Sherlock Holmes

Games Afoot

Sherlock Holmes
USA 1922 Directed by Albert Parker
Goldwyn Pictures Corporation
Kino Lorber Blu Ray Zone A

Warning: Some spoilers.

Well this is an interesting one... first of all though, if you want to go looking for this on the IMDB then you need to look under the title Moriarty. I’ve no idea why because, it then states in brackets that Sherlock Holmes was the original title and I can find no reasons as to why it should be called after his famous literary nemesis on the IMDB. I mean, yeah, Moriarty is the lead villain here but... what’s going on with the IMDB lately anyway?*

Anyway, restoration on this film began in the 1970s from just a few found scraps and, over the decades, we finally got to here, which I had presumed was the full film. It’s not a bad restoration, considering what it could have looked like and all I will say about that is I’m glad I watched it on a shiny Blu Ray because I’m sure it would have looked far worse on a DVD edition (or VHS transfer for that matter). 

Now, there’s a warning that this is not quite Sherlock Holmes as you know him. It is the famous Sir Arthur Conan Doyle character, as portrayed by John Barrymore but, it’s actually based on a play of the same name by William Gillette. And, okay yes, there is a background element of romance in this version and, by the end of the picture, Holmes does indeed... ‘get the girl’. However, I really don’t think the portrayal is that far out and I think that, other than the character’s longing for love as a not too blatant sub plot, it’s actually quite a good screen version of the character, in all other respects. 

Now the film surprised me because the first part of the story takes place when Holmes and Dr. Watson (played here by the steadfast Roland Young, making his film debut) are both still attending college. Holmes, through Watson, becomes involved with the case of another student, a prince, who is accused by police of taking the ‘athletic funds’ of the college. It turns out to be notorious underworld criminal genius Moriarty and Holmes gets the prince off the hook and goes out of his way to meet the master criminal in a pretty classic verbal encounter between the two, where each shows they’re a match for the other. Years later, Holmes is firmly embedded in 221 Baker Street (okay, so they got the address slightly wrong but, there are some great location shots of what London used to look like at the time of filming... it was filmed in the US, London and Switzerland) as a consulting detective of some repute. When the prince from the first half is being blackmailed with letters regarding his affair with a lady from the early parts of the picture, Holmes takes the case (because he’s besotted by the lady in question’s sister, who is in peril) and once more he is matching wits with the machinations of Moriarty’s criminal network (depicted visually in the early parts of the picture as a web, with Moriarty as the spider at the centre).

And that’s all I'll say on the plot but I will say that this is the first film I think I’ve seen with John Barrymore (of a very long line of famous actors, all who seem to have had drink problems in their respective eras, right down to the modern member of the clan, of course, Drew Barrymore) and I can tell you I was very impressed with his naturalistic acting style here. It’s always about expression with silent movie acting but he’s actually quite subtle and  I really believed him as a person here, rather than just as a character in a movie. I think I’m going to have to seek out his famous portrayal of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde next, I guess. 

Also making his debut here is future movie star William Powell, far from when he was playing The Thin Man. Also, if you want to see what a young Hedda Hopper was like as an actress, rather than a lauded Hollywood gossip columnist, she also has a role here. So the film is of much interest to fans of the early talkie era of Hollywood too, for sure.

My one gripe is that, although Homes is depicted making his usual deductions and even goes full on deerstalker and pipe by the end of the movie, not to mention adopting a clever disguise at one point, there isn’t really an element of mystery to the proceedings. The audience is pretty much in on the crimes depicted every step of the way so nothing is left for the spectator to unravel along with Holmes. Also, no Mrs. Hall in this and, good, because Holmes’ Baker Street lodgings are burned to the ground by Moriarty at one point.

All in all though, apart from the somewhat dreadful organ score which has been written here to accompany the movie, I had a pretty good time with Sherlock Holmes and I think I’ll need to track down some of the other silent Holmes movies in time, if I can actually find any (my old bootlegs were in terrible shape, when I tried to watch them). Unfortunately, even after many years of trying to piece this one together, they reckon they’re still missing about 26 minutes but the film doesn’t really jump around any and, unless there’s some kind of miraculous discovery at some point (as there was with Metropolis a few years ago), then I think this is the longest version you’re going to be able to see. So if you’re looking to see this one at some point, this Kino Lorber edition is probably he best opportunity you’re going to get at present.

*Since I wrote this, I’ve found out that Moriarty was the British release title... why it should be called that on the IMDB, though, is anybody’s guess.