The Baker Street Universe is parallel to our own. It is based on certain realities that are common to ours, but also many which have diverged, creating a new timeline and order of events. You will discover heroes such as you've never known before and villains you will be glad never existed in our world. In the Baker Street Universe the authors of all great works will be found co-existing with their creations. Which also means their villains as well!
Showing posts with label Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Show all posts
Monday, August 1, 2016
Sunday, June 26, 2016
Redemption and Crime, Conan Doyle's Journey into Light versus Hyde's descent into Darkness
When I first set out to record the forgotten and unknown adventures of Sherlock Holmes and his fabulous, famous friends, my first thought was how could I possibly have enough years to put them all down on paper.
I have never known such a rich plethora of men and ideas in all my life. They range from incredibly bright scholars, to wild adventurers, famous magicians, exceedingly brave sea captains, and even a few monsters of hairy and invisible kinds.
Such a diversion of characters is bound to intimidate the lesser talented, or more abstracted writer, because most of us prefer to focus on one or two characters at the most.
But the rich history and parallel elements of the Bake Street Universe demand and command that I take all thrift of time and hurl it aside, allowing the mountainslide of adventure, mystery, fantasy and hope to tumble down where it may.
Last week I focused on Hyde, a very notorious character, first embodied in the personality of Doctor Jekyll on your world, but then later released to terrorize the parallel world of the Baker Street Universe.
But it seems that character demands further clarity and justice. For any being, even the least of them must have some motive for life, even as banal as just taking life might seem.
The horror of taking another man's life is only exceeded by the terror of it being your own. Perhaps that is why we cluster about accident scenes, slow down like long lines of cattle to watch the cars that are crashed along side the road, knowing that some day that could be us.
Fear of death is a mighty champion and takes no prisoners.
Hyde embodies all that is worst in man, and yet at the same time offers redemption, for that which is dark can be removed...we pray and hope...in time with the advent of Light.
What makes our Hyde so unique is that he doesn't just seek to take life to sustain his...or is it a he...life, but to also conquer those whom he slakes his thirst upon.
In many ways this horrible creature is also symbolic of power mad governments that slaughter innocents and enslave them to take their riches and wealth and gain domination. He also is a dark star in the sky of selfisness...showing all that man can fall prey to...lust, envy, greed, power, terror, murder. He embodies the seven sins.
What he does when placed in a story is to counterpoint that aspect of man which must strike out against the darkness in his own soul, fling off the possessions that strive to control his mind, heart and body, as well as soul, and move fully into the Light of pure determination and kindness.
Not kindness which is weak and easily slaughtered, but a kindness born of strength and determination to not give into the darkness, for any price!
One thing that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's father realized as he separated himself from his family of loved ones, was that sometimes we must sacrifice all that we hold dear and love to protect a higher cause.
And so it is that we honor the soldiers who go into battle...sometimes wrongly...but do so to clear the path of darkness for those who seek a Greater Comfort and Light in their lives.
Thus the Baker Street Adventurers are a New Age team, captained by Sherlock Holmes, to right injustice, fight against evil, and to stop the perpetuation of darkness upon the world by those blind to the good that dwells in their very own hearts.
And one day Conan of the Baker Street Universe, will not only have helped the greatest mind of crime detection, but also have found a place for himself wherein he can find peace at last. For though dead to his old world, he has risen like the Phoenix to be born to a longer, fuller life in the new.
I have never known such a rich plethora of men and ideas in all my life. They range from incredibly bright scholars, to wild adventurers, famous magicians, exceedingly brave sea captains, and even a few monsters of hairy and invisible kinds.
Such a diversion of characters is bound to intimidate the lesser talented, or more abstracted writer, because most of us prefer to focus on one or two characters at the most.
But the rich history and parallel elements of the Bake Street Universe demand and command that I take all thrift of time and hurl it aside, allowing the mountainslide of adventure, mystery, fantasy and hope to tumble down where it may.
Last week I focused on Hyde, a very notorious character, first embodied in the personality of Doctor Jekyll on your world, but then later released to terrorize the parallel world of the Baker Street Universe.
But it seems that character demands further clarity and justice. For any being, even the least of them must have some motive for life, even as banal as just taking life might seem.
The horror of taking another man's life is only exceeded by the terror of it being your own. Perhaps that is why we cluster about accident scenes, slow down like long lines of cattle to watch the cars that are crashed along side the road, knowing that some day that could be us.
Fear of death is a mighty champion and takes no prisoners.
Hyde embodies all that is worst in man, and yet at the same time offers redemption, for that which is dark can be removed...we pray and hope...in time with the advent of Light.
What makes our Hyde so unique is that he doesn't just seek to take life to sustain his...or is it a he...life, but to also conquer those whom he slakes his thirst upon.
In many ways this horrible creature is also symbolic of power mad governments that slaughter innocents and enslave them to take their riches and wealth and gain domination. He also is a dark star in the sky of selfisness...showing all that man can fall prey to...lust, envy, greed, power, terror, murder. He embodies the seven sins.
What he does when placed in a story is to counterpoint that aspect of man which must strike out against the darkness in his own soul, fling off the possessions that strive to control his mind, heart and body, as well as soul, and move fully into the Light of pure determination and kindness.
Not kindness which is weak and easily slaughtered, but a kindness born of strength and determination to not give into the darkness, for any price!
And so it is that we honor the soldiers who go into battle...sometimes wrongly...but do so to clear the path of darkness for those who seek a Greater Comfort and Light in their lives.
Thus the Baker Street Adventurers are a New Age team, captained by Sherlock Holmes, to right injustice, fight against evil, and to stop the perpetuation of darkness upon the world by those blind to the good that dwells in their very own hearts.
And one day Conan of the Baker Street Universe, will not only have helped the greatest mind of crime detection, but also have found a place for himself wherein he can find peace at last. For though dead to his old world, he has risen like the Phoenix to be born to a longer, fuller life in the new.
Monday, May 30, 2016
5 of the best (and worst) Sherlock Jokes
5 of the best (and worst) Sherlock jokes
Camping trips, word play and a joke about pavements… we round up some of the best Sherlock-themed jokes on the internet
What better way to get in the mood for a new series of Sherlock than a few jokes? Series three lands on our screens tomorrow night. But before Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman get back to the altogether more serious business of how Sherlock is actually still alive, here’s a bit of silliness.
Add your own jokes in the comment section at the end…
1. Camping
Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson went on a camping trip. After a good meal and a bottle of wine they lay down for the night, and went to sleep. Some hours later, Holmes awoke and nudged his faithful friend.
"Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see."
Watson replied, "I see millions and millions of stars."
"What does that tell you?" Watson pondered for a minute.
"Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, I can see that God is all powerful and that we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you?”
Holmes was silent for a minute, then spoke. "Watson, someone has stolen our tent!"
Via jokes4us
2. Paintings
One day, Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson were doing their usual investigative business, when they uncovered an unusual painting.
At first glance, it looked like a picture of normal oak tree, in the middle of a wilderness, but if one looked closer, one could see that it was a remarkable painting. The tree trunk was actually made of fire, and its branches were made of ice, clouds and earth.
"What is it, Holmes?" asked Watson in awe.
"It's an Element tree, my dear Watson," replied Holmes.
Via angelfire
3. Chasing pavements
Q: Did you hear that Sherlock made a song called “The Pavement”?
A: Yeah, it was a hit!
Via wattpad
4. Looking for limestone
Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are busy with yet another complicated case. Suddenly, Holmes seizes a chunk of blood-spattered limestone from the ground.
"What is it, Holmes?" asks Watson, eagerly.
Holmes turns and replies, gravely, "It's sedimentary, my dear Watson.”
via angelfire
http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-12-31/5-of-the-best-and-worst-sherlock-jokes
Sunday, May 1, 2016
Saturday, April 30, 2016
Sherlock Holmes Versus Professor Moriarity
Depending on which version you've read or seen, it could be either one. Does it really matter? The games afoot and that's the cool of it.
Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror movie and cool facts.
Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror is the third film in the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce series of Sherlock Holmes movies. Made in 1942, the film combines elements of the Arthur Conan Doyle story "His Last Bow", to which it is credited as an adaptation, and loosely parallels the real-life activities of Lord Haw-haw. Horror film "scream queen" Evelyn Ankers appears as leading lady.
Contents
Plot
Holmes is called into the "Inner Council" of British Intelligence by Sir Evan Barham (Reginald Denny), to assist in stopping Nazi saboteurs operating in Britain, whose activities are announced in advance in radio broadcasts by "The Voice of Terror".
Gavin (Robert Barron), one of Holmes's operatives, is killed with a German dagger in his back. Before he dies, Gavin utters the word "Christopher." Later, Holmes and Watson go to the Limehouse district of London, where they meet with Gavin's wife Kitty (Evelyn Ankers).
Holmes tells the council that, through the use of an oscilloscope to carefully analyze and compare sound wave patterns from radio broadcasts of live vs. pre-recorded voices, he has determined that "The Voice of Terror" is actually recorded on phonograph records in England, but broadcast from Germany. Using a tip from Kitty, Holmes and Watson go to the old Christopher Docks, where they are followed by Sir Anthony Lloyd (Henry Daniell) of the council. The three men are captured by a group of Nazi spies led by a man named Meade (Thomas Gomez), although Meade manages to escape through a trap door to a waiting speedboat.
Kitty pretends to be a thief on the run and joins Meade. She finds out that Meade plans to go to Sir Evan's country estate that night. There Holmes and Sir Evan watch a German plane attempt to land, but gunshots fired by Sir Evan disrupt the Nazi rendezvous; all the while Meade hides in the dark.
After one of Holmes informants traces Meade and Kitty to the south coast of England, Holmes forces the council to go there with him. With the support of British troopers, Holmes captures Meade and a group of German soldiers stationed in an abandoned church.
There he reveals the true identity of "The Voice of Terror" as Sir Evan Barham, who happens to be an impostor. Holmes then reveals that in World War I, the real Barham was a prisoner in a German war camp and had an uncanny resemblance to a Heinrich Von Bock, a member of the German Secret Service; one day the real Barham was taken out and executed; the gentleman who called Holmes into the case was Von Bock himself who had been posing as Barham for 24 years; Holmes then adds that Barham had no immediate family, so his private life was well studied by Von Bock, who also studied at Oxford and had knowledge of the English language and manners. So, with a little help of plastic surgery, not to mention the resemblance to Barham in the first place, the deception was carried out thoroughly. Holmes also concludes that the real Sir Evan Barham carried a scar from childhood, the one Von Bock carried from plastic surgery was approximately 20 years old - the clue that gave away the fact that he was an impostor.
Holmes then informs the spies that the German invasion force has been destroyed. The angry Meade shoots and fatally wounds Kitty, but is killed himself as he attempts to escape. The Council stand around the murdered Kitty and swear that her heroic death will not be in vain.
The film ends with a direct quote from "His Last Bow":
- Watson: It's a lovely morning, Holmes.
- Holmes: There's an east wind coming, Watson.
- Watson: I don't think so. Looks like another warm day.
- Holmes: Good old Watson. The one fixed point in a changing age. There's an east wind coming all the same. Such a wind as never blew on England yet. It will be cold and bitter, Watson, and a good many of us may wither before its blast. But it's God's own wind none the less. And a greener, better, stronger land will lie in the sunshine when the storm is cleared.[1]
Cast
- Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes
- Nigel Bruce as Dr. John H. Watson
- Evelyn Ankers as Kitty
- Henry Daniell as Anthony Lloyd
- Thomas Gomez as R.F. Meade
- Reginald Denny as Sir Evan Barham (alias of Heinrich von Bock)
- Leyland Hodgson as Captain Roland Shore
- Olaf Hytten as Admiral Sir John Prentiss
- Montagu Love as General Jerome Lawford
- Hillary Brooke as Jill Grandis
- Edgar Barrier as Voice of Terror (uncredited)
References
- Davies, David Stuart, Holmes of the Movies (New English Library, 1976) ISBN 0-450-03358-9
External links
- Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror at the Internet Movie Database
- Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror at AllMovie
- Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror at the TCM Movie Database
- Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror on Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce fan site
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
THE NEWLY DISCOVERED CASEBOOK OF SHERLOCK HOLMES Ep 1 of 6 THE CASE OF THE CLOCKWORK FIEND BBC Radio now at my author site in the Baker Street Universe section.
THE NEWLY DISCOVERED CASEBOOK OF SHERLOCK HOLMES Ep 1 of 6 THE CASE OF THE CLOCKWORK FIEND BBC Radio now at my author site in the Baker Street Universe section.
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Friday, June 5, 2015
(New) A Scandal in Bohemia Audio book (full story) at The Baker Street Universe (http://johnpirillo1.blogspot.com/)
For those of you who prefer their Sherlock in large doses, I have posted this, a one hour plus presentation of the famous story.
Enjoy.
John
"A Scandal in Bohemia" is one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It is the first of the twelve stories collected as The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It was originally published in The Strand Magazine in July 1891.
Plot 
Edit
Sherlock Holmes
is visited by a masked gentleman introducing himself as Count von
Kramm, an agent for a wealthy client, but Holmes quickly deduces that he
is in fact Wilhelm Gottsreich Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein and hereditary king of Bohemia. The King admits this, tearing off his mask.
It transpires that the King is engaged to Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, a young Scandinavian princess, but the King's in-laws-to-be would have a very low opinion of him if any evidence of his former liaison with an opera singer named Irene Adler, originally from New Jersey, were ever revealed to them. Unfortunately, that is what the lady herself is threatening to do, apparently not, though, for monetary gain, for the King's agents have already tried to buy the evidence. They have also broken into Miss Adler's house to find it, to no success.
It is a photograph described to Holmes as a cabinet (5 1/2 by 4 inches), and therefore too bulky for a lady to carry upon her person, showing both the King (then the Crown Prince), and Adler. The King gives Holmes £1,000 to cover any expenses. Holmes asks Dr Watson to join him at 221B Baker Street at 3 o'clock the following afternoon.
The next morning, Holmes goes out to Miss Adler's house dressed as an out-of-work groom and manages to elicit useful information from the other stable workers. Irene Adler has a gentleman friend Godfrey Norton, a lawyer, who calls at least once a day. On this particular day, Norton comes to visit Miss Adler, and soon afterwards, takes a cab to the Church of St. Monica in Edgware Road. Minutes later, the lady herself gets in her landau bound for the same place. Holmes follows in a cab and, arriving, finds himself dragged into the church to be a witness to Godfrey Norton and Irene Adler's wedding. Curiously, they go their separate ways after the ceremony.
Holmes decides to make his move that evening, with Watson's help. Disguising himself as a simple-minded clergyman, he arrives at Irene Adler's house and, with his agents' help, causes a commotion in which he falls down with his face bloodied, just as Miss Adler, or Mrs Norton, arrives home. She has the clergyman conveyed into the house where she tends to him. Watson, having been instructed to keep near the sitting room window, waits for Holmes to raise his hand. At this signal, Watson throws a plumber's rocket through the window and yells "Fire!", as do the assorted other characters in the street, all hired by Holmes with the money from the King. Holmes observes Mrs Norton rushing to a panel in the sitting room, opening it, and beginning to take something out. Having thus discovered where the photograph is, he calls out that it is a false alarm, and contrives to leave the house and to meet Watson at the corner as prearranged.
Upon arriving back at Baker Street, however, something odd happens: they hear a voice say "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes". Holmes recognizes the voice but cannot place it. If he could, he would deduce what the episode meant.
Holmes, Watson, and the King go to Adler's house early the next morning to see about achieving what Holmes did not have the opportunity to do the night before, namely stealing the photograph. However, they find that she and her husband have left England never to return. The picture is gone, and in its stead another has been left, showing only her.
She has also left a letter for Holmes, making it plain that she knew who he was — her suspicions were aroused by the "fire" — and that he was likely to be hired by the King. She declares that she loves and is loved by Godfrey Norton and no longer feels the need to mire her former lover in scandal, and also that the King need never worry now about the photograph—unless he is foolish enough to take any threatening action against her. She has, of course, kept it. She also reveals that she followed him home after the fire and she was the one that said "goodnight" to him.
The king is satisfied with this outcome, and offers a valuable ring to Holmes as his reward. Holmes, however, is impressed by Adler's intelligence, and asks instead to keep her portrait saying Irene Alder was the only one to outsmart the great Sherlock Holmes. Later Holmes receives a gold snuff box from the King.
Complete Story Text Edit
Trivia Edit
- In reality, the Habsburg emperors were also kings of Bohemia and there was no separate dynasty; Doyle chose to place an imaginary king at an existing country, rather than create a whole imaginary country such.
Movie and TV Adaptations Edit
- The Granada TV version with Jeremy Brett was faithful to the original story.
- Titled "A Scandal in Belgravia", episode one of the second series of the TV series Sherlock, set in the 21st. century, was loosely adapted from the short story "A Scandal in Bohemia" and aired on 1 January, 2012. It stared Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock, Martin Freeman as John and Lara Pulver as Irene. The plot of the original short story – Holmes and Watson attempting to recover incriminating photos from Adler—is covered briefly in the first half of the episode and updated for the contemporary period (Adler's photos are stored digitally on her mobile phone, and the royal they incriminate is a female), before the episode moves on to an original storyline that includes Irene, and Jim Moriarty (Andrew Scott).
http://bakerstreet.wikia.com/wiki/A_Scandal_in_Bohemia
Monday, May 25, 2015
(New) More on the Valley of Fear starring Basil Rathbone, Animation, artwork, stories, videos at The Baker Street Universe (http://johnpirillo1.blogspot.com/)
The Valley of Fear
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article consists almost entirely of a plot summary. It should be expanded to provide more balanced coverage that includes real-world context. (May 2015) |
 |
This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. (April 2015) |
First edition (US)
|
|
| Author | Arthur Conan Doyle |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Sherlock Holmes |
| Genre | Detective novel |
| Publisher | George H. Doran Company |
Publication date
|
1915 |
| Preceded by | The Return of Sherlock Holmes |
| Followed by | His Last Bow |
Contents
Plot
At the outset of the novel Sherlock Holmes receives a message from Fred Porlock, an agent to Professor Moriarty. Porlock occasionally sends Holmes insider information. Moriarty is blameless in the eyes of the law but Holmes knows him to be "the controlling brain of the underworld." Together Holmes and Watson decipher Porlock's message as indicating that a man named John Douglas residing at Birlstone is in danger.Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard calls upon Holmes to ask for his help and informs him that [Mr Douglas of Birlstone Manor House has been murdered that morning. Sherlock Holmes tells MacDonald that since he received an alert from Porlock it is probable that Professor Moriarty's influence exists in the matter. MacDonald reminds Holmes that the professor is an educated and well respected man. Holmes informs MacDonald that although the Professor's salary is seven hundred pounds a year he owns a painting worth over forty thousand pounds and the Inspector agrees that this is suspicious.
Holmes, Watson, and MacDonald travel to Birlstone village in Sussex. John Douglas was murdered at around midnight and had been shot in the head. The house is an old manor with a moat and drawbridge. A man name Cecil Barker was staying at the house on the night the murder took place and was a regular guest of Mr and Mrs Douglas. A sawn off shotgun was found at the scene. It appeared to have been fired at close range which caused the head to have been completely blown to pieces.
Cecil Barker claims that he was upstairs in his room when he heard the shot and rushed downstairs. The drawbridge was up at this time and Cecil claims that he lowered it in order to admit help. There is a mark of blood upon the window sill where someone seems to have entered. Cecil says that he thinks the intruder got away by wading through the moat but has no explanation for how the assailant entered the house in the first place unless he entered before that time and waited in the house. A card lays beside the body with the initials V.V scrawled in ink upon it. A small branded mark is seen on the man's arm but it has not been made recently. Douglas' wedding ring appears to have been taken from his hand which seems indicative since no others rings were taken.
The police speculate that the murderer must have escaped across the moat but if this was so then the question of how he has so far eluded the police when all his clothes were wet as he walked through the town is a mystery. From interviews with the people in the house more details about the events are established. Cecil Barker heard the shot, rushed down from his bedroom and entered the study and upon seeing Douglas murdered he rang violently on the bell. The servants and Mrs Douglas all rushed to the scene. Mr Barker persuaded Mrs Douglas to return to her room which she did. Holmes mentions to Watson that he thinks it was strange for Mrs Douglas to have shown so little outward emotion and not to have rushed to her husband's body.
Cecil Barker says that he believes a secret society of men pursued Douglas and that this fear for his life is what prompted him to live in such a quiet area of England. Mr Douglas married his wife when he came to England five years previously. He had been married before and this first wife died of Typhoid. Douglas had met and worked with Cecil Barker in America for a time and then and suddenly left for Europe. Both Cecil Barker and Mrs Douglas were aware that some danger overhung Douglas and that this danger was connected with some episode of his life in America. Mrs Douglas says that she had heard her husband mention "The Valley of Fear".
By studying the soles of Cecil Barker's slippers, Holmes ascertains that Barker used the sole of his own shoe to make the mark on the window sill so as to give the appearance that someone exited that way. Back at their lodgings in the village Holmes tells Watson that Cecil Barker and Mrs Douglas are certainly lying but that why they are lying is not yet clear. When a shotgun is fired at close range the sound is muffled. The housekeeper heard what she described as a door slamming half an hour before the alarm was raised. Holmes believes that what the housekeeper actually heard was the shot fired when the murder really took place. White Mason, the Sussex detective, and MacDonald report that they have traced a bicycle found on the grounds of the house to an American staying at a guest house. It seems likely that he was the assailant since the gun used in the murder was of an American make but there is no sign of the man.
Holmes tells MacDonald to write to Cecil Barker and inform him that the police intend to search the moat the next day. That night Holmes, Watson, MacDonald and White lay in wait outside Birlstone Manor and see Cecil Barker fish something out of the moat. The four men rush in and surprise Cecil, the bundle he has fished from the moat turns out to be the clothes of the missing American connected with the bicycle. It was weighted down with a dumbbell, one of a pair, and whose absence from the home Holmes had previously noticed. Barker refuses to explain the situation. At that moment, Mr Douglas appears, alive and well. He hands Watson a written account called "The Valley of Fear", which he says explains the early part of his story and why he ended up being hunted in such a desperate way.
Douglas explains the recent events. He had spotted an enemy of his, Ted Baldwin, in the area and expected an attack. The next day he was attacked is his study, the assailant attempted to shoot him but Douglas grabbed the gun first and in the struggle between the two men Baldwin received a shot to his face. With Cecil's help Douglas dressed the man in his own clothes and disposed of Baldwin's suit in the moat. He put his rings on the man's fingers except his wedding ring which he could not get off.
The card was the mark that Baldwin had brought with him and intended to leave on Douglas' body, V.V stood for Vermissa Valley. Douglas explains that the branding mark was that of a society to which both he and Baldwin belonged. Since they both bore the mark on their arms this would make it likely that the bodies could not be told apart since Baldwin's head was destroyed utterly by the shot.
Since the time of the murder Cecil and Mrs Douglas had covered for Douglas who had been hiding in the house. The report Douglas gives to Watson explains how he came to be hunted so viciously. Douglas' real name is Birdy Edwards and he was at one time a detective with Pinkerton's from Chicago. Edwards had infiltrated a dangerous gang in Vermissa Valley, which had become known as the Valley of Fear, and brought them to justice. Edwards' life had never been safe since some of the criminals who had escaped the death penalty were released from jail. Edwards had moved around from place to place. His first wife Ettie, whom he had met in the valley, passed away. He then met Cecil and the two made a fortune in business together.
Hounded once again Douglas disappeared and made for England where he met and married his second wife. Holmes urges Douglas to leave England and warns that a new threat, greater than all those of his past, now hangs over him. Douglas takes this advice but is mysteriously lost overboard on the vessel bearing him and his wife to Africa. Holmes is convinced that Moriarty was consulted by the men who hunted Douglas and had assisted them in ending Douglas' life. Holmes intends to bring Moriarty down but warns Watson and MacDonald that it will take some time to achieve.
I. Birlstone
Holmes decodes a warning from Porlock, an informant against arch-criminal Moriarty, for "Douglas" resident five years at "Birlstone". Scotland Yard's MacDonald asks them to investigate a corpse with the same look and circle-in-triangle brand on the forearm as Birlstone owner Douglas. The head was blown off by an American-style sawed-off shotgun. Apparently, an intruder dropped a card with VV341, and left across a shallow moat. Watson observes the bereaved English wife and best male friend in unusually good spirits. When Holmes pretends the moat will be drained, the conspirators retrieve a missing dumb-bell weighting down the visitor's clothes beneath the water. Douglas comes from hiding, to explain he killed the assassin Baldwin in self-defence; the plan was to disguise the body, faking his own death, saving him from more attacks by criminal survivors of Vermissa Valley. He hands Dr. Watson the following account.II. The Scowrers - 20 years before
Young McMurdo gains a reputation as a tough counterfeiter and Freemen Lodge member on the lam from murder charges in Chicago. In the Vermissa Valley coal mining area, McGinty rules Scowrers, the local Lodge 341 who extort, murder, and exchange vicious deeds with nearby Lodges, and whose brand is a circle inside a square. Pretty Ettie prefers McMurdo to nasty Scowrer Teddy Baldwin, and wants to flee, but they wait several months. When word comes that Pinkerton sent Edwards, McMurdo gathers the ringleaders in one room, and springs his trap on them, surrounded by the law. Although the worst were hanged, after ten years the surviving villains were freed. They chased down McMurdo-Edwards-Douglas, despite his changes of name and venue. McMurdo had married Ettie who died in California, where he made a fortune.Epilogue
Two months later, Mrs. Douglas telegrams from South Africa. Her husband was lost en route, overboard in a gale. Holmes had warned them to flee England, and blames Moriarty.Professor Moriarty
The Valley of Fear, notable for Professor Moriarty's involvement, is set before "The Final Problem", the short story in which Moriarty was introduced. This introduces a logical difficulty, as in "The Final Problem" Dr. Watson has never heard of Moriarty, whereas by the end of The Valley Of Fear he is, or should be, familiar with his name and character. The "Moriarty" element in the story is tied into the fate of the informer in the story. It ties the Molly Maguire background to another event of that period: the murder of James Carey, an informer who was shot on board a ship off the coast of Natal, South Africa in 1883 by Patrick O'Donnell, an Irish republican who had relatives in the Mollies and briefly visited the Pennsylvania coal mining district, supposedly looking for the suspected informer among them.[citation needed]Adaptations
Among the few film adaptations are the 1916 silent film The Valley of Fear starring H.A. Saintsbury and Booth Conway, the 1935 British film The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes, starring Arthur Wontner as Holmes and Ian Fleming as Watson, and the 1984 animated film Sherlock Holmes and the Valley of Fear, starring Peter O'Toole as the voice of Holmes. The story was adapted for an episode of the 1954 television series Sherlock Holmes starring Ronald Howard as Holmes and Howard Marion Crawford as Watson. The episode is titled "The Case of the Pennsylvania Gun".The 1962 film Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace was intended to be an adaptation of The Valley of Fear, but only minor elements of the story remained in the final film. The most recent and popular stage adaptation was by Adrian Flynn[who?] for the Oxford Playscripts series, for amateur productions.[2]
See also
References
- Adrian Flynn adaptation of The Valley of Fear, Oxford UP 2004; ISBN 978-0-19-832085-2
External links
 |
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
|
- The Valley of Fear at Project Gutenberg
- The Valley of Fear, online at Ye Olde Library
The Valley of Fear public domain audiobook at LibriVox
Sunday, May 24, 2015
(New) The Valley of Fear, Pt 3, Animation, artwork, stories, videos at The Baker Street Universe (http://johnpirillo1.blogspot.com/)
What I find so fascinating about all the material about Sherlock Holmes is how much has been read into the original works, when they were actually not nearly as defined as modern works make them out to be.
Mister Doyle serialized most of his work, and that is rarely done today, except on TV and the occassional CGI movie.
What we are given today is a treasure that keeps on giving, for without the masterful hand of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's writing we would not be inspired so much today to keep up the tradition and deepen it with our own interpretations and expansions.
Personally, I find it very fun to play in his backyard.
Enjoy.
John
Friday, May 22, 2015
(New) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Movie, artwork, stories, videos at The Baker Street Universe (http://johnpirillo1.blogspot.com/)
The master sleuth hunts his archenemy, Professor Moriarty, who is planning the crime of the century.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | |
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1939 US theatrical poster
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| Directed by | Alfred L. Werker |
| Produced by | Darryl F. Zanuck |
| Written by | Characters: Arthur Conan Doyle Play: William Gillette Screenplay: Edwin Blum[1] William Drake |
| Starring | Basil Rathbone Nigel Bruce Ida Lupino George Zucco Alan Marshal |
| Music by | Robert Russell Bennett |
| Cinematography | Leon Shamroy |
| Edited by | Robert Bischoff |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
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Release dates
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Running time
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81 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (released theatrically as Sherlock Holmes in the United Kingdom) is a 1939 mystery-adventure film.[2] It is a pastiche featuring the characters of the Sherlock Holmes series of books written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The film is an adaptation of the 1899 play Sherlock Holmes by William Gillette, though there is almost no resemblance in the plots.
The film is the second installment to the Sherlock Holmes film series released between 1939 and 1946. It was the second film to feature Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. John Watson, the final one they would make for 20th Century Fox, and the final one in the Rathbone/Bruce series to be set in the Victorian London period. The further 12 films made by Universal and starring Rathbone/Bruce would take place in contemporary times (i.e. the 1940s). George Zucco stars as Holmes's nemesis Professor Moriarty.
The film follows famous detective Sherlock Holmes and his companion Doctor Watson as they attempt to foil their archenemy Professor Moriarty who targets a wealthy family and plots the theft of the Crown Jewels.
Contents
Background
The film was supposedly based on the stage play by William Gillette, though little of the play's original plot remains aside from the Holmes/Moriarty conflict. The play featured a very young Charlie Chaplin in one of his very first acting roles during its first London production, playing the character of Billy, who, in this movie, is played by Terry Kilburn.Plot
The film begins with Moriarty and Holmes verbally sparring on the steps outside the Old Bailey where Moriarty has just been acquitted on a charge of murder due to lack of evidence. Holmes remarks, "You've a magnificent brain, Moriarty. I admire it. I admire it so much I'd like to present it, pickled in alcohol, to the London Medical Society". "It would make an impressive exhibit", replies Moriarty.Later Holmes and Watson are visited at 221B Baker Street by Ann Brandon (Ida Lupino). She tells him that her brother Lloyd has received a strange note - a drawing of a man with an albatross hanging around his neck - identical to one received by her father just before his brutal murder ten years before. Holmes deduces that the note is a warning and rushes to find Lloyd Brandon. However he is too late, as Lloyd has been murdered by being strangled and having his skull crushed.
Holmes investigates and attends a garden party, disguised as a music-hall entertainer, where he correctly believes an attempt will be made on Ann's life. Hearing her cries from a nearby park he captures her assailant, who turns out to be Gabriel Mateo, out for revenge on the Brandons for the murder of his father by Ann's father in a dispute over ownership of their South American mine. His murder weapon was a bolas. Mateo also reveals that it was Moriarty who urged him to seek revenge. Holmes realises that Moriarty is using the case as a distraction from his real crime, a crime that will stir the British Empire - an attempt to steal the Crown Jewels. Holmes rushes to the Tower of London to prevent the crime, and during a struggle Moriarty falls, presumably to his death. In the end, Ann is married and Holmes tries to shoo a fly by playing his violin, only to have Watson swat it with his newspaper remarking, "Elementary, my dear Holmes, elementary."[3]
Cast
- Basil Rathbone – Sherlock Holmes
- Nigel Bruce – Dr. Watson
- Ida Lupino – Ann Brandon
- George Zucco – Professor Moriarty
- Alan Marshal – Jerrold Hunter
- E. E. Clive – Inspector Bristol of Scotland Yard
- Terry Kilburn – Billy
- Henry Stephenson – Sir Ronald Ramsgate
- Mary Forbes – Lady Conyngham
Influence
The quote "Elementary, my dear Watson" was made popular by this film. Although it was spoken in the 1929 talkie The Return of Sherlock Holmes, starring Clive Brook, it was never featured in a canonical Arthur Conan Doyle story; although once Holmes said, in "The Adventure of the Crooked Man", "Elementary". The quote "Elementary, my dear Watson" was ranked No. 65 in the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes poll.During the scene in which Holmes crashes the garden party dressed as a music hall performer, he sings "I Do Like To be Beside the Seaside". This is an anachronism, since the film is set in 1894, but the song was written in 1907.
The scene in which Holmes experiments with the flies in the glass while playing the violin is recreated in the 2009 film Sherlock Holmes, in which Holmes is played by Robert Downey, Jr..
In the last episode of the 2012 series of Sherlock, "The Reichenbach Fall" Moriarty gets into the Tower of London and gains access to the Crown Jewels while stating two other crimes simultaneously as a distraction. He is arrested for this, as he planned, tried and acquitted. There is a likely connection, as Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat cited the Rathbone-Bruce series as a spiritual influence.
References
- Davies, David Stuart, Holmes of the Movies (New English Library, 1976) ISBN 0-450-03358-9
External links
(New) The Valley of Fear, Pt 1, Animation, artwork, stories, videos at The Baker Street Universe (http://johnpirillo1.blogspot.com/)
The Valley of Fear
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. (April 2015) |
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First edition (US)
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| Author | Arthur Conan Doyle |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Sherlock Holmes |
| Genre | Detective novel |
| Publisher | George H. Doran Company |
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Publication date
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1915 |
| Preceded by | The Return of Sherlock Holmes |
| Followed by | His Last Bow |
Contents
Plot
At the outset of the novel Sherlock Holmes receives a message from Fred Porlock, an agent to Professor Moriarty. Porlock occasionally sends Holmes insider information.Moriarty is blameless in the eyes of the law but Holmes knows him to be "the controlling brain of the underworld." Together Holmes and Watson decipher Porlock's message as indicating that a man named John Douglas residing at Birlstone is in danger.
Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard calls upon Holmes to ask for his help and informs him that [Mr Douglas of Birlstone Manor House has been murdered that morning. Sherlock Holmes tells MacDonald that since he received an alert from Porlock it is probable that Professor Moriarty's influence exists in the matter.
MacDonald reminds Holmes that the professor is an educated and well respected man. Holmes informs MacDonald that although the Professor's salary is seven hundred pounds a year he owns a painting worth over forty thousand pounds and the Inspector agrees that this is suspicious.
Holmes, Watson, and MacDonald travel to Birlstone village in Sussex. John Douglas was murdered at around midnight and had been shot in the head. The house is an old manor with a moat and drawbridge. A man name Cecil Barker was staying at the house on the night the murder took place and was a regular guest of Mr and Mrs Douglas.
A sawn off shotgun was found at the scene. It appeared to have been fired at close range which caused the head to have been completely blown to pieces.
Cecil Barker claims that he was upstairs in his room when he heard the shot and rushed downstairs. The drawbridge was up at this time and Cecil claims that he lowered it in order to admit help. There is a mark of blood upon the window sill where someone seems to have entered. Cecil says that he thinks the intruder got away by wading through the moat but has no explanation for how the assailant entered the house in the first place unless he entered before that time and waited in the house.
A card lays beside the body with the initials V.V scrawled in ink upon it. A small branded mark is seen on the man's arm but it has not been made recently. Douglas' wedding ring appears to have been taken from his hand which seems indicative since no others rings were taken.
The police speculate that the murderer must have escaped across the moat but if this was so then the question of how he has so far eluded the police when all his clothes were wet as he walked through the town is a mystery.
Holmes notices that Mr Douglas seems to have had only one dumbbell to hand in the study which strikes him as odd.
From interviews with the people in the house more details about the events are established. Cecil Barker heard the shot, rushed down from his bedroom and entered the study and upon seeing Douglas murdered he rang violently on the bell. The servants and Mrs Douglas all rushed to the scene. Mr Barker persuaded Mrs Douglas to return to her room which she did. Holmes mentions to Watson that he thinks it was strange for Mrs Douglas to have shown so little outward emotion and not to have rushed to her husband's body.
Cecil Barker says that he believes a secret society of men pursued Douglas and that this fear for his life is what prompted him to live in such a quiet area of England.
Mr Douglas married his wife when he came to England five years previously. He had been married before and this first wife died of Typhoid. Douglas had met and worked with Cecil Barker in America for a time and then and suddenly left for Europe.
Both Cecil Barker and Mrs Douglas were aware that some danger overhung Douglas and that this danger was connected with some episode of his life in America. Mrs Douglas says that she had heard her husband mention "The Valley of Fear".
By studying the soles of Cecil Barker's slippers Holmes ascertains that Barker used the sole of his own shoe to make the mark on the window sill so as to give the appearance that someone exited that way.
Back at their lodgings in the village Holmes tells Watson that Cecil Barker and Mrs Douglas are certainly lying but that why they are lying is not yet clear.
When a shotgun is fired at close range the sound is muffled. The housekeeper heard what she described as a door slamming half an hour before the alarm was raised. Holmes believes that what the housekeeper actually heard was the shot fired when the murder really took place.
White Mason, the Sussex detective, and MacDonald report that they have traced a bicycle found on the grounds of the house to an American staying at a guest house. It seems likely that he was the assailant since the gun used in the murder was of an American make but there is no sign of the man.
Holmes tells MacDonald to write to Cecil Barker and inform him that the police intend to search the moat the next day. That night Holmes, Watson, MacDonald and White lay in wait outside Birlstone Manor and see Cecil Barker fish something out of the moat.
The four men rush in and surprise Cecil, the bundle he has fished from the moat turns out to be the clothes of the missing American connected with the bicycle. It was weighted down with the missing dumbbell.
Cecil refuses to explain the situation but at that moment Mr Douglas appears, alive and well.
Douglas hands Dr Watson a written account called The Valley of Fear which he says explains the early part of his story and why he ended up being hunted in such a desperate way.
Douglas explains the recent events. He had spotted an enemy of his, Ted Baldwin, in the area and expected an attack. The next day he was attacked is his study, the assailant attempted to shoot him but Douglas grabbed the gun first and in the struggle between the two men Baldwin received a shot to his face. With Cecil's help Douglas dressed the man in his own clothes and disposed of Baldwin's suit in the moat. He put his rings on the man's fingers except his wedding ring which he could not get off.
The card was the mark that Baldwin had brought with him and intended to leave on Douglas' body, V.V stood for Vermissa Valley. Douglas explains that the branding mark was that of a society to which both he and Baldwin belonged. Since they both bore the mark on their arms this would make it likely that the bodies could not be told apart since Baldwin's head was destroyed utterly by the shot.
Since the time of the murder Cecil and Mrs Douglas had covered for Douglas who was hiding in the house.
The report Douglas gives to Watson explains how he came to be hunted so viciously. Douglas' real name is Birdy Edwards and he was at one time a detective with the Chicago detective agency Pinkerton's.
Edwards had infiltrated a dangerous gang in Vermissa Valley, which had become known as the Valley of Fear, and brought them to justice.
Edwards' life had never been safe since some of the criminals who had escaped the death penalty were released from jail. Edwards had moved around from place to place. His first wife Ettie, whom he had met in the valley, passed away. He then met Cecil and the two made a fortune in business together. Hounded once again Douglas disappeared and made for England where he met and married his second wife.
Holmes urges Douglas to leave England and warns that a new threat, greater than all those of his past, now hangs over him. Douglas takes this advice but is mysteriously lost overboard on the vessel bearing him and his wife to Africa.
Holmes is convinced that Professor Moriarty was consulted by the men who hunted Douglas and that it was this criminal mastermind whose direction ended Douglas' life. Holmes intends to bring Moriarty down but warns Watson and MacDonald that it will take some time to achieve.
I. Birlstone
Holmes decodes a warning from Porlock, an informant against arch-criminal Moriarty, for "Douglas" resident five years at "Birlstone". Scotland Yard's MacDonald asks them to investigate a corpse with the same look and circle-in-triangle brand on the forearm as Birlstone owner Douglas. The head was blown off by an American-style sawed-off shotgun. Apparently, an intruder dropped a card with VV341, and left across a shallow moat. Watson observes the bereaved English wife and best male friend in unusually good spirits. When Holmes pretends the moat will be drained, the conspirators retrieve a missing dumb-bell weighting down the visitor's clothes beneath the water. Douglas comes from hiding, to explain he killed the assassin Baldwin in self-defence; the plan was to disguise the body, faking his own death, saving him from more attacks by criminal survivors of Vermissa Valley. He hands Dr. Watson the following account.II. The Scowrers - 20 years before
Young McMurdo gains a reputation as a tough counterfeiter and Freemen Lodge member on the lam from murder charges in Chicago. In the Vermissa Valley coal mining area, McGinty rules Scowrers, the local Lodge 341 who extort, murder, and exchange vicious deeds with nearby Lodges, and whose brand is a circle inside a square. Pretty Ettie prefers McMurdo to nasty Scowrer Teddy Baldwin, and wants to flee, but they wait several months. When word comes that Pinkerton sent Edwards, McMurdo gathers the ringleaders in one room, and springs his trap on them, surrounded by the law. Although the worst were hanged, after ten years the surviving villains were freed. They chased down McMurdo-Edwards-Douglas, despite his changes of name and venue. McMurdo had married Ettie who died in California, where he made a fortune.Epilogue
Two months later, Mrs. Douglas telegrams from South Africa. Her husband was lost en route, overboard in a gale. Holmes had warned them to flee England, and blames Moriarty.Professor Moriarty
The Valley of Fear, notable for Professor Moriarty's involvement, is set before "The Final Problem", the short story in which Moriarty was introduced. This introduces a logical difficulty, as in "The Final Problem" Dr. Watson has never heard of Moriarty, whereas by the end of The Valley Of Fear he is, or should be, familiar with his name and character. The "Moriarty" element in the story is tied into the fate of the informer in the story. It ties the Molly Maguire background to another event of that period: the murder of James Carey, an informer who was shot on board a ship off the coast of Natal, South Africa in 1883 by Patrick O'Donnell, an Irish republican who had relatives in the Mollies and briefly visited the Pennsylvania coal mining district, supposedly looking for the suspected informer among them.[citation needed]Adaptations
Among the few film adaptations are the 1916 silent film The Valley of Fear starring H.A. Saintsbury and Booth Conway, the 1935 British film The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes, starring Arthur Wontner as Holmes and Ian Fleming as Watson, and the 1984 animated film Sherlock Holmes and the Valley of Fear, starring Peter O'Toole as the voice of Holmes. The story was adapted for an episode of the 1954 television series Sherlock Holmes starring Ronald Howard as Holmes and Howard Marion Crawford as Watson. The episode is titled "The Case of the Pennsylvania Gun". The 1962 film Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace was intended to be an adaptation of The Valley of Fear, but only minor elements of the story remained in the final film. The most recent and popular stage adaptation was by Adrian Flynn for the Oxford Playscripts series, for amateur productions.[2]See also
References
- Adrian Flynn adaptation of The Valley of Fear, Oxford UP 2004; ISBN 978-0-19-832085-2
External links
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Wikisource has original text related to this article: |
- The Valley of Fear at Project Gutenberg
- The Valley of Fear, online at Ye Olde Library
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