Sherlock Holmes Comparison Essay Example
Hayden Wong
10-20-10
Betz Period 5
Sherlock Holmes: 1930-Present
Sherlock Holmes, originally casted with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce in the 1930’s, has been a classic since it first came out. Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce starred in three movies: The Hound Of The Baskervilles, Terror By Night, and The Women In Green. These were the three original films created in the late 1930’s and mid 1940’s. As years passes, new directors decided to create their own Sherlock Holmes film with a new cast. In 1979, Murder By Decree was released starring Christopher Plummer and James Mason. A little later in 1985, Steven Spielberg directed a film about Sherlock Holmes when he was young and still in school. Finally, the most recent Sherlock Holmes came out in 2009 starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. Sherlock Holmes has become somewhat of a legend, considering almost everyone in the last two or three generations has at least heard the name. Looking at each film, they all seem to capture Sherlock Holmes the way Sir Arthur Conan Doyle intended him to be, in one sense or another. When analyzing each film though, there are certain distinctions from one another. The Hound of the Baskervilles, Terror By Night, and The Woman in Green are different than the others for the simple reason that they were made in the 1940’s. The film quality was worse, and the filming techniques were not as creative as they are today. The one thing I did like most about these films with Basil Rathbone was the originality of the story. The things that happened were not very far-fetched, which made it believable that the crimes that Sherlock Holmes attempted to solve could have actually happened. In the 2009 version of Sherlock Holmes, the idea of a man manipulating an entire council into believing he has powers and arose from the grave is quite a stretch. This goes for Young Sherlock Holmes as well; the miraculous actions, accusations, discoveries and outcomes of the predicaments young Sherlock
10-20-10
Betz Period 5
Sherlock Holmes: 1930-Present
Sherlock Holmes, originally casted with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce in the 1930’s, has been a classic since it first came out. Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce starred in three movies: The Hound Of The Baskervilles, Terror By Night, and The Women In Green. These were the three original films created in the late 1930’s and mid 1940’s. As years passes, new directors decided to create their own Sherlock Holmes film with a new cast. In 1979, Murder By Decree was released starring Christopher Plummer and James Mason. A little later in 1985, Steven Spielberg directed a film about Sherlock Holmes when he was young and still in school. Finally, the most recent Sherlock Holmes came out in 2009 starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. Sherlock Holmes has become somewhat of a legend, considering almost everyone in the last two or three generations has at least heard the name. Looking at each film, they all seem to capture Sherlock Holmes the way Sir Arthur Conan Doyle intended him to be, in one sense or another. When analyzing each film though, there are certain distinctions from one another. The Hound of the Baskervilles, Terror By Night, and The Woman in Green are different than the others for the simple reason that they were made in the 1940’s. The film quality was worse, and the filming techniques were not as creative as they are today. The one thing I did like most about these films with Basil Rathbone was the originality of the story. The things that happened were not very far-fetched, which made it believable that the crimes that Sherlock Holmes attempted to solve could have actually happened. In the 2009 version of Sherlock Holmes, the idea of a man manipulating an entire council into believing he has powers and arose from the grave is quite a stretch. This goes for Young Sherlock Holmes as well; the miraculous actions, accusations, discoveries and outcomes of the predicaments young Sherlock