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Jeremy Brett


Alice Holmes

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Donna...? You mean Mary...? (And we've got a whole thread on RDJ, if you'd like to write!)

 

Sorry! The actress portraying Mary also is known as "Donna" in Doctor Who. I get a bit flitchy at the thought of "Donna" being tossed off the train! :rofl:
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  • 2 weeks later...

No, I'm quite sure that's not the same actress. Donna is played by Catherine Tate, and Mary by Kelly Reilly. But Donna got tossed out of a taxi into the TARDIS once, so she's had her fair share of tossing. :)/>

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I bought the complete Granada TV Sherlock Holmes with featuring Jeremy Brett for myself at Christmas. Really loved that man's portrayal of "The Master". I remember watching the series on Channel 12 when they were being filmed and aired for the first time in the US. I will watch the Hollywood version with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. I have even seen a couple that didn't portray Watson as so totally dim which made me very happy.

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I preferred Hardwicke to Burke too - I agree it's the chemistry between them and Hardwicke's softer side. I've got the box set of the Brett series. Wonderful stuff. I have to say though I prefer Stephen Fry or Mark Gatiss as Mycroft and I'm not a fan of the Mazarin stone episode either.

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My 12 Disc Boxset of Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes is a prized possession. When I came out I already had purchased each individual release of the show and even had downloaded most off the internet to watch on my iPhone. I miss Jeremy Brett but I suspect that there would be no modern tv shows or movies without him in them if he was still alive. While I enjoy watching the old movies the best - I do trust Brett's canonical depiction of the Master. Watching him is like reading ACD. I did not enjoy the last few shows when he was dying. It was so sad to see him in such a state physically. I do think the Holmes/Watson relationship is closest to ACD's books. Highly recommend anyone who does not want to read the ACD stories to at least watch this series. It will make watching Sherlock and Elementary much more entertaining.

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Highly recommend anyone who does not want to read the ACD stories to at least watch this series

The Granada series and Jeremy Brett is the reason I have at least a passing familiarity with the major plot points of some of the ACD stories even though I've never read a single one of them yet. He was a brilliant Holmes. Wasn't really fussed about either of the Watsons, but Brett's Holmes made up for their lack.

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... Jeremy Brett looks and feels like a Sherlock Holmes that is right out of the pages of Arthur Conan Doyle's books....

... In my opinion, Brett was the definitive Victorian Sherlock ....

Exactly!

 

 

The funny thing is I wasn't convinced of Martin Freeman until I saw his first scene with Benedict Cumberbatch. It was then that I was utterly convinced.

And vice-versa. I assume you've seen the "making of" feature on the first-season DVD? I love the clips they show of Cumberbatch reading for Sherlock (by himself), then reading for Sherlock with Freeman reading for John. Although Cumberbatch reads the first scene perfectly well, he doesn't seem to have found the character. With the introduction of Freeman (who appears to have hit the ground running), Cumberbatch has instantly become the Sherlock we all know and -- um -- admire.

 

 

... I read he was a student of the cannon, and it showed in his performance. ...

I can certainly believe that. I can't personally say how true Brett was to ACD's stories (since I had not yet read any of them), but he was meticulously true to the image of Holmes that I had apparently acquired through osmosis.

 

 

... I miss Jeremy Brett ... Watching him is like reading ACD .... Highly recommend anyone who does not want to read the ACD stories to at least watch this series. It will make watching Sherlock and Elementary much more entertaining.

That's a wonderful idea! My husband and I are also reading some of the original stories (specifically, the ones being used for Sherlock), but watching Brett would provide some very painless reinforcement. And we already have the whole set, just haven't gotten around to watching it.

 

After I watched the first Brett episode (back when it was on PBS), I recommended that my father watch the next one -- but he was a big fan of the Rathbone / Bruce movies, and poo-poo'd my suggestion. Then a few years later, the next time I happened to mention the old movies to him, he said oh, those were fine, but Jeremy Brett was the real Holmes. I think by then, watching Brett had become his idea!

 

My husband and I recently (finally!) bought a DVD of My Fair Lady, and I was surprised to see Jeremy Brett's name in the cast, since I didn't recall any Holmesian character in that movie. In case some of you didn't realize that he was in it either, I'll let you think about that while I continue in a spoiler box.

 

 

Brett played a character I remembered very well, Freddy Eynsford-Hill, Eliza Doolittle's eager young suitor. Oddly enough (according to the commentary), although Brett had professional singing experience, someone else dubbed Freddy's big number, "On the Street Where You Live."

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think...I think Carol has summed it all up for us, friends...

 

And I agree, if you don't want to spend the time reading the ACD books (which books I HIGHLY reccomend), then at least see the Brett series.

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Welcome back, Alice! :wave2: We've missed you!

 

It's flattering to hear that I've summed it all up -- and very succinctly, too, in only three screens! But I'm sure there's still lots more to be said on the subject.

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Coming late to the discussion, I loved Jeremy Brett as Holmes, and definitely preferred Edward Hardwicke as Watson. Hardwicke seemed to be less obsequious than Burke. The healthy Jeremy Brett was the perfect physical representation of Holmes.

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Cumberbatch has said in at least one interview that he has used Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes as a type of character study. One critic said that Brett brought out Holmes' "darker side" not sure, but that might mean that Brett played his Holmes as a character study and not just doing the stories as detective mysteries.

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According to Wikipedia, it took a while to talk Brett into accepting the role, but once he did, he was meticulous about it:

 

He conducted extensive research on the great detective and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself, and was very attentive to discrepancies between the scripts he had been given and Conan Doyle's original stories. One of Brett's dearest possessions on the set was his 77-page "Baker Street File" on everything from Holmes' mannerisms to his eating and drinking habits.

And so forth -- the entire page is well worth reading. At any rate, yes, I believe you're right. Nice deduction!

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I saw Brett in Dracula on stage in 1977 or '78 (yes I am old) and he was awesome in it. I found his Holmes to be just a tiny bit creepy. I mean I loved it, but the affectations and mannerisms were sometimes offputting, and I think that was a brilliant bit of characterization. Just those odd little ticks and his bark of a laugh - brilliant. I had read the stories before I saw the series though.

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I see what you mean, and I think you're right. Surely if we were to meet the real Sherlock Holmes, we'd think he was extremely odd (as Watson did on first meeting him), and Brett captured that oddness very nicely.

 

I can't resist asking, though -- was his Holmes creepier than his Dracula?

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I started reading the stories while still in grade school. Then came the Basil Rathbone movies and I wouldn't miss one. Then along came Granada TV and Jeremy Brett and I was doubly smitten. BBC One's Sherlock is brilliant in how I can see the frenetic Brett but maybe not quite so intense but then we have 90 minutes. Jeremy had to pack his Holmes into one hour increments and he did it so flawlessly.

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I see what you mean, and I think you're right. Surely if we were to meet the real Sherlock Holmes, we'd think he was extremely odd (as Watson did on first meeting him), and Brett captured that oddness very nicely.

 

I can't resist asking, though -- was his Holmes creepier than his Dracula?

 

Dracula was freaking sexy as hell.

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Dracula was freaking sexy as hell.

That's good to know. I once saw another well-known actor on stage as Dracula. I thought he'd be absolutely perfect in the role, but the actual overall effect was sort of embarrassing -- like he was obviously going for a certain effect, but just wasn't achieving it.

 

 

Stage play in the 70's toured all over. Gorey set design, lovely.

That's Masterpiece Mystery opening-credits Gorey? Cool!

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  • 3 months later...

Jeremy Brett... to this day he's still my favorite Holmes.

 

You can tell that Cumberbatch borrows heavily from Brett's performence. Their mannerisms, way of speaking, etc...

This is probably largely due to the fact that to me and others, Brett was and still is the definitive Holmes.

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The definitive Victorian Holmes, definitely.  When I first saw his performance, I couldn't imagine why anyone else would ever bother doing Holmes again.

 

Cumberbatch's Sherlock is a whole 'nother story.

 

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