Friday, August 21, 2015
Chas’ Blog- Mr. Holmes

Sherlock Holmes has been portrayed in films, television, radio and on stage by a greater number of actors and in more guises than any other character, fictional or real.

There has even been at least one actor who has portrayed both Holmes and Dr. Watson, on different occasions. On two occasions the character of Dr. Watson has been portrayed by a woman and in the recent television adaptation “Elementary”, Moriarty is portrayed by a woman (Natalie Dormer).

And last year’s National Theatre of Britain production of “Frankenstein” featured two young actor’s in the interchanging lead roles who have also portrayed Sherlock Holmes in two recent TV adaptations of Holmes: BBC’s Sherlock and American TV’s “Elementary”…Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller. The actor who has played both Holmes and Watson was the late Jeremy Brett. Everyone must know where he played Holmes. He appeared as Dr. Watson in the 1980’s stage production of “Crucifer of Blood” opposite Charlton Heston as Holmes.

This present adaptation of Sherlock Holmes in his later years could not have made a better choice in the title role than Ian McKellan It is a little reminiscent of his turn as Sir James Whale in 1998’s “God and Monsters” but Sir Ian has done so much more both before and since that film. He first came to this writer’s attention in a 1984 PBS-TV production: Ian McKellan Acting Shakespeare and he has fascinated me ever since.

IMDb lists three trademarks for him of which the first two are enough for me:

• rich but flawless voice combined with a Shakespearean bearing
• distinctively calm style of speaking.

Parenthetically McKellan originated the role of Antonio Salieri in the Broadway production of “Amadeus”. Interestingly director Bill Condon of this film also directed Sir Ian in the aforementioned “Gods and Monsters” and his last film prior to this was 2013’s “The Fifth Estate” navigating the tricky subject of WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange.

In summary I think that the storyline involving Holmes revisiting an unsolved case that led to his retirement in combination with the creative people behind this film make it irresistible.

LINKS
Imdb.com for all: the movie, Ian Mckellan, and director Bill Condon
rottentomatoes.com/m/mr_holmes
Tribute.ca/trailers/mr.-holmes/20458
En.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr_Holmes
fandango.com/mr.holmes_180478/movieoverview