SEVERIN Does SHERLOCK

SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE DEADLY NECKLACE (Blu-ray) and

SHERLOCK HOLMES (Blu-ray)

FROM SEVERIN FILMS

Review by Mr. Paws😼

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous creation has never been a stranger to adaptation…from movies & TV shows to plays & stories written by other authors. Sherlock Holmes has been played by a variety of actors over the years to varying levels of effectiveness. Basil Rathbone, of course, remains the standard, though Nicol Williamson in The Seven-Percent Solution and John Neville in A Study in Terror weren’t slouches either.

Even horror legends Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing had a go at Holmes back in the 1960s, the former starring a movie, the latter taking over the role for a single season of a BBC series. Both of these obscurities were previously released by Severin Films as part of boxed sets dedicated to lesser-known films from each actor, but are now available separately.

SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE DEADLY NECKLACE

1962 / 86 min

This German-Italian production features Christopher Lee as the titular detective. He squares off against his nemesis, Professor Moriarity, whom he suspects has mastermined the theft of a priceless necklace once worn by Cleopatra. 

Very loosely based on one of Doyle’s novel, The Valley of Fear, the film transplants Holmes into a modern day setting, which might strike the ire of purists. But what’s particularly off-putting is, despite its English star, both audio options on this disc (German & English) feature dubs by other actors, meaning Lee’s distinctive voice (a significant part of his legend) is missing, undermining efforts to make the character his own.

The film is efficiently directed by Hammer Films veteran Terrence Fisher and features decent production values. Ultimately, it is an interesting curio for Lee fans, but hardly an essential Sherlock Holmes adaptation.

EXTRA KIBBLES

ENGLISH & GERMAN DUBS

FEATURETTES - Tony Dalton Interviews Terrance Fisher; Tony Dalton on Terrance Fisher.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By film writers Kim Newman (who’s always worth listening to) and Barry Forshaw.

TRAILER

SHERLOCK HOLMES

1968 / 308 min

Taking a more traditional approach, BBC’s Sherlock Holmes first aired in 1965 with a different actor as the title character. Peter Cushing took over the role in 1968, but unlike Lee, he’d previously played Holmes in a film and had a better grasp of the character. He even resembles the detective as I always pictured him when reading the stories.

Much of the series has been lost by the cruelty of time and the six episodes on this disc are apparently all that’s left. Time hasn’t been particularly kind to these episodes either. Despite restoration, the video quality is sometimes pretty terrible, though overall, it sounds pretty good. 

Most episodes are adaptations of Doyle’s novels as opposed to his short stories. The best ones here are probably the two-parter, The Hound of the Baskervilles (Cushing was also in the 1959 movie adaptation), and A Study in Scarlet (based in the very first Holmes novel). Though somewhat hampered by budget-conscious production, Cushing is enjoyable as Holmes, though co-star Nigel Stock is an occasional scene stealer as Dr. Watson.

EXTRA KIBBLES

BBC COUNTDOWN CLOCK OPTION - Literal countdown to the start of each episode.

AUDIO COMMENTARIES - For every episode. Kim Newman participates in all of them. He’s intermittently joined by authors Barry Forshaw & David Stuart Davies.

AUDIO INTERVIEW WITH PETER CUSHING

LOST SEGMENTS - Surviving clips from lost episodes.

Neither of these releases rank among the best Sherlock Holmes adaptations, nor are they gold stars on Christopher Lee or Peter Cushing’s lengthy resumes. But they might be of interest for completists, who’ll also probably appreciate the accompanying bonus features.