1954 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - 39 Episodes - 30 minute TV Series
Love this one for it's lightheartedness! All 39 episodes are on YouTube.
Do you watch any good series on Sherlock Holmes??
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Oh thanks!!
ITV version with Jeremy Brett - 40 odd episodes with a Holmes who sprung straight from the books
lets see
I'll try to watch these whenever possible!! thanku!!
Basil Rathbone, hampered somewhat by Watson played as a buffoon and the need to use Holmes for propaganda purposes during WW2. As a tie-breaker in his favour he was in the Errol Flynn "men in tights" Robin Hood film.
ZegTheDalek wrote:
Basil Rathbone, hampered somewhat by Watson played as a buffoon and the need to use Holmes for propaganda purposes during WW2.
Agreed about the WWII Propaganda-infusion, a very unwelcome PSA; indeed.
Many serious Holmes fans also feel the way you do about Nigel Bruce's portrayal as the older, bumbling and befuddled Watson; however, let us remember these films were aimed at a very broad audience and for mass-appeal; therefore, a comedic-foil to Holmes becomes mandatory - if a film company is going to sell the most tickets it can.
Perhaps this also explains why so many serious Holmes fans appreciate the Jeremy Brett presentation of Holmes and Watson, as the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce was never intended, nor set out to be, the definitive Holmes; but rather, fill as many theater seats as possible.
In defense of the Nigel Bruce characterization/portrayal of Watson, I watch these films in the spirit of which they were forged; and therefore, most heartily enjoy them on their own level and for exactly what they are - and, do not try to view them as anything other than that.
Like others, for a more canonical presentation of these characters; again, that's where the Jeremy Brett episodes come in for me.
And, for a more compressed and flexible presentation of these characters, suitable for TV audiences of the mid-1950 watching in their homes on their B&W TV sets, that is where the 39 Ronald Howard/H. Marion Crawford - the admiring and exasperated Watson - episodes come in for me.
It's a good thing to have such varied options to fit my radical mood swings 
Jan 14, 2023
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#10
I stand by my earlier vote for Jeremy Brett. However I feel compelled to add another comment in view of the veiled criticism of Holmes being used for propaganda !! I guess this is from younger people who do not realise how close Great Britain was to annihilation from the Third Reich, and how that would have changed first Europe, then the world ! In those circumstances why not have one of the country's greatest heroes, albeit fictional, playing hard for you and encouraging you to do the same !!
My comment was not intended to present a view on the merits of WW2 propaganda (for which I think most people would agree there was as much justification as anyone could ever come up with), solely on Basil R and Nigel B (or as @CampwoodsRD pointed out, the way they were asked to play those roles in non-propaganda films like "The Hound ...").
Equaliser769 wrote:
... However I feel compelled to add another In those circumstances why not have one of the country's greatest heroes, albeit fictional, playing hard for you and encouraging you to do the same !!
For the simple fact that it affects the quality of the end product in perpetuity; and, does not dispel itself when the aim of the propaganda is achieved.
Perhaps a more tasteful alternative would have been to have made a specialty short reel - to be shown in theaters prior to running the feature film - in which the characters are used for propaganda purposes; and, not have the temporal propaganda themes and dialog interjected these into what is to otherwise be purely escapist entertainment.
That way, the propaganda message would be delivered as designed during it's time and circumstance; and, the story presented in the film would not be marred by, and spared by it's forced inclusion - which when viewed after the fact, becomes distracting and awkward.
So, making a case for the merits of propaganda is a completely false narrative, as the point is not that at all; but rather, the lasting impact of using these characters, stories, and films as propaganda vehicles; and, how it negatively affects these films for future audiences.
In either case, we are stuck with the end result.
Jan 14, 2023
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#13
..and my point is to challenge the perception of "negatively affecting these films for future audiences" ! For true Brits, having Homes and Watson on the case against the Third Reich was significant ! Those fighting for the life of this country would have accepted the sentiment behind the films and also enjoyed them as escapist entertainment without the disdain you seem to muster. It was a different perilous time which those who lived through it well understood and at least I as a descendant understand on their behalf, having a fuller appreciation through them of that time.
Personally I love the BBC Sherlock Holmes and Elementary(John becomes Joan in this one)
also because I haven't watched anything else ;-;