The Many Faces of Sherlock Holmes

I found this video on YouTube, in the area where they add commercials. It's an overview on various stage, film, and TV portrayals of Holmes, hosted by Christopher Lee. It only goes up to 1985, and does not really cover Jeremy Brett at all, but I did appreciate the glimpses into obscure Holmes movies that I haven't been able to find on video or DVD. Near the beginning they also have a short clip of Doyle talking about Joseph Bell as his inspiration for Holmes. Hearing his voice really makes him much more immediate than just seeing pictures of him.

Christopher Lee (or his writer) is wrong, though, to say that Irene Adler is the only "person" to best him. Holmes said in FIVE that he had been beaten by three men and one woman. (And some chronologists who date FIVE before SCAN argue that the woman is not Irene, whom he hasn't met yet.)

Holmes radio plays

I believe I have found the place to purchase M. J. Elliot's radio adaptations. The stories listed as "The Classic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" are by M. J. Elliot, while those listed as "The Further Adventures" are original stories by Jim French I believe.

However, the website says that the Holmes and Watson actors are John Patrick Lowrie and Lawrence Albert, so these are not the same as those of the Old Court Radio Theatre Company with Jim Crozier. So I am not sure if I will like them. I'll probably try them out later, while still looking for more versions with Jim Crozier.

Edited in 2025 to update the link to Imagination Theater's website.

The "Case Files" of SPEC

The full title is actually The Case Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Speckled Band. It is a 1997 collection of essays edited by Barbara and Christopher Roden. The Rodens have a whole series of these story-specific Case Files, starting with one about the Musgrave Ritual.

Some of these essays attempt literary criticism, others talk of chronology or try to locate Stoke Moran and the ruined Roylott manor, while others reveal interesting facts about ACD's play adaptation, and list the significant film, TV, and Radio adaptations of SPEC. There are two pieces, by Chris Redmond and Brad Keefauver, which toy with the idea that Holmes has romantic feelings for Helen Stoner.

Sherlockian Chronology

For years I avoided thinking too deeply about chronology in the canon, and was happy that my favorite story, SPEC, was undisputed in its placement in April 1883, but it appears that I must look into this maddening subject at last. I'm afraid that it'll make my head hurt as much as reading The Sign of Three essays did, but as I can't find any existing Sherlockian chronologist whose theories I can agree with, I shall have to come up with my own. (I have not actually read every chronology available, of course, just a few that I could find through Alibris, and I've also referred to the "Basic Timeline" info at Sherlock Peoria.)

The Seven-Per-Cent Solution

Aha! I found my old videotape of the movie and made a DVD recording of it. Sadly, the video is old and blurry enough that I can't read all the amusing captions on the Sidney Paget drawings in the title sequence, and some scenes are too dark, but at least it's watchable. I still will have to keep looking for a good/official DVD version of the film to buy. Perhaps it might be re-released if the Robert Downey Jr. movie is a hit.

Obama on Israel

In his Cairo speech, I'm glad that Obama didn't waffle about the Israeli settlements in the West Bank. It's long overdue for the U.S. to stop letting the Israeli government dictate to us. Just because they're our ally and have a right to exist, doesn't mean that we should give them a pass when they violate agreements.

I wish that Obama had said more earlier about Gaza and the humanitarian crisis, though. He carefully kept his mouth shut when he wasn't inaugurated yet, but since then has been mostly focused on domestic issues, so I wondered if he was ever going to call out Israel in strong terms.