Sherlock Holmes - The Complete Collection [DVD]

Jeremy Brett was the only actor who ever managed to perfectly portray Holmes's imperiousness, bitingly ironic sense of humor and apparently indestructible self-control without at the same time neglecting his genuine friendship towards Dr. Watson and the weaknesses hidden below a surface dominated by his overarching intellectual powers. The series takes the titles of its four cycles of shorter episodes - "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," "The Return of Sherlock Holmes," "The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" and "The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes" - from four of the five short story collections featuring London's self-appointed only "consulting detective" (published 1892, 1905, 1894 and 1927, respectively); thus nominally omitting the 1917 collection "His Last Bow," which is, however - but for its title story - completely represented in individual episodes spread out over the other four cycles. While the grouping of instalments doesn't necessarily correspond with Conan Doyle's original story collections, and the series's premise - Holmes's and Watson's shared tenancy of rooms at 221B Baker Street - was no longer true even at the beginning of the "Adventures," this excellently produced series is a must-have for any mystery fan. This is particularly true for the first two cycles ("Adventures" and "Return") and the movie-length versions of the novels "The Hound of the Baskervilles" and "The Sign of the Four," which alone makes this set well worth the purchase; even if the movie-length dramatizations of the short stories "The Eligible Bachelor" (a/k/a "The Noble Bachelor") and "The Last Vampyre" (a/k/a "The Sussex Vampyre") are less than faithful to Conan Doyle's originals: in fact, their quality rests almost exclusively on an already ailing Jeremy Brett's shoulders (as well as in "Vampyre" on the extraordinary guest performance of Roy Marsden in the episode's title role), thus emphasizing even more the significance of Brett's achievement.

The series's episodes are:

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
* A Scandal in Bohemia
* The Dancing Men (from "Return")
* The Naval Treaty (from "Memoirs")
* The Solitary Cyclist (from "Return")
* The Crooked Man (from "Memoirs")
* The Speckled Band
* The Blue Carbuncle
* The Copper Beeches
* The Greek Interpreter (from "Memoirs")
* The Norwood Builder (from "Return")
* The Resident Patient (from "Memoirs")
* The Red-Headed League
* The Final Problem (from "Memoirs")

THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
* The Empty House
* The Abbey Grange
* The Second Stain
* The Six Napoleons
* The Priory School
* Wisteria Lodge (from "Last Bow")
* The Devil's Foot (from "Last Bow")
* Silver Blaze (from "Memoirs")
* The Bruce-Partington Plans (from "Last Bow")
* The Musgrave Ritual (from "Memoirs")
* The Man With the Twisted Lip (from "Adventures")

THE CASEBOOK OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
* The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax (from "Last Bow")
* The Problem of Thor Bridge
* The Boscombe Valley Mystery (from "Adventures")
* The Illustrious Client
* Shouscombe Old Place
* The Creeping Man

THE MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
* The Three Gables (from "Casebook")
* The Dying Detective (from "Last Bow")
* The Golden Pince-Nez (from "Return")
* The Red Circle (from "Last Bow")
* The Mazarin Stone (from "Casebook")
* The Cardboard Box (from "Last Bow")

THE FEATURE FILMS
* The Sign of Four (adaptation of the 1890 novel)
* The Hound of the Baskervilles (adaptation of the 1901 novel)
* The Last Vampyre (adaptation of the short story "The Sussex Vampyre" from "Casebook")
* The Eligible Bachelor (adaptation of the short story "The Noble Bachelor" from "Adventures")
* The Master Blackmailer (adaptation of the short story "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton" from "Memoirs")

All in all, this leaves only the very first Holmes mystery ("A Study In Scarlet," 1887) as well as the following short stories unrepresented in this series:

From THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES:
* A Case of Identity
* The Five Orange Pips
* The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb
* The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet

From THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES:
* The Adventure of Black Peter
* The Adventure of the Three Students
* The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter

From THE CASEBOOK OF SHERLOCK HOLMES:
* The Blanched Soldier
* The Three Garridebs
* The Lion's Mane
* The Veiled Lodger
* The Retired Colourman

FROM THE MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES:
* The Yellow Face
* The Stock-broker's Clerk
* The "Gloria Scott"
* The Reigate Puzzle

From HIS LAST BOW:
* His Last Bow

The two "Adventures" series include some of Doyle's most intriguing stories, like "The Naval Treaty" and "The Resident Patient". But even in the less imaginative cases such as that of "The Copper Beeches", the direction, acting and particularly the attention to detail is so accomplished that the story instantly comes to life. What a beguiling moment it is when Holmes, possibly aroused by a flicker of desire as well as by mere curiosity, reaches out and briefly touches Natasha Richardson's hair. And it is a joy to see his civility towards Richardson finally turning to exasperation as she makes the cardinal error of extending her consultation beyond the limits of his patience. "The Blue Carbuncle" features Holmes at his most charming, and Brett at his most subtle and versatile. Rudely awoken by Mrs. Hudson, he grasps for his first cigarette of the day before dealing with the morning's problematic visitor in so benevolent and friendly a manner he seems to have metamorphosed into Watson. But such cordiality contrasts vividly with his staccato bursts of energy and coldly furious temper at the episode's end. "The Final Problem", originally intended as Doyle's last story, allows us fully to perceive the depth of friendship between Watson and Holmes. Such is its sense of devastating loss that it took me days to recover from watching it.

However, despite their many excellences, none of these episodes are perfect. The standard of acting, other than that of the principals, is variable to say the least, with some decidedly dodgy accents from the working-class characters and several of the bit players hamming it up like nobody's business. To me this seems needless and a shame, and quite why it was allowed or even encouraged is not entirely clear. Perhaps the producers were unwilling to risk making the tone of the series too dark or overly serious.

In the three subsequent series, made in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the quality is definitely more patchy. Some stories that I loved when I read them, such as "The Musgrave Ritual" and "The Problem of Thor Bridge" are solidly and satisfyingly reproduced; others like "The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax" and "The Red Circle" are little more than time-passers. But given the degree of inventiveness required to produce such a large number of widely varying tales, this inconsistency is perhaps inevitable.

Of the five feature length episodes, the third, "The Master Blackmailer" is a pretty gloomy affair, but is cheered up by the remarkable sight of Holmes, a complete amateur in romantic liaisons, actually kissing a young woman. Needless to say, he is quite unable to deal with the feelings such an act engenders (although Brett, after so many years of playing Holmes, probably enjoyed it himself). The second film, "The Hound of the Baskervilles" is the best. The intrigue and melodrama of the plot is both balanced and enhanced by the use of locations and by the fact that Brett is off-screen for long stretches, allowing Edward Hardwicke, who became Watson after Burke left to join the RSC, to do some (largely unsuccessful!) detective work of his own. It is also very and unexpectedly funny in places, the humour deriving from the ascetic Holmes' aversion to being touched and his attitude to food. Hardwicke proved an appealing Watson, lacking some of the warmth of Burke's portrayal but creating an interpretation of greater maturity and gravitas. The fourth two-hour film, "The Last Vampyre", is the worst of the bunch, with its blood and thunder approach and some of the acting bordering on hysteria. It's very sad too, in these late episodes, to see Brett looking so ill.

To all those Conan Doyle and Jeremy Brett fans who have yet to buy this collection - treat yourself to this new and improved set. It is both a record of the most famous detective stories of all time and incontrovertible evidence of Brett's prodigious and singular talents.