CommanderBond.net

Hey, I don't see this as completely OT. Like Bond, Sherlock Holmes is an icon of Britain and British literature who (whom?) has been represented in film each decade by a dominate actor who WAS Sherlock Holmes for that generation. So the question is, who IS Sherlock Holmes?

William Gillette - 1900s (Sherlock Holmes/stage)
Ellie Norwood - 1920s (Film series)
Clive Brook - 1930 (Film series)
Arthur Wonter - 1930s (Film series)
Basil Rathbone - 1940s (Film series/radio/stage)
Peter Cushing - 1950/60s (Hound of the Baskervilles/TV series)
John Neville - 1960s (A Study in Terror/stage)
Robert Stephens - 1970s (The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes)
Nicole Williamson - 1970s (The Seven Per-Cent Solution)
Roger Moore - 1970s (Sherlock Holmes in New York)
Christopher Plummer - 1970s (Murder By Decree)
Tom Baker - 1980s (TV movie/stage)
Jeremy Brett - 1980s/90s (TV series/stage)
Christopher Lee - 1990s (TV movies)
Rupert Everett - 2000s (Sherlock Homes & the Deadly Necklace)

Brett beats Rathbone by a nose. Rog was great as Holmes, but it wasn’t really ‘his’ role like Bond was.

The next question is who is the best Dr. Watson? And, of course, that would be Ian Fleming.

Ha! You know you're Holmes, Mr. A. Although when I finally saw a Wonter/Fleming Holmes movie, I wasn't blown away by either man (when you read the books about the Holmes movies, you're led to believe that Wonter was the greatest of them all.)

Brett is my favorite by far. Rathbone is, actually, pretty far down my list. I prefer Robert Stephens and Peter Cushing and even Nicol Williamson before Rathbone. I like my Holmes nice and neurotic!

Actually, I’ve seen a couple of the Wonter/Fleming films and wasn’t impressed either, but Fleming gets many points for his name alone.

Rathbone is pretty far from how I actually picture Holmes, but because he was the one I grew up on I have always had a soft spot for his portrayal. I certainly wouldn’t want to see anyone else play Holmes that way.

Some of the Holmes portrayals I’ve enjoyed that you didn’t include were Christopher Lee (The two 90s films I haven’t seen the 60s one), Nicholas Rowe in Young Sherlock Holmes (his brilliant Holmes kept that movie from being The Goonies II), and for the offbeat I loved Michael Caine in Without A Clue.

I've never seen those Christopher Lee films from the '90s, and that '60 film was, I believe, a German film?

Best Sherlock? Of course it's Jeremy Brett. This is how I picture Holmes when reading the books, not only in Brett's portrayal but also the whole make of the sries is fantastic. Have to check out if it's availble on DVD

From the ones mentioned that I have seen, I also like Cushing best. Rathbone was great, but I like him more when he plays the bad guy (especially in the Erroll Flynn movies). Rog as Holmes? DIdn't like it.

According to the cast, that 60's Lee movie was indeed a German movie. Could also be that it's one of those Italian-French-Spanish-German co-productions like we had tons of in the 60's. The producer Arthur "Atze" Brauner did a lot of those. Must have been years since I last saw it, don't remember what Lee's performance was like.

I just discovered that the Lee movie is out on DVD! It's called "Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace" and it’s based loosely on The Valley of Fear. Incredibly, Lee wears a fake nose throughout the film. What, Lee’s own nose isn’t prominent enough? Weird.

Agree with what you have to say about Brett. Another discovery: the second season, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, is coming out on DVD in June/July. The first season, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, is already out on DVD, as are his five 2-hour lenght "films" (but these not so great).

Clive Merrison, then Jeremy Brett I guess.

Didn't Malcolm McDowell play him in The Seven Percent Solution?

And don't forget Matt Frewer (Max Headroom) in the Hallmark series.

Sorry, but I'm not too familar with who's the better of any of them. If Sherlock is on TV I'll watch it no matter the period it was made in, or who's playing him. Hopefully I enjoy it, which I usually do.

Yeah, where is Clive Merrison? Isn't he the only Sherlock to have done all of Doyle's stories, or something? And I've just been recommended a Christopher Plummer. My fave's Robert Stephens, but that's probably because I find Holmes a bit hard to engage as he's written.

Clive Merrison? I've never heard of Clive Merrison. I don't think these have made it to America yet. I'm intrigued.

QUOTE

Originally posted by Blofeld's Cat [B]Didn't Malcolm McDowell play him in The Seven Percent Solution? [/B]

No, that was Nicole Williamson...but I think McDowell did play Holmes at some point, but I'm not sure in what?

I believe Patrick Macnee was Dr. Watson to Moore's Holmes in "Sherlock Holmes in New York"...nine years before AVTAK!