock into a more modern age and that made it appeal to more recent
generations.

In Cumberbatch’s version, Sherlock was always balancing his addictions to drugs and
murders. He was, as described in the show, a high-functioning sociopath. He was so cut off
from his feelings that he found it funny and rather distasteful when people gave in to their
emotions. He solved cases with such quickness and his never-exclusive arrogance, that left
people loving him and hating him by the end of it.

Benedict was the picture perfect Sherlock as far as his looks went. Even though the show was
more modern, it did include a couple of showings of Sherlock with his deerstalker hat, and his
signature pipe replaced with regular cigarettes.

This show really explained how Sherlock functioned as a person, and it really made a huge
impact. It played with the fact that Sherlock undoubtedly has an addiction to crime solving, it
being his passion, and made it a cover-up addiction to his real drug addiction. So, to avoid
doing drugs, he got the high by solving murders.

In this show, we can see every side of Sherlock bluntly shown throughout the episodes. From
his childhood trauma, up to him dealing with a nemesis that is on the same mental level as he
is, we see Sherlock struggle and triumph. The show did make Sherlock a more humane and
relatable as a character, but still didn’t strip him of his signature traits, for those are the very
traits that make Sherlock seem as someone beyond humanity.

Sherlock even went as far as creating a career for himself, as the first ever “consulting
detective”. The police really relied on him for help with the cases they got stuck on solving.
But his reputation grew tremendously, and soon people were lined at his door, in hopes of

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getting him to help them. As I mentioned before, this Sherlock was completely cut off from
his feelings a sociopath, so he didn’t really care for helping the people he didn’t find had an
interesting case for him to play with. He usually bluntly refused to help them with a simple
explanation of “Boring.”.

His crime-solving technique was to go to his “mind palace” as he called it where he would lay
all the evidence out perfectly until he had a clear picture of what the solution was, which was
usually followed up by a knowing look and a triumphal smirk.

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Here are some of my personal favourite quotes from the series:

1. "To a great mind, nothing is little."

2. "I'm not a psychopath. I'm a high-functioning sociopath. Do your research."
3. "Dear God, what is it like in your funny little brains? It must be so boring!"
4. "What's the point of being clever if you can't prove it?"
5. "Quiet. Calm. Peaceful. Isn't it hateful."
MRS. HUDSON: "Oh, I'm sure something will turn up. A nice murder. That'll
cheer you up."
6. MYCROFT: "We are in Buckingham Palace, the very heart of the British nation.
Sherlock Holmes put your trousers on!"
SHERLOCK: "What for?"
7. "Is it nice not being me? It must be so relaxing."
8. "Sentiment is a chemical defect found on the losing side."
9. "I will solve your murder but it takes John Watson to save your life."
10. “Don’t make people into heroes, John. Heroes don’t exist and if they did I
wouldn’t be one of them.”8

8
“Sherlock” (2010) BBC TV series

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5. THE AMAZING SHERLOCK

Sherlock Holmes has always been a man without a heart. He was a brilliant detective that
everyone wished to understand, but no one to fill his shoes. He didn’t seem to care much
about anything but himself and the cases he was solving. People often misjudged his
intentions in helping them. He didn’t want to help them because he wanted to do a good deed,
he wanted to help them in order to feed his constant craving for brain stimulation. And what
better way to stimulate your brain than solving a crime?

Sherlock is a kind of character that you have mixed feelings about. He is not your standard
good guy solving crimes and helping the police. He is bitter, arrogant, selfish, narcissistic,
possessive and very much robot-like. Yet we still love everything about him because of his
pure genius. He is a protagonist and an antagonist in his own story.

I, personally, have never admired anyone more than I admire this fictional character. There is
something about the way he feels real and fake at the same time that really makes Sherlock
Holmes so unique as a character.

He, along with Hercule Poirot, was the foundation of every detective in the years to come. He
is more than just a fictional character, he is a self-explanatory name.

I am sure that his name is going to be heard in many years to come, as one of the most
brilliant detectives ever. No matter how his reputation stands in the future, to me, he will
always remain the amazing Sherlock.

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ЛИТЕРАТУРА

1. britannica.com/topic/Sherlock-Holmes
2. Student Projects- How Has Sherlock Holmes been portrayed through the ages and how
does it compare to the books? January 23, 2018 by perseengage
3. Big thinks- Lessons from Sherlock Holmes
4. The complete Sherlock series, stories in PDF format
5. Nerd nation Magazine-DVD review “William Gillette’s Sherlock Holmes” (1919)
6. Wikipedia- Sherlock Holmes (1916 film)
7. The New York Times- Jeremy Brett, an Unnerving Holmes, Is Dead at 59
8. The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopaedia- Basil Rathbone
9. The television Sherlock Holmes by Peter Haining
10. Wikipedia- Sherlock Holmes (1954 TV series)
11. The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopaedia- Sherlock Holmes (TV Series 1954-1955)

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