Kieran McMullen

A Study in Scarlet (1933) is quite an entertaining film although it does not make much use of our hero, Dr. Watson. Watson is played by Warburton Gamble, and Sherlock Holmes by Reginald Owen. Owen had previously played Watson in the 1932 Sherlock Holmes. Owen was also credited as having written dialogue for the movie, which he did with Robert Florey in only a week. The movie has nothing to do with Arthur Conan Doyle’s story by the same name. In fact the only similarity is the title. That doesn’t mean that the movie isn’t quite notable in itself. The story is about a group of seven men who form a tontine. A tontine is a system by which each of the members benefits by the death of the others and where the last surviving member gains the riches of all the others. It’s a winner take all proposition so each member is suspicious of his neighbor. Of course the murders must start and each is foretold by the receipt of a children’s rhyme. Holmes is brought into the case by the widow of one of the members and he assures her he will bring the criminal to justice. She, of course, isn’t interested in justice, just the money. Anna May Wong is part of the evil forces.

Anna May Wong

The overall film is well written, well paced and an excellent portrayal of Holmes as a human being. But as I said, there is little of Watson other than tagging along behind Holmes and asking a question here and there. In fact Warburton Gamble’s portrayal portends Nigel Bruce. Gamble may have done very well if he had been given some dialogue here and there. The rest of the cast is like a who’s who of B movies with features you will recognize from 1930’s Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto mysteries. Alan Dinehart plays the evil lawyer (I know- is there any other kind) and I can’t remember ever watching a movie with him where he wasn’t the bad guy. Inspector Lestarde is played by Alan Mowbray who should also be very familiar to buffs of 30’s-40’s mystery movies.

This same basic plot will appear again in Sherlock Holmes and the House of Fear with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce where, once again, seven members form a tontine and they mysteriously die off one at a time. The three changes here are that the murders are foretold by orange pips, Holmes is brought in by an insurance company, and Nigel Bruce has a bigger part than Warburton Gamble ever had. The plot arises again in Agatha Christie’s 1939 novel “Ten Little Indians” except for the tontine. In it 10 people are gathered together and murdered one at a time, each to the design of the nursery rhyme. In fact, the person who calls them together is a Mr. Owen. Hmmm.

Owen does do a quite good Holmes but most people will be put off by the 1930’s locations and the lack of visual similarity between Owens and the Paget drawings. Worst of all is the address of Holmes and Watson – 221A Baker Street!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How the heck do you get that wrong?? Ah, well. If Holmes can wear a fedora, I guess he can move down stairs. Really, this movie is worth the watch.

Warburton Gamble

Warburton Gamble was born in London, 16 December 1882 and died in London on 27 August 1945. He is another Watson on which there is little biographical information. He was acting on the stage in a professional capacity as early as 1905 in a play called Love and the Man. He continued on the stage in an almost unbroken string of plays from then until 1931 and I can find no service record for WWI. He also started in the movies in 1917 in a film called The Unforseen and is credited in a total of 27 movies up to 1940. Like many other British Actors of his day he spent a good deal of time in Hollywood. He was a passable Watson.

It is somehow appropriate that I write this while sitting in the Dusseldorf airport because it is about a German actor and one of the best of the first part of the 20^th century. Heinz Ruhmann played Watson only one time and that was in the movie “Two Merry Adventurers”, at least that was what it was called in the US in 1937. In Germany it was called “Der Mann, der Sherlock Holmes War” (The Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes).

In the story Hans Albers (who plays Sherlock) and Heinz Ruhmann (Watson) aren’t our two heroes at all but two con men who impersonate Holmes and Watson. Curious too is that the names Holmes and Watson are never spoken in the movie. It’s part of the plot. If they never say the names but let people assume who they are they haven’t committed a crime. They do dress as our heroes and let people assume what they want.  There is a romantic involvement with two English girls and somehow manage to stop a gang of counterfeiters. They also recover a priceless stamp collection which they would love to keep but return. Our two impersonators are arrested and charged with pretending to be Holmes and Watson and the trial includes an appearance by an unhappy Conan Doyle played by Paul Bildt. Of course since they never said who they were nothing can be proven
and they are released to continue pursuing their love interests.

The movie is really quite an entertaining comedy. It is hard to run down. It was put out on VHS years ago but I haven’t been able to find a region 1 DVD yet. Curious note – this was one of the two films found in Adolf Hitler’s bunker after the war. The other was “Der Hund Von Baskerville”. Strange that he should have two films about an English hero.

Heinz Ruhmann was born 7 March 1902 in Essen Germany and died 3 October 1994 in Bavaria. At the time of his death he had 111 films to his credit and was active on TV up until his death at the age of 92, an astounding feat. He grew up in Wanne-Eickel and Munich. He never graduated from secondary school but by 1920 he had started his acting career on the stage in Breslau, Hanover, Bremen and Munich. He made his first movie in 1926 and made the transition from silent to talking films in 1930. He had an exceptional speaking voice which many in the silent era did not. He co-starred with Hans Albers on a number of occasions, playing street smart characters that eventually get their comeuppance. By 1938 Ruhmann was producing his own films and playing on the Berlin stage.

There is no evidence that Ruhmann was a party member but just a good actor who was much in demand.  In fact, Anne Frank was a big fan and had Ruhmann’s picture above her
bed in the secret rooms she shared with her family in Amsterdam.

How many Watsons have a stamp?

Ruhmann received more awards than I have space for. Some of the honors that make him stand out though are the honors from the citizenry: A Berlin district issued a coin with his image, a street in the Bavarian town of Berg named a street in his honor, and he was ranked number one in a survey by the ZDF network as Germany’s all-time favorite actor. In addition he received 25 major awards

Ruhmann was married 3 times. He was divorced once and widowed once. He had one son Peter Ruhman.

I promise that I will keep this discussion of Jude Law as Dr. Watson down to six or eight pages. I think the original working title of the movie was “Sherlock Holmes meets Indiana Jones”. This is an exceptional movie and I cannot wait for the sequel to come out! Sherlock Holmes is now the “intelligent” action adventure hero you always knew he was. He and
his, also intelligent, sidekick Robin…err…Dr. Watson , use not only rational thought, but Kung-Fu, Ju-Jitsu, sword canes, riding crops and revolvers to save the day! Who could not love this movie?

Law, Downey and Rachel McAdams

Through all the fast paced action scenes, accidental boat sinking and bare knuckle brawls; it is still Holmes and a very excellent Watson. Director Guy Ritchie has made the 19^th century action hero an appealing character to a 21^st century movie audience. Ritchie has been able to keep the essence of the thinking man and add all the aspects that were left behind in most translations of Holmes from paper to celluloid.

Besides Sherlock having to actually use the clues presented to solve the problem of the evil Lord Blackwood’s rise from the dead, Holmes must contend with an unseen force; Moriarty , of course. Many are the references to the original works and lots of dialogue is plucked from the canon. I counted 10, myself, and if I watch it again, no, when I watch it again I shouldn’t be surprised to find more.

The casting is magnificent with Robert Downey, Jr. as Holmes and Jude Law as Watson. The two gentlemen click and you believe their camaraderie is real. There is the constant banter you would expect between close friends. Watson is inspiring in his devotion to Holmes, his steadfast determination, his quick wit and his fighting ability.

The scenery, locations and computer generated backgrounds are astounding. Costuming alone must have cost a fortune.

Okay, yes the canon has been messed with a bit; it’s 1891 but Holmes is in London and not on the great hiatus, Irene Adler doesn’t come back as a jewel robber and Mary Morstan didn’t have to be introduced to Holmes as Watson’s fiancé because he already knew her. Oh and she had no family even though in the movie she does. But it’s a small price to pay.

My problem now becomes how to compare Jude Law against people like Burke and Hardwicke. They are not the same animal. Yes, they are all Holmes’ ally but they don’t all go around acting like Errol Flynn, Jr. fighting off 3 bad guys at a time with sword canes or rolling 8 foot giants up in a choke hold. I’m afraid that I have to make a differentiation here. Burke is still my favorite “classic” Watson but Jude Law has to be my favorite action
figure.

Jude Law was born in London 29 December 1972. He was acting by the time he was 12 in the National Youth Music Theatre and when he turned 17 he quit school altogether and worked on a Granada TV soap opera called “Families”. With 46 film appearances to his credit he has been in some truly outstanding movies. Some of my favorites are; The Aviator, Enemy at the Gates (5 stars), and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Cold Mountain is well received but I consider it a chick flick. Of course he’s the man you would expect in a chick flick having twice been named to People Magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People”!

Law has four children; three with ex-wife Sadie Frost and one with Samantha Burke. Law has been nominated twice for Oscars and won many awards including a BAFTA. As I write this he has one movie in filming and four in post-production, including Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. I hope it holds up to the previous film and that there are more.

Hound of the Baskervilles

This is an up-front statement: Does anyone else rue the day that Sir Arthur gave Sherlock a drug habit?! I sure do. What was almost an aside in the canon becomes a major part in film lore and is grossly overplayed. Ian Hart plays Watson in two made for TV movies: Hound of the Baskervilles and The Case of the Silk Stocking. Sherlock is well played in both films; in the first by Richard Roxburgh and in the second by Rupert Everett. Both these films were made by the same production units and both completely overdo the drug connection. (That always sets me off!) Other than that the only complaints I have are that the Hound is an obvious computer generation and that fedoras weren’t a part of men’s apparel until about 1914. (Having been made popular for women’s wear by Sarah Bernhardt in 1889 when she wore one in theplay “Fedora”.)

But to get back to our main character- Watson. Both movies play Watson well. Accordin to

Ian Hart

Roxburgh “In Conan Doyle, he’s a doctor of medicine. He’s a very intelligent Man. He’s hanging off Holmes’ coat-tails sometimes, but not a fool.” That is exactly how Hart plays Watson, he is all those thing, and in addition, long suffering! I found it interesting also that the discussion of the left behind cane and the terrier are omitted from the hound and the ending is significantly different. Though, come to think of it, I know of no version that is 100% true to the story.

The Case of the Silk Stocking has Watson again taking a wife, this time an American who is involved in the study of psychiatry (I would have thought they would call her an alienist). As a “new” story it does quite well and Sherlock is shown to good advantage as is Watson. Some havesaid that Hart does a rather dull portrayal in Hound. I believe his portrayal is
quite good. Here is a man dealing with the unknown and given charge of protecting a stranger in a strange land. Would it be any wonder that he would hold his cards close and be the receptor of information rather than the dispenser of glad tidings and jovial good will? I believe Hart places Watson exactly where he needs to be in context of the situation.

Either Hound or The Case of the Silk Stocking is well worth the watching. Hound is the better of the two, but Watson is exceptional in both. I hope to see Hart play Watson again.

Ian Hart was born Ian Davies on 8 October 1964 in Liverpool, England. He is one of three siblings in a Roman Catholic family. He studied at the Cardinal Allen Grammar School and
was a member of the Everyman Youth Theatre. He studied drama at the Mabel Fletcher College of Music and Drama in Liverpool and studied video production at South Mersey College. By 1982 Hart was on the stage and in 1991 made his first appearance on film as John Lennon. He would reprise the role in 1994 and win the Evening Standard British Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer. Hart has won three other major awards: Best Actor from the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Festival and Best Supporting Performer from the Venice Film Festival.

Hart has in excess of 45 film or TV shows to his credit and stays very active in the theater. He is married and he and his wife Lynne have two daughters and live in Crouch End, North London.

Brett & Hardwicke

This is the one Watson on whom I know there will be some argument. There were other Watson’s but when you get down to it the two best were David Burke and Edward Hardwicke. David Burke played the part with Jeremy Brett first in “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” in 1984. Because of personal decisions Burke pulled out of the series, but before he left, he recommended his replacement, Edward Hardwicke. Hardwick would go on to play Watson with Brett in: 11 one hour episodes for “The Return of Sherlock Holmes” in 1986, “The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes” in 1991, “The Memoirs of Sherlock
Holmes” in 1994 and in the two one hour films, “The Sign of Four” and “The Hound of the Baskervilles”. The “Hound” was one of the best versions ever and Hardwicke did a sterling job (though I have yet to see a decent “Hound from Hell”).

Hardwicke had a hard act to follow in Burke. Both men played Watson as courageous, intelligent, honest, quick witted and with a sense of humor; not taking Holmes too seriously when he didn’t deserve to be. The difference between the Burke and Hardwicke could be found in the last statement. Burke seemed to be having more fun with the part. Hardwicke seemed at times too intense. The problem is that they were both so good that it seems to rankle a bit to say anything negative. Hardwicke on his worst day was superb.

When the series had run its course and Brett was too ill to really work much it was

Has anything escaped me?

Hardwicke who used Watson to keep the shows together and interesting. I would dearly have loved to have seen him and Brett in their stage production, “The Secret of Sherlock Holmes”.  It must have been an amazing production. In addition, Hardwick made some six audio recordings of Doyle’s tales.

Edward Cedric Hardwicke (AKA Edward Hardwick in some billings) was born on 7 August 1932 in London to Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Helena Pickard. Edward spent much of his youth in Hollywood where his famous father was busy in the movies. After WWII he returned to England, he was now 15 and went to Stowe School. In 1951 and 1952 he was in the RAF and trained as a pilot. After the service he studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. He played at the Old Vic, The Oxford Playhouse and the Nottingham Playhouse and in 1964 joined Laurence Olivier’s National Theatre.

Edward had made his film debut at the age of ten in1943 in the movie “A Guy Called Joe”  with Spencer Tracy. His next film would not be until 1954 in “Hell Below Zero” and by 1959 he was making his mark in TV. In addition to the role of Dr. Watson, Hardwicke was best known as Captain Pat Grant in the TV series “Colditz” based on Pat Reid the author of the book and real hero of WWII.  In all, he would have113 credited film roles. His list of  stage productions fills four pages of type.

Edward Hardwicke passed away just a few months ago, 16 May 2011. He left behind his wife of 16 years, Prim Cotton, two daughters and a stepdaughter. He was an exceptional talent that was under appreciated.

I am more than willing to say that I need help with this one! Anyone having information about Roger Morlidge please contact me. I’ve spent two days on the computer looking for information and am now convinced the man who did such an admirable job as Watson in the TV movie “Sherlock: Case of Evil” either works for MI5, the CIA or is in witness protection in Albuquerque! I have never seen so little information on such a good actor.

“Case of Evil” presents us with a fairly young Holmes, mid-20’s probably, who is egotistical, a drunk, a drug addict and a sex fiend. In all, he is somewhat of an unlikeable character played by James D’Arcy. Mr. D’Arcy does a fine job and is completely believable in the part. Of course by the midpoint of the film he has turned about a bit, partly due to the intercession of Watson, and he is a more sympathetic character. His nemesis? Who else but Prof. Moriarty? Moriarty is trying to corner the opium trade and is killing off the other big drug dealers one at a time. The professor plays Holmes like a fiddle and manipulates him in order to give himself the ultimate alibi. Moriarty is played by Vincent D’Onofrio. D’Onofrio makes a tremendous bad guy. He is one of the most skilled actors on TV or the movies. Anyone who has ever watched Law & Order: Criminal Intent knows what skill he displays. Of course by the end of the movie Holmes will triumph and he and Watson will be fast friends. The final scenes must be Moriarty falling from a high place in London. Can you guess where?

Roger Morlidge

Morlidge plays a rather sensible and ultimately heroic Watson. He is certainly not a buffoon but much more the everyman. It is quite easy to identify with his portrayal of the stalwart ally.

Morlidge has been in film, TV and the stage at least since the early ‘90’s. He played PC Cochrane in one of the best comedies I know: The Man Who Knew Too Little. A great rainy afternoon flick with Bill Murray playing the main character. I am never able to pass a traffic cone on the highway without thinking of that movie and Morlidge chasing Murray. In all, the Bolton, England born actor has more than 35 film appearances and numerous stage performances to his credit as well as a number of stage plays. He was also (according to the Bolton newspaper) writing a screenplay about his grandmothers experiences in Bolton during the Great War. About a dozen years ago he was in the TV movie “All the Kings Men”, a sad tale about the demise of a company of men raised from the Kings estate in the Great War and killed, almost to a man, in Turkey. Morlidge is a fine actor and I would appreciate any additional information anyone has on him.

The best I can determine, the only time that Colin Blakely ever played Dr. Watson in film was in the Billy Wilder 1970 movie “The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes”. The movie is, in a way, a little hard to get your mind around. It is not a spoof or a comedy yet is not completely drama. It does have some great dialogue:

Watson: They say twelve men have died for her.

Holmes: Really?

Watson: Six committed suicide, four were killed in duels and one fell out of the gallery of the Vienna Opera House.

Holmes: That’s only eleven.

Watson: The man that fell from the gallery landed on top of another man in the orchestra.

Holmes: That makes an even dozen…In a messy sort of way.

The banter is continuous and the writing is excellent. Sherlock Holmes is played by Sir Robert Stephens and he is really good. He underplays the part in a way that makes Holmes very likeable. Colin Blakely is one of my favorite character actors. He played in two great Agatha Christie movies: Evil Under the Sun and Murder on the Orient Express. In both of these movies he is superb, unfortunately, he kind of overdoes the buffoon part as Watson. It’s good but not great.

The movie was originally supposed to be of epic length even requiring an intermission like Lawrence of Arabia. When it came out it had been cut to about 2 hours. With a 10 million dollar budget there was no scrimping on costumes, sets or locations. The original script called for four stories tied together in the movie. As it finally came out there were two. In the first Holmes is propositioned by a retiring Russian ballerina who wants him to father her child. Needless to say, Holmes is able to get out of the situation but Watson is not happy about how he achieves his end. This part of the story is probably Blakely’s best. Then there is a “Belgian” woman played by Genevieve Page who recruits Holmes to find her missing husband. The second story involves midgets, monks, German spies, the Loch Ness Monster, submarines, Mycroft and Queen Victoria. The story is excellent but as I said Blakely rather overplays the buffoon at this point. The location shots are beautiful as they really went to Loch Ness for filming.

One of the props was a full size monster that they floated in the lake, however, it never made it into the movie because it sank into the lake and was lost. The replacement monster in the movie was then filmed in a studio fish tank. The deleted scenes included “The Dreadful Business of the Naked Honeymooners” and “The Curious Case of the Upside Down Room”. Also deleted were a flashback of Holmes at Oxford and Blakely playing his own grandson at Cox Bank receiving the dispatch box.

I highly recommend this movie. If you haven’t seen it you need to. Blakely does a very credible job overall.

Colin Blakely was born in Northern Ireland on 23 September 1930 dying fairly young at 56 years of age on 7 May 1987.  He would eventually appear in 78 movies and became one of the UKs best known character actors. He was also a very accomplished Shakespearean actor. I never cease to be amazed at how many Shakespearean actors become Holmes or Watson. Besides movies Blakely was heavily involved in TV as early as 1960. But what is really amazing is his extensive history on the legitimate stage which extends throughout his TV and film career.

At the age of 18 Blakely was working in his families sporting goods store then he moved on to the railroads. He began his theater work in an amateur repertoire company and his first paid job was in the Group Theatre in Belfast. He worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Old Vic, and the Royal Court as well as many other organizations. He was married to Margaret Whiting, a British actress and they had three children. He was also quite a sports fan and played rugby and football (soccer) for Northern Ireland. He was a very good, if not great Watson.