Revisiting the past
Due to the lack of Sherlockian activity (or activity interesting to me) I have been struggling with topics to write about.
However, I stumbled upon The Case of the Silk Stocking over the weekend and stuck with it even thought it was half-way through (and I do have it on DVD).
The film is often taken as an example of one of least worthy versions of Holmes. The overly antagonistic Holmes, the anachronisms in the script, the incorrect depiction of Holmes as an Opium user (along with the incorrect depiction of his Cocaine use) and the cliche of twins as the culprits - as we all know courtesy of Sherlock - 'it is never twins' (was this a rebuke from the modern adaptation to its predecessor I wonder?).
The script is not great but I found it very atmospheric and I like it when the comedy element is played down or eliminated (I like a dark Holmes). Everett gave a perfectly serviceable Holmes and Ian Hart's Watson was a vast improvement on his earlier outing in The Hound of the Baskervilles.
In fact I think that all the actors did a good job with the material they had to work with.
What do you think?
However, I stumbled upon The Case of the Silk Stocking over the weekend and stuck with it even thought it was half-way through (and I do have it on DVD).
The film is often taken as an example of one of least worthy versions of Holmes. The overly antagonistic Holmes, the anachronisms in the script, the incorrect depiction of Holmes as an Opium user (along with the incorrect depiction of his Cocaine use) and the cliche of twins as the culprits - as we all know courtesy of Sherlock - 'it is never twins' (was this a rebuke from the modern adaptation to its predecessor I wonder?).
 |
| Clearly it sometimes is twins (left) |
In fact I think that all the actors did a good job with the material they had to work with.
What do you think?
Written by Alistair Duncan
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Come on people. No comments on this film?
ReplyDeleteSaw it on PBS a long time ago and I honestly don't remember much about it.
ReplyDeleteMaybe give it another watch and see how you feel about it. I'd be interested whether your view was positive or negative.
ReplyDeleteI did rewatch it and remembered that I didn't care for it all that much, but liked it more this time around. One of the things that I think threw me off the first time is that I didn't realize it was sent in the Edwardian, not Victorian, era so this was depicting the marriage to the second Mrs. Watson and why the telephone ans fingerprinting were so much part of the plot. I did like Rupert Everett's Holmes and Ian Hart's Watson, but not together. The chemistry between the two was "off" but that can be blamed on the tired pop psychology doppelganger Allen brothers/Holmes trope--Holmes in the climax comparing Allen and himself as addicts, both needing more drugs/murder to achieve the same high. Then there is the you-don't-want-to-be-hung-alone-without-your-brother/Holmes without Watson similitude ham-fistedly crammed into the climax as well. As Holmes and Watson spent most of the movie apart and when they were together they were unconvincing as friends, the dualities the script tried to force on the viewer with the heroes and villains failed. (Also the same shot set up for both Holmes and Allen in stranger in Lady Roberta's bedroom scenes.) The omnipresent (and metaphysical) fog was tiring. Plus there were certain distractions--would Holmes rally not know of Kraft-Ebing's work? Holmes' cigarette lighter gave him some panache but since the patenting of ferrocerium (a small flint lighter) by Carl Auer von Welsbach was in 1903, it seems anachronistic. Holmes' incorrect opium and cocaine use was there addict trope and was jarring, especially as the Canonical quotes used in the film were effective. While Doyle never used twins in the Canon, although the butler did do it in MUSG, Doyle did use twins--rather unconvincingly--in "The Black Doctor". So I have no problems with the "twins" element as in the early 1900s it probably wasn't the cliche it is now. One can successfully watch it for the actors and acting without liking the movie itself. I'd take TCOTSS over the last half of BBC Sherlock's run anyday. Two out of four stars.
ReplyDeleteYou drew some elements to my attention that I'd not considered before. Thanks.
ReplyDelete