- 12:08 pm - Sat, May 12, 2012
Review: The Films of Sherlock Holmes by Steinbrunner & Michaels
When not producing radio shows and starting scions, Chris Steinbrunner* wrote the occasional article or book. One of his best known Sherlockian offerings is the over-sized tome The Films of Sherlock Holmes, which he co-wrote with fellow Priory Scholar Norman Michaels**.
[Cover for the hardback version of The Films of Sherlock Holmes.]
The first edition of The Films of Sherlock Holmes came out in 1978 (Citadel Press) and features pretty much every major Sherlock Holmes film ending on 1976’s The Seven-Per-Cent Solution. This fact alone makes Films a fascinating historical ‘snapshot’ of a time before Granada’s Jeremy Brett won over legions of fans and cemented a new image of Holmes in the minds of viewers at a level even greater than the Rathbone years (c. 1939-1946). Out of 252 pages, 120 are given over to a discussion and photographs of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce’s take on Holmes and Watson.
Steinbrunner and Michael’s approach is, in their own words “a lighthearted chronicle of [Holmes’] film career.” Each chapter begins with a thorough synopsis of one of the films and then describes it’s reception by audiences and critics. For the important films the authors provide light yet insightful analysis, often citing a wealth of insider information that helps to contextualize a film as both the product of the times and/or as a novel approach to adapting the life and times of Sherlock Holmes.
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[Cover for the paperback version of The Films of Sherlock Holmes.]
The final chapter, ‘The Future’, though only a few paragraphs in length, is interesting both for it’s prescience in imagining what the future might hold for the cinematic union of Holmes and the movies as well as some rather odd predictions. This book was also written in those antediluvian days immediately proceeding the ‘home video’ revolution (VCRs, DVDs, digital recorders and now internet streaming) when everything would change in regards to the availability of obscure and semi-obscure Holmes films. Still, there’s a certain charm to a world where high priests of media (like Steinbrunner and Michaels) would track down, curate and then show individual films in a communal setting. Twenty-five years later, even though we view and interact with these films in an entirely different way than Sherlockians did in the proceeding six decades, we can still appreciate the enthusiasm and critical engagement felt by viewers who kept the silver screen green.
Perhaps one of the most gratifying little gems in Films is the ‘Acknowledgements’ blurb hidden on the copywrite page: “Many, many Sherlockians opened their treasures of rare materials to help the research and the reconstructions found in this book, but we must especially thank Peter Blau, Robert Watson Douty, John Cocchi, Ray Cabana, Jr., William K. Everson, Ricahard Katz, Jon Lellenberg, Tyke Niver, Donald Novorsky, and the Baker Street Cinematograph, as well as the pioneering groundwork done by the Priory Scholars.”
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Notes:
* Chris Steinbrunner: is an executive involved in film acquisition for RKO Television. He has also written and produced many TV specials including The Incredible James Bond and The Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes. He has contributed frequently to film study journals and radio talk shows, directs a film club called the Armchair Detective Cinema, and is the editor of The Third Degree, the journal of the Mystery Writers of America. Among his published works The Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection and Cinema of the Fantastic (both in collaboration with Otto Penzler). Mr Steinbrunner lives in New York City, where he is now working on an Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy.
** Norman Michael: is a member of the Priory Scholars of the Baker Street Irregulars, the group dedicated to keeping green the memory of Sherlock Holmes. He has one of the most complete collections of Sherlockian film and lore, including a voluminous still library. For many years he and Chris Steinbrunner have presented screenings of nearly every Holmesian film player for the Irregulars. (from ‘About the Authors’ on the dust jacket.)
[By Matt Laffey]
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