Sherlock Holmes (1922 film)
Encyclopedia
Sherlock Holmes is an American silent film
starring John Barrymore
as Holmes
and Roland Young
as Watson. The film was titled Moriarty in the UK
.
and Roland Young
, was directed by Albert Parker
and written by Earle Browne and Marion Fairfax
from a play by William Gillette
based upon Arthur Conan Doyle
's characters, and was produced by Goldwyn Pictures Corporation.
for decades, much of the film finally resurfaced in the mid-1970s and was restored by George Eastman House
from rolls of negatives to the extent that it could be printed and screened.
and William K. Everson
(aided in the early stages by director Albert Parker himself, then in his late 80s), with a second reconstruction (incorporating newly-found elements) undertaken by Eastman House itself in 2001.
Describing the first reconstruction attempt in 1975, Everson made it clear that reassembling the available material into a viewable form was a far from trivial task: "A few years ago all that existed of this film were rolls and rolls of negative sections, in which every take--not every sequence, but every take--were jumbled out of order, with only a few flash titles for guidance [...] and a script that in many ways differed from the play, adding to the herculean task of putting it all together."
The 2001 reconstruction was released on DVD by Kino International in 2009, with still-missing footage.
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
starring John Barrymore
John Barrymore
John Sidney Blyth , better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III...
as Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
and Roland Young
Roland Young
Roland Young was an English actor.-Early life and career:Born in London, England, Young was educated at Sherborne School, Dorset and the University of London before being accepted into Royal Academy of Dramatic Art...
as Watson. The film was titled Moriarty in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Production background
The movie, which features the screen debuts of both William PowellWilliam Powell
William Horatio Powell was an American actor.A major star at MGM, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the popular Thin Man series in which Powell and Loy played Nick and Nora Charles...
and Roland Young
Roland Young
Roland Young was an English actor.-Early life and career:Born in London, England, Young was educated at Sherborne School, Dorset and the University of London before being accepted into Royal Academy of Dramatic Art...
, was directed by Albert Parker
Albert Parker
Albert Parker was the owner of The Claxton Bakery and creator of the Old Fashion Claxton Fruitcake. Parker got his start working with Savino Tos, the founder and previous owner of The Claxton Bakery, in 1927 when he was eleven years old. In 1945, Tos sold the bakery to Albert Parker and retired...
and written by Earle Browne and Marion Fairfax
Marion Fairfax
Marion Fairfax was an American screenwriter and Broadway playwright.Born as Marion Neiswanger in Richmond, Virginia, her best known credit was the screenplay for The Lost World . She was married to actor Tully Marshall from 1899 until his death in 1943...
from a play by William Gillette
William Gillette
William Hooker Gillette was an American actor, playwright and stage-manager in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who is best remembered today for portraying Sherlock Holmes....
based upon Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
's characters, and was produced by Goldwyn Pictures Corporation.
Preservation status
After being considered a lost filmLost film
A lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...
for decades, much of the film finally resurfaced in the mid-1970s and was restored by George Eastman House
George Eastman House
The George Eastman House is the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography and one of the world's oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 in Rochester, New York, USA. World-renowned for its photograph and motion picture archives, the museum is also a leader in film preservation and...
from rolls of negatives to the extent that it could be printed and screened.
Cast
- John BarrymoreJohn BarrymoreJohn Sidney Blyth , better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III...
as Sherlock HolmesSherlock HolmesSherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve... - Roland YoungRoland YoungRoland Young was an English actor.-Early life and career:Born in London, England, Young was educated at Sherborne School, Dorset and the University of London before being accepted into Royal Academy of Dramatic Art...
as John Watson - Carol DempsterCarol DempsterCarol Dempster was an American film actress of the silent film era.-Biography:Born in Duluth, Minnesota, Dempster got her start in films as a protégé of legendary film director D.W. Griffith alongside other Griffith actresses of the mid-1910s Lillian and Dorothy Gish and Mae Marsh...
as Alice Faulkner - Gustav von SeyffertitzGustav von SeyffertitzGustav von Seyffertitz was a German film actor and director. He appeared in 118 films between 1917 and 1939.He was born in Haimhausen, Bavaria and died in Los Angeles, California, aged 81.-Selected filmography:...
as Professor MoriartyProfessor MoriartyProfessor James Moriarty is a fictional character and the archenemy of the detective Sherlock Holmes in the fiction of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Moriarty is a criminal mastermind, described by Holmes as the "Napoleon of Crime". Doyle lifted the phrase from a real Scotland Yard inspector who was... - Louis WolheimLouis WolheimLouis Wolheim was an American character actor.His trademark broken nose was the result of an injury sustained while playing football for Cornell University. Despite his rugged visage, Wolheim was intelligent and cultivated, speaking French, German, Spanish, and Yiddish. He was also a mathematics...
as Craigin - Percy Knight as Sid Jones
- William PowellWilliam PowellWilliam Horatio Powell was an American actor.A major star at MGM, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the popular Thin Man series in which Powell and Loy played Nick and Nora Charles...
as Foreman Wells (billed as William H. Powell) - Hedda HopperHedda HopperHedda Hopper was an American actress and gossip columnist, whose long-running feud with friend turned arch-rival Louella Parsons became at least as notorious as many of Hopper's columns.-Early life:...
as Madge Larrabee - Peggy Bayfield as Rose Faulkner
- Margaret Kemp as Therese
- Anders RandolfAnders RandolfAnders Randolf was a Danish American actor in American films from 1913 to 1931.Anders was born in Viborg, Denmark where he became a professional soldier in the Danish army and a world-class swordsman. He immigrated to the United States in 1895, quickly giving in to a lifelong passion for the...
as James Larrabee - Robert Schable as Alf Bassick
- Reginald DennyReginald Denny (actor)Reginald Denny was an English stage, film, and television actor. He was once an amateur boxing champion of Great Britain.-Acting career:...
as Prince Alexis - David TorrenceDavid TorrenceDavid Torrence was a Scottish-born film actor. His birth name was David Tayson. He appeared in 104 films between 1913 and 1953. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame....
as Count von Stalburg - Robert Fischer as Otto
- Lumsden HareLumsden HareLumsden Hare was an Irish born film and theatre actor. He was also a theatre director and theatrical producer....
as Dr. Leighton - Jerry Devine as Billy
- John WillardJohn Willard (playwright)John Willard was an American playwright. His most famous work is The Cat and the Canary , a play that was made into the influential silent film of the same name in 1927.-External links: at the Internet Movie Database....
as Inspector Gregson - Walter KingsfordWalter KingsfordWalter Kingsford was a British stage, film and television actor born in Redhill, Surrey, England. He was born Walter Pearce and had several sisters...
- Gunman in apartment(uncredited)
Restoration
Material held by Eastman House was the basis for a reconstruction produced by Kevin BrownlowKevin Brownlow
Kevin Brownlow is a filmmaker, film historian, television documentary-maker, author, and Academy Award recipient. Brownlow is best known for his work documenting the history of the silent era. Brownlow became interested in silent film at the age of eleven. This interest grew into a career spent...
and William K. Everson
William K. Everson
William Keith "Bill" Everson was an English-American archivist, author, critic, educator, collector and film historian. He often discovered lost films.-Early life and career:...
(aided in the early stages by director Albert Parker himself, then in his late 80s), with a second reconstruction (incorporating newly-found elements) undertaken by Eastman House itself in 2001.
Describing the first reconstruction attempt in 1975, Everson made it clear that reassembling the available material into a viewable form was a far from trivial task: "A few years ago all that existed of this film were rolls and rolls of negative sections, in which every take--not every sequence, but every take--were jumbled out of order, with only a few flash titles for guidance [...] and a script that in many ways differed from the play, adding to the herculean task of putting it all together."
The 2001 reconstruction was released on DVD by Kino International in 2009, with still-missing footage.
External links
- Sherlock Holmes production at the Thames. Barrymore and director Parker going over the scenario. This setup is possibly the houseboat scene on the Thames River. If filmed this scene has not survived the 2001 reconstruction. It may not have made it into 1922 prints. It may be a publicity still with the real Big Ben and Parliament in fog-mist background, an already stereotypical Holmes pictorial. Two cameras ready to crank indicate Parker is assuring the taking of this scene with no camera break down or 'temperamental starring leads'.
- 1922 newspaper advertisement for the film
- a poster to the film
- Sherlock Holmes; allrovi synopsis
