HerlockSholmes

One strange thing about the cockney accent is it’s representation in old movies. A case in point is the Rathbone Holmes movies. Some of the working class cockney extra speak in an accent that sounds more Australian to my ears. Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins is another famously bad examples. Most people from the uk have no real idea of accents from different parts of the States. A generic ‘southern’ accent is recognisable to most of us as is a New York accent. The only other one that I can recognise is Boston (JFK of course.) I have an accent that definately couldn’t be described as posh. I was thinking of the best way to describe it to you? I was born not far from comedian Lenny Henry so my accent is similar to his although his might be a bit broader than mine. As for food. Well you can’t beat a bacon sandwich but we Brits often go over the top by adding sausage, fried egg and mushrooms (it’s basically a portable heart attack) I’ve eaten, and like, kidneys, kippers, marmalade, black pudding and spotted dick but I’ve never had brains. The Scottish do a dish called Haggis which may not appeal to the American taste bud but I do like. I’ve never been to the States but I have friends that have and they all told me tales of thick sandwiches, steaks the size of a mattresses and an endless supply of coffee. Talking of weird food, what about the bagel? Who would invent a sandwich with a hole in the middle?

You would have thought that Holmes, a scientist himself, would have had one. He had a record player after all so why not a phone. My brain is a little foggy in that I recall seeing it written that Mr Hudson didn’t want one in the house but it’s very possible/probable that I’m remembering something from a pastiche. One slight issue might have been that it could have robbed the stories of encounters with Lestrade and other police officers at 221b if they could have just called. Mycroft also wouldn’t have bothered dragging his bulk from Whitehall or The Diogenes if he could have just summoned Holmes by phone

You’re right Hikari, I won’t be going. Maybe one day I’ll go to one? Just thought that I’d post this in case anyone’s interested. I don’t bother with downloaded stuff myself but this might be good. https://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/the-adventure-of-the-fleet-street-transparency

There was no telephone at 221b. In many ways the postal service was better then as there were multiple deliveries per day. People could write a letter, get a reply, then write again and probably get a reply again. Today it’s only one post.

I've never heard of either of those before now; they sound interesting! I'm going to have to see if I can find them available anywhere for watching. I agree with most of your review of the Guy Ritchie films. I liked the second one better, for many of the same reasons, although I didn't particularly mind the plot of the first. Victorian-era people were very superstitious, interested in the occult and all things supernatural, so I thought it still fit nicely within the realm of Sherlock Holmes. (And I don't normally mind that kind of material anyway, as long as it's not taken to an extreme.) And unlike you, I actually really like this Mary. She seems kind and strong without being a superwoman, and I think just enough focus is placed on her. But her voice doesn't grate on me, either. Irene's voice does though, as well as her whole character: The typical unscrupulous femme fatale superwoman that is so overplayed these days, and so, so boring. Jude Law's Watson, as I've said before, is one of my very favorites -- for all the reasons you listed, and then some. I just love a capable, man-at-arms Watson, and one who doesn't just kowtow to Holmes' "superior genius" and BS, lol. Alright, now I'm gonna have to go watch them again too, lol. I was a bit hard on Kelly Reilly, I suppose. Actually she shows herself to be quite a good sport in the second film. She and Jude make an attractive couple. I admired her for her fortitude in the face of having her nuptials nearly derailed when Sherlock Holmes delivered her groom to the church in a deplorable condition, being thrown off a train, and perhaps most scary of all, confronting Mycroft Holmes in the altogether. The choice they made with the Woman was unexpected, to say the least. Guess Rach was unavailable for a third film. Making the Woman a minx in cahoots with the Professor really does a disservice to her; she never met him and only wanted to protect herself, not be Harley Quinn to Moriarty's Joker. I really liked this Moriarty. Jared Harris (son of the late, great Richard) does not resemble at all ACD's description of SH's nemesis as we have seen portrayed a lot elsewhere. Jared looks soft and nonthreatening, like a bunny rabbit. But this bunny's fangs are lethal. The final showdown scene featuring slo-mo deductions in the mind palace are the highlight of this movie for me, as the other setpiece was in the first film. Someone on the other page didn't care for Jude Law as Watson. Wonder why because I think he's pitch perfect. His voiceover narration of 'the best and wisest man' speech gets me every time . . .and I've seen this movie 4, 5 times now at least. And, just two words: urban camouflage! LOL By the way Hikari, changing the subject here, I actually ‘knew’ George Mann I don’t ‘know’ him now. George used to be an assistant manager in my local bookshop (even though he’s from the north-east). I used to read Sci-if and fantasy when I was younger then got into True crime, Sherlock Holmes and History so I had a lot of books taking up too much space. George told me that he was writing or editing a Sci-if encyclopaedia and so offered to by the books from me, which he did (very cheaply I hasten to add

Perhaps you could clean out the brain attic by writing a book first so that the rest of us can derive benefit from your knowledge. I thought Rupert Everett's turn in The Case of the Silk Stocking was a fairly proper Sherlock Holmes movie, although it was 'only' for TV. Pity there weren't more with this duo. Have you watched a TV mini-series from circa 2000 called 'Murder Rooms'? The late Sir Ian Richardson stars as Dr. Joseph Bell in very Sherlock-y form and as his 'Watson', Charles Edwards, here called Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle. Not as high budget a program as Silk Stocking but I thought it was pretty interesting. Dr. Bell was a fascinating man . . and quite handsome, too. There's a picture of him in a deerstalker and Inverness cape, looking every inch the Great Detective in his later years. I liked Everett as Holmes. A pity that he didn’t do another one. Murder Rooms is a favourite of mine. I saw it on tv years ago then got the dvd set (no surprise there). I think Ian Richardson made a pretty decent Holmes in 2 movies too

I look around 25 of course. Mainly due to my healthy lifestyle.

I might just watch the Russian Holmes series again. Haven’t seen it for a while. I must also rewatch Sherlock as my knowledge of the series is far lower than everyone else on here. I’m pretty good on Holmes tv and movies but weaker on the newer stuff. My ‘brain attic’ is pretty congested with trivial stuff that no one else is interested in. Perhaps I need to delete?

Thanks for that Carol, I’ll give it a go but I have an iPad so I’m unsure if it works the same. I was ‘persuaded’ to get an iPad when I’ve always been used to a PC (I’m even unused to the terminology!) I like it but I don’t know how to use it properly yet (come on, I’ve only had it a year

I must re-watch the first two movies as I’ve only seen them once each. I remember mentally filing them under ‘enjoyable romp’ but I think that another viewing is in order. I wish that someone would make a ‘proper’ Holmes movie though. A few months ago I watched a movie called Sherlock Holmes and The Shadow Watchers directed by someone called Anthony Mann. It was appalling! It was made even worse by the director taking the lead role. He was quite chubby and totally unsuited to the role. Perhaps no one would be keen due to the Guy Ritchie movies.

I didn’t know that they were planning a 3rd movie? https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/726205/Sherlock-Holmes-3-movie-Star-Wars-screenwriter-Rogue-One-Robert-Downey-Jr-Jude-Law

I type fractions like so: 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, etc. So I'd probably write his height thusly: 5'10 1/2", or 5 ft. 10 1/2 in. Of course! Thanks Artemis, I was focusing on seeing the fraction as one number over another. Perhaps I qualify for dumbest question of 2017?

I’d didnt know where to post this but it might be of interest if you haven’t already read it

I hope the forum will celebrate the great detective’s 164th birthday on January 6th? I’m not quite that old

Thank you Doe

I’ve never heard of a Bow Street Lexicon to be honest Hikari? She has what we call a ‘cockney’ accent if tainted by modern ‘street’ talk. The test for being a true ‘Cockney’ in London was to be born within the sounds of Bow Bells (ie the bells of St Mary-le-Bow church). People from outside London though tend to call all Londoners ‘Cockneys’. Around 3 months ago I was sitting on a bench outside that church eating a very nice bacon and brie sandwich killing time until I went on a historical walk . Chav, as you know, is a fairly new word which tends to mean working class, loud, uncultured etc. I think that Lauren would be classed as the epitome of ‘chav.’

It can be difficult to judge height unless the person is excessively tall or excessively short. The reason that I checked Peter Cushing is because I’ve always thought that he made an excellent Holmes and if I had to nit-pick i would have said that he was possibly a little too short. I’ve that site is correct though his height was fine. Perhaps it was because he was quite slightly built it gave the impression that he was smaller than he actually was. Plus most people would appear short standing next to Christopher Lee. I also thought that Edward Woodward, for example, was shorter than he actually was. He was far too stocky to be a realistic Holmes though. Likewise Reginald Owen. I shouldn’t be too critical when mentioning stockyness though as, later on in his portrayal, Jeremy Brett was actually too heavy to be Holmes. I make an exception for him though

I’ve just checked on a site called www.celebheights and it lists Sir Ian McKellen as 5ft 10 and a half inches (how do you type a fraction?) but lists his peak height as 5ft 11 and a quarter inches. I checked out a few Holmes actors and was surprised that Peter Cushing was 5ft 11 and a half! I thought that he was shorter than that, 5ft 8 or 9 say.

As I’m not much of a film buff or tv watcher I’ve never seen Cumberbatch in anything other than Sherlock. I’d probably find it a bit weird. I’m the same with Brett and Rathbone. I’ve seen Brett in a couple of other things and he’s obviously a fine actor but I keep expecting him to break off from a line and shout “Mrs Hudson!” Even with Rathbone, for example playing Guy Of Gisbourne In Robin Hood, I’m expecting him to instantly deduce where in Sherwood Forest Robin is hiding from the mud on Friar Tuck’s sandal. I recall seeing Rathbone’s last but one movie ‘Hillbilly’s In A Haunted House.’ Avoid at all costs Hikari. It’s an appalling film. A pretty sad end to his career.

Didn’t know where else to post this little snippet? https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/892668/Sherlock-season-5-Mark-Gatiss-Steven-Moffat-new-episodes-imminent-BBC-Benedict-Cumberbatch/amp

Hi Hikari, I don’t know if you are aware of this one? I haven’t seen it and ive been trying to track it down to add to the collection...with no success so far

It goes without saying of course that, as a teenager, I was a paragon of virtue

I’d never seen that before. Thanks for posting it Hikari