Introduction to Jeremy Brett's quintessential Sherlock Holmes

[karadinart]

My first love amongst actors portraying Sherlock Holmes (with which Benedict Cumberbatch need not compete, as they both have their own versions which draw from canon.)

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes first began in 1984 and ran to 1995 a supremely well produced television series from Granada (UK) which sought to create a show as close to the canon Sherlock Holmes as possible, faithful to the original stories. Jeremy Brett was already an accomplished star of the stage, as well as television and film roles (noteably in My Fair Lady with Audrey Hepburn) but it is for his Sherlock Holmes that Brett is remembered and much beloved.

His performances were exuberant, energetic, capturing the brilliance of the famous detective and in fact, some of the humor that escapes other renditions of the canon. He played Sherlock Holmes up to his death in 1995, even as the ardors of the role exacerbated his illness (manic depression, discovered late in life) he continued with 'the show must go on, darlings.'

If you love the new SHERLOCK, I am certain you can hold both actors to your heart. Here are a few clips of Jeremy's Sherlock with his two Watsons - the esteemed David Burke and Edward Hardwicke. (the Granada series was also noteable for making Dr. Watson a strong partner to Holmes, and not a bumbling sidekick)

*trivia - new Sherlock Benedict Cumberbatch considers Brett a brilliant actor; his mother actress Wanda Ventham and Jeremy Brett were friends.

Comments

[tweedisgood.livejournal.com]

And they both have lovely voices and lovely *diction* - and superior Watsons. Easy on the eye and easy on the ear: grand job, lads.

It IS so nice not to play the "x is better than y" game with this one. A few rather silly journos have tried, but as I said to a friend, apples and oranges. I make no secret that I have a preference, but it's sheer taste.

I actually recognised some words of the Greek subtitles. Wonder what they made of the Greek Interpreter?

[karadin.livejournal.com]

Benedict is the modern Holmes, so I think it is apples and oranges, and Benedict strove not to use Brett or Rathbone as models but go from canon - he's a young Holmes, so he's a bit more volatile, more anti-social, but Moffat and Gatiss want to have somewhere for the character to go, ie: his relationship with Watson making Sherlock a better man.

I think I've been surprised to learn that many younger people don't know of Brett's Holmes! So it's good to introduce them. And I want to crack my ACD open again.

[lady-sallie.livejournal.com]

I love his laugh. He didn't use it as Holmes often, but when he did it just fit. It was such a big full laugh, so honest. You can't help but smile when you hear it, and his eyes would laugh, too. Not many people do that.

[karadin.livejournal.com]

So true, and in many ways he didn't like playing Holmes, as he was so different in personality from Brett himself, but there is quite a bit of smiling from Holmes in canon, but the emphasis is put on Holmes' cold calculating nature.