So today, on Turner Classic Movies, they were having a special called "Holmes for Christmas." An entire day full of Sherlock Holmes movies. They were not, of course, Granada movies...they were the 1940s black and white movies starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.
This was my first time ever experiencing Rathbone's Holmes. I thought he did a purty swell job, I do see how he could be the...'definitive Holmes,' as the dude on TCM said (they did this in honor of the growing interest in our great detective. I, however, believe that growing interest could be detrimental to the Holmesian world...because the growing interest is attracting unintelligent dweebs with little-to-no vocabulary and who don't know how to spell. Igh. I'm done ranting now). However, there were a few things about Rathbone's Holmes that I didn't like.
He was too open. He explained things too often and too much. He didn't save his revelations and solutions til the end and finish with a dramatic finale; he just explained everything to Watson as he went along. Nothing mysterious...nothing dramatic. He's just...a detective, really. A really smart one. Whereas with Jeremy Brett, he at least adds lots of eccentricity and drama...which is who Holmes is in the canon, at least MY Holmes.
I dunno. I saw 3 movies and I liked them all. I wish I could've seen more...but alas, I could not, I was off getting my Watsonian bowler (which, I believe, I shall christen Watson :P It's actually a cloche, but my mom said it looks like it's from the Sherlock Holmes era :P But that's our secret, my family doesn't need to know my cloche's name is Watson. They already think I have an obsession, when they saw my awesome JB computer wallpaper and when I passed up a shopping trip to finish watching the Pearl of Death :D) from Target. But anyhow, I'm off to bed...thus are my musings on Rathbone's Holmes. Perhaps I shall do Bruce's Watson next. :D
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I'm glad you got to see Rathbone's version! Neither Brett or Rathbone *are* Holmes to me, but I like them both a lot (and Brett a little bit more). My main problem with Rathbone's version is that he seems a bit romantic-hero-ish, or something, but that's the script more than anything else.
ReplyDeleteMe too! I like both of them a lot as well, but JB is definitely my Holmes. But I really did enjoy the movies...I love old movies, and when they're black and white it takes the cake. :D
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen any with Rathbone! Am I missing anything? JB will *always* be my Holmes. :)
ReplyDeleteLike, am I missing anything worth seeing, something good?
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, they're definitely worth watching. Secret Weapon and Terror by Night are two of the better ones; some of the others are a bit too scary for me, in all honesty. ;) At least, I wouldn't want to rewatch the scary ones any time soon. Rathbone is wonderful as Holmes, though; if he had had better scripts to work with, I think his version could almost equal Brett's. As they are, most of the Rathbone films aren't true to the original stories, but they're still fun to watch, and there's some great action/adventure scenes.
ReplyDeleteSame here, Mary, JB is my Holmes, the Holmes I always envisioned in my head...and I'm finding that I can switch between the episodes and the canon very easily because of that. *grin*
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, Marian, I think they are. I enjoyed the three I saw very much. I did notice some similarities to the canon though...one of them was based on the 6 Napoleons (The Pearl of Death, I think) and I saw one based on the Five Orange Pips. And though they aren't TRUE to the stories, they were very similar, I could tell what stories they were. And I did like them, I wouldn't mind owning them, and that's saying something :) I only own things I like. haha
I just borrowed Terror by Night, Dressed to Kill, and The Woman in Green from the library...wish my luck on my Basil plunge! =)
ReplyDeleteGood luck on your Basil plunge, dearie!
ReplyDeleteYou'll like him :) Though I'm still partial to Brett-man :D
I saw and heard him for like, a second. haha He looks okay; but he was talking about Irene Adler and about how he's blah-blah-blah and how he feels about that case, and Holmes doesn't talk about that stuff to people! But he looked like a Holmes :)
ReplyDeleteThat's what I thought, Mary...he was a bit too open for my taste. I like quite Holmeses :D
ReplyDeletequiet* not quite. Oops. lol
ReplyDeleteYeah; Basil Rathbone doesn't seem like a Holmes too much...he's too happy; he doesn't act like the creepy-yet-cool Holmes we love: Jeremy Brett. :)
ReplyDeleteOh, and did I mention that JB is practically perfect in every way? :) :D
ReplyDeleteNo, but he is.
ReplyDelete*sighs dreamily*
Book!Holmes is happy too.... ;) Self-confident, young, sarcastic...that's Holmes of A Study in Scarlet. I've yet to see or hear of an adaptation that portrays him like that. Brett's is more of like what Holmes is in the later stories.
ReplyDeleteYes, he does grow more...dark (haha) as the stories go on. He does have fun throwing his head back and laughing moments (love those!) later in the stories too; but he's not cheerful-ish as often in the later stories. But Jeremy Brett is amazing, no matter what... *sighs dreamily with Bre*
ReplyDelete(I was referring to the books in my above post, just to let y'all know.)
ReplyDeleteSame here, Marian...but I do like Brett's overall adaptation.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, Mary, those moments make me melt :) Both in the books and movies!!