A Favorite Interpretation of Sherlock Holmes

With the anticipation building for the new Sherlock Holmes movie starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, I thought I would reflect on one of my favorite portrayals of the character.  While I absolutely love the Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes movies of the late 1930s and early 1940s, I absoutely adore the 1954-1955 TV series starring Ronald Howard as Sherlock Holmes and H. Marion Crawford as Doctor Watson.

This series was produced by Sheldon Reynolds and filmed entirely in France.  I had never heard of the TV series at all until my husband and I got married and we watched a few episodes of the TV show on one of those $1.00 DVDs that used to loiter around the checkout counters at Wal-Mart and Target.

I loved two of the three episodes (the third, The Texas Cowgirl remains my least favorite - bad accent work) and endeavored to locate some more.  Much to my surprise I was able to find all of the 39 episodes of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes compiled in a DVD set for around $10.

Considering the amount of times the set has been watched, it was certainly money well spent (and it came with a 10 pack of other detective movies including Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes mind you!).

Some fun points about the series:

• Ronald Howard is not Opie, but rather the sun of Leslie Howard, best remembered as Ashley in Gone with the Wind. (I love him as The Scarlet Pimpernel.)
• H. Marion Crawford took the Dr. Watson character away from the bumbling of Nigel Bruce and made him a fitting companion to Holmes.  Dr. Watson was not beyond knocking a few criminals around in this TV show, and his soft spot for the ladies is absolutely charming.
• Archie Duncan appears in the show chiefly as Inspector Lestrade but manages to get in a few other characters as well.  He also appeared in a show about Robin Hood as Little John which I also have a few bargain bin episodes of.
• Eugene Deckers appears in several of these episodes as strikingly different and exceedingly well-portrayed characters.  In one show (The Case of Harry Crocker), he is a highly limber escape artist eluding the good inspector, in another he is a sinister murderer intent on hunting down Sherlock Holmes over the holiday season (Christmas Pudding).
• It looks like most, if not all, of the series is available on hulu to watch free of charge.  Be sure to cue up The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. If you check any of them out, give the Basil Rathbone portrayals of Sherlock a look over too.  You will not be disappointed with either depiction.