221B: The Upper (Consulting) Room

Well, I'm fresh from the avatar store. This is my first experience being an anime. Actually this looks amazingly like me. My nose is not that small. The accessories are limited and the selection of mouths was truly disturbing. I do have a green backpack, though.

To a topic: many actors have played Holmes and Watson (dare I say the original Dynamic Duo?) on film and television. Thought on the most, and least, effective? Or most, and least, Canonical?

Another early Holmes was John Barrymore, in 1922. Pride of place on film belongs, first, to Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson in 1905 (a lost film) and then to two Danish actors in 1909 and 1911--see www.imdb.com/character/ch0026631/?ref_=fn_ch_ch_1. I am fascinated by the long series of adaptations in the 1920s of much of the Canon with Ellie Norwood as Holmes--apparently, he played Holmes more times than any other actor. There are a few DVD with some of the films--you may find this wikipedia article of interest: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes_(Stoll_film_series)

Obviously, I've not seen all the actors who have portrayed the Dynamic Duo. I must say that I can't say that I have ever seen a Canonical adaptation that was fully satisfying in every respect. (I would speak on non-Canonical stories separately.) The Brett series has scripts that are reasonably close to the originals--not always--but Brett, as you noted, lack's Holmes' humor, and his sharpness--characteristics that Rathbone gets better than anyone else, but of course (apart from The Hound Of The Baskervilles) none of the Rathbone films is particularly Canonical, although there are those that follow the Musgrave Ritual and the Six Napoleons pretty closely. Both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee are actually preferable to Brett in my book.

More later.

In the style of Dr. Watson, who was fond of list-making, and who famously enumerated the deficiencies of his new flatmate as he perceived them in the very early days of their cohabitation, I present 'A Study of Three (Current) Sherlocks, in order of appearance:

Part 1

ROBERT DOWNEY, JR.
('SHERLOCK HOLMES' (2009); 'SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS', (2011); TBA SHERLOCK 3 Project ())

His Limits-

1. American (duh). His British accent (trotted out again after 'Chaplin' (1992)sounds like an American doing an all-purpose theatrical Brit accent. There is no way under the sun that a street urchin like Chas. Chaplin and an Oxbridge product of 'country squires' would have the same accent. I'm quibbling but RDJ, though talented, is living proof that Americans really suck at accents.) Placed aside an authentic, posh British accent in Jude Law's Watson, it's all the more painfully obvious. When RDJ and fellow American Rachel McAdams (Irene Adler) are onscreen together, it feels like two bored kids who've broken into the dress-up trunk in Great-Grandma's attic.

2. Too short. Height listed at 5'10". Seems shorter, particularly next to his Watson, the 6'0 Jude Law

3. Entirely wrong body type--stocky and muscular, which has the effect of making him appear shorter.

4. Eye color completely wrong. Bone structure completely wrong.

5. RDJ's extensive career, generously leavened with notoriety over the last 30 years makes it quite impossible to suspend disbelief entirely while watching that this former member of the 1980s Brat Pack was arrested for passing out in a child's bed in a house not his own; that his best-known role is embodying a high-tech flying tin can and that he is almost equally known for having memorably uttered the phrase, "Never go the full 'Tard!"

RDJ: His Merits (Pro)

1. RDJ (b. 1965) has always been incredibly youthful-looking for his years, despite the hard mileage he put on himself in the '80s and '90s. Unlike Charlie Sheen, his peer in age and Brat Pack membership, he got his &%$! together and has been sober for 20 years. Now 52 years of age, he was in his mid-40s portraying a Holmes circa 1888 - 89 who would have been a decade younger. His fitness levels are off the charts even for a man 15 years his junior.

2. Nominated for Best Actor for 'Chaplin' (1992)at the tender age of 27, RDJ has lost nothing in the reflexes or vitality since then. The same flair for physical comedy which he brought to his Little Tramp are evident in his Holmes. His stamina, level of fitness and command of his physicality render his Holmes the most vigorous and action-oriented screen Holmes to date. RDJ makes for a plausible pugilist & practitioner of barritsu, which are two accomplishments of Holmes oft alluded to in the stories, but until now rarely portrayed onscreen, if ever. This is not your granddaddy's Holmes.

3. Two more features of RDJ's take which are usually downplayed to non-existent in most screen interpretations are Sherlock's Bohemian sensibilities in wardrobe & SH's facility for quick-change disguises. (see #2 above). Popular attributes of Holmes which are downplayed are Holmes's pipe/tobacco consumption (minimal) and the ubiquitous deerstalker and Inverness cape (non-existent). Perhaps this Holmes will adopt these rather sedate items in his retirement years. I'm as fond of the deerstalker as anyone, but it was Holmes's illustrator, not his author who devised it as Holmes's on-the-case uniform. This is not a 'plus' or 'minus' so much as an observation, but it's in the merit column for being something of a fresh, more youthful take on Holmes's personal style.

4. RDJ overcomes the disadvantages of his unsuitable frame and nationality with a very suitable air of intensity.

5. The bromance with his Watson is every bit as solid and droll as the bond over on the BBC. Behind every successful Holmes, there must be a rock-solid Watson and Jude Law fits the bill.

Stay tuned for the rest coming next week!

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