Sherlock Holmes [Blu-ray]

This is from the silent era of the cinema. Barrymore was the king of the films back in that bygone era. The film is based in the William Gillette play which was recently released on Bluray after being rediscovered.For me the Gillette version is a little pricey. I managed to find this one on Amazon for a reasonable price.I really enjoy this movie and recommend it to any real Holmes movie collector. Holmes would really come to life when sound found it's way on the movie screen. So you have to be willing to see a more action dynamic character than is in the book. But again I believe most silent and Holmes collectors will find this to be an ideal film for their collections I did!

A decent enough film made from a terrible play.

This is one of several early, silent film versions of the ever-popular detective, and one that lives up to the original and traditional trademarks and characteristics of Sherlock Holmes. In just under 90 minutes, this fast-moving drama takes us from the beginning of Sherlock's career as a freelance sleuth helping out Scotland Yard, meeting his arch enemy, Professor Moriarty, and finishing with the capture of the infamous evildoer after forty crime cases Holmes had worked on over the years. But rather than the typical murders and crimes we are used to today, the story of this 1922 version revolves only around one particular case of a theft and consequent set-up of a European Prince, as well as letters to his betrothed which are later the object of a blackmail attempt. Even so, Holmes puts into action his famous (and often humorous) astute observations and deductive reasoning with his loyal companion, Doctor Watson, and even disguises himself as Moriarty in order to trap the villain once and for all.What might seem like a somewhat dull and plodding story to modern audiences is given extra appeal and zest by some of the stars, in particular of course, its famous star, John Barrymore. Although this role as Sherlock Holmes doesn't present many opportunities for Barrymore to shine and show off his usual charisma and talents, he does step into the part of Holmes quite well, even if it takes a little getting used to at first. A good villain is also important in stories like this one, and the sinister Moriarty is perfectly portrayed by the brilliant character actor, Gustav von Seyffertitz, who played an impressive array of varied characters, good and evil, throughout the silent era. Also thrown into the mix to attract a wider audience is Carol Dempster, famous for being D.W. Griffith's leading lady in a number of 1920s films, who plays a small but significant role as Sherlock's love interest, adding a twist not expected in the standard Sherlock Holmes mystery. Other viewers might find it of interest to see William Powell, perhaps best remembered for the Thin Man series of movies in the 1930s and 1940s, in his screen debut in "Sherlock Holmes" as Forman Wells, also playing a small yet important role in assisting Holmes.The picture quality is overall quite good, though perhaps not as outstanding as many other silent films from the early 1920s issued on Kino, and the music is a very good organ score composed and played by Ben Model, who has performed many fine organ accompaniments to silent films. There are no bonus or special features on this DVD, and it is part of a four-DVD set by Kino of John Barrymore silent films, and as part of such a collection "Sherlock Holmes" is an important addition to highlight Barrymore's earlier and unusual roles. On its own, it would be of special interest for Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts in particular, and some knowledge of the original stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would no doubt help in appreciating this particular silent version.

i love old movies, and am very partial to silents, but the acting can be rather....excessive, shall we say. john barrymore can be a bit of an eye-roller, and his dr jekyll and mr hyde is fun but over the top, so i expected his sherlock to be similarly hammy. boy, was i wrong! he is remarkable---so controlled and thoughtful, it's just riveting. he exudes such quiet charisma, like sherlock holmes should, unflappable and self assured. and it's so much fun to see the likes of roland young as watson, a baby faced william powell, and hedda hopper, before she became a fearsome columnist, in support of barrymore. the story seems to be a composite of several holmes adventures and its very hollywood ending is a little jarring, but i bought this out of curiosity and ended up loving it.

Great old DVD with a different actor playing the role;just what I was looking for

Jacket inside was broken, disc was sliding inside when it was received

If you love OLD, OLD movies, this is fantastic. Not super slick like modern boring movies. This Sherlock Holmes is interesting and of course it is John Barrymore very very young!

Had not realized it was a silent movie. Don't really like them. My mistake!