Before Benedict Cumberbatch, Robert Downey Jr., Jeremy Brett, or Basil Rathbone donned the deerstalker, the world’s first film version of Sherlock Holmes was performed by an actor named William Gillette. Never heard of him? That is hardly surprising, as Gillette was primarily a stage actor and made only one film: Sherlock Holmes, from 1916. Long thought lost, Sherlock Holmes was recently discovered by the Cinematheque Francaise, and is currently in the process of a digital restoration with the help of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival.
Directed by Arthur Berthelet and produced by Essanay Studios in Chicago, the 1916 film version of Sherlock Holmes features Gillette in the titular role as he comes into conflict with his arch-nemesis Professor Moriarty. The film contains a number of set pieces that were part of Gillette’s original play, and apparently illustrates how Gillette brought a number of elements from various Sherlock Holmes stories into the plot.
Directed by Arthur Berthelet and produced by Essanay Studios in Chicago, the 1916 film version of Sherlock Holmes features Gillette in the titular role as he comes into conflict with his arch-nemesis Professor Moriarty. The film contains a number of set pieces that were part of Gillette’s original play, and apparently illustrates how Gillette brought a number of elements from various Sherlock Holmes stories into the plot.
- 10/2/2014
- by Lauren Humphries-Brooks
- We Got This Covered
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