Sir Ian McKellen as "Mr. Holmes"

[J.P.]

Hmmm... this somehow doesn't make sense.

Arthur Conan Doyle's estate is suing Miramax over Mr. Holmes

[Carol the Dabbler]

Oh dear, I'm afraid it might make perfect sense.  As the article said, the Conan Doyle estate still owns the US copyrights to the last few Holmes stories -- the ones that mention him moving to Sussex and keeping bees, for example.  Even though the movie (like the book it's based on) is set well after those stories, it does apparently extrapolate from them, possibly even quoting from some of them.

 

Looks like the estate may finally have a valid case!  Hopefully they'll be able to settle it amicably with a royalty agreement, and the July release won't be held up.

 

[J.P.]

Just heard on Sky News: Mr. Holmes had a premiere today.

 

I jumped hearing the name Holmes thinking they will mention "our" baby, but no.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Just heard on Sky News: Mr. Holmes had a premiere today.

 

Oh, good -- hopefully that means they've settled the lawsuit.

[Carol the Dabbler]

So this film apparently opened in UK theaters about a month ago?  Has anyone seen it?

 

According to IMDb, it's due for US release next Friday, the 17th.

 

[Inge l-w]

Same here! it's due on the 17th! Boy, am I going to that premiere, although I know beforehand it shall have been dubbed. But I love that picture, showing the indispensable gloves and walking stick! He has probably had it before the Great War!

[Carol the Dabbler]

Looks like I'll have to wait a while.  Can't seem to find any theaters that are planning to start showing it on the 17th, not even in Indianapolis or Bloomington (the big university town).  So it'll be a matter of waiting either till some theaters decide to run it (as did eventually happen with The Imitation Game) or till the DVD is released.

[Inge l-w]

Dear Carol, if you want, after the premiere here, I can give you a précis and my views without any plot spoilers, so you and your other half can enjoy it in full when it finally gets there! What I cannot, for the life of me understand, is the attitude of some members: are we all into Sherlock Holmes in ANY form (I have seen the Billy Wilder spoof, and the Michael Caine spoof, and if I were invited to watch a Sc-fi Holmes I would give it a try and then make up my mind) or are we separated into different "tribes"? It seems, some are into BC photos and news, others into ACD canon, others only into the original novels, others just fan girls! What is going on? As a moderator, you have a clearer overview than mere members.

Speaking for myself, my dream of quality alone time would be to watch any of my Granada series favourites, then SiB or TGG, then listen to Rumpole Returns on Radio Four and finally go to watch Mr Holmes at the cinema, come back home and double-check all the allusions I spotted in the original stories

[Carol the Dabbler]

I think most of us are pretty eclectic (heck, some forum members even watch stuff that's not the least bit related to Sherlock Holmes ;) ), but there are some Doyle fans who don't watch adaptations in general but make an enthusiastic exception for Sherlock, there are Sherlock fans who've never read any of the original stories, and last I heard there was one fellow who had never seen Sherlock at all.  As Mrs. Hudson would say, there's all sorts round here!  And as John would say, it's all fine.

 

[Arcadia]

I only see it in one location in the DC area, at one of those arthouse cinemas. Odd, as well-liked and well-known as Ian McKellan is .....

[Carol the Dabbler]

I only see it in one location in the DC area, at one of those arthouse cinemas. Odd, as well-liked and well-known as Ian McKellan is .....

 

Maybe the distributor is doing one of those "start slow and make the fans nervous" deals like they did with The Imitation Game -- which finally (!) opened in quite a number of theaters.

[Arcadia]

I guess. I have to admit, all I get from that tactic is "we're afraid most people won't like it so we're not making very many copies of it."

[Inge l-w]

Yep! But it still does not make much sense to be dubbing it for distribution if they think they are throwing their money away! And it's Miramax, for Heaven's sake, they could make some more copies! Definitely not missing that premiere, will post précis but no spoilers!

Dear Carol, as always, you have risen to the occasion! Here's a for you and your patience!

[Carol the Dabbler]

I don't think it was lack of copies that drove the Imitation Game ploy.  I had the feeling (though can't really say why) that they were trying to frustrate the fans in order to build more interest in the movie.  And maybe it worked.

 

But both IG and Mr. Holmes could be seen as "cult films," I suppose, so caution could also be a factor.

 

[Arcadia]

Oh, I just meant that's how I react to that kind of ploy (I think the worst possible!) ... not that it's what it actually means. Marketing irks me sometimes, that's how I fight back.

[Inge l-w]

Dear fellow members, yesterday was a total treat for me! First, I listened to BBC Radio 4 Rumpole Returns, with Benedict in The Age of Miracles and then it was time for the premiere!

It's a wonderful film for an ACD follower, and it plays with the three major themes of S2: fear, love, loss.

First off, it starts with BBC Films, so you know you're in good hands.

Ian McKellen without all of Gandalf's facial hair is actually much nearer to Mr Holmes in profile than Benedict , and his performance is stellar, because he has to work with a boy and animals, two notoriously difficult tasks for any actor, but to which he takes his most natural approach.

Fear: since he is getting older, his major fear is the loss of his intellectual faculties, so he searches for memory-aiding plants and foods, leading to the inevitable chemical experiments!

Love: he encounters it in the boy's unfailing devotion and in one fleeting instance in the young woman who was the wife of his last client, (quite apt, to start with Irene Adler and finish with Mrs Kelmot), but he misses his chance because he does what he excels at, deduces her to death, and so drives her from him.

Loss: he considers his last case to have been a complete and utter failure, so he leaves London for Sussex as penance and exile, he almost loses the boy and the bees, but in the end manages to salvage both the situation and keep body and soul alive.

His doctor is none other than Chief Inspector Friday, from the young Morse series Endeavour.

His Japanese host asks some pertinent questions:

The "silly hat"? Never wore it, especially not in town.

The pipe? Actually, he prefers a cigar! (And here's a puzzling bit: are BBC Films in conflict with BBC One? He says that he quite liked smoking a pipe, until John [note, NOT Watson] popularised it in the stories and it became a prop, he, Sherlock, felt it would be vulgar to be seen smoking one in public. BUT in the trailer to the Christmas Special, Benedict does just that. Are they making a pastiche of their own work or trying to drive us to distraction?)

Grammar police out in full force: the boy asks him if he was ever bitten by a bee: "Stung, not bitten, bees have no teeth." It's not "beehives", it's an "apiary"!

The boy asks him to do the trick on the boy's mother, and he obliges, serving both his young admirer's needs but also his own, always manipulative Mr Holmes!

Oh, and he writes on his cuff with a pencil, exactly as in the stories and as Mark Gatiss did in SiB.

All in all, a most satisfying rendition of a prickly problem and an immortal character. Now, I shall wait for the DVD.

[Arcadia]

Sounds good, and I saw an ad for it last night; it looked good too. Hopefully it will be playing in more theaters soon!

[J.P.]

Nowhere in my area...

[Inge l-w]

Sorry, J.P., it was the event of the weekend! From Oldenburg to Bonn, visiting an uncle who is even older than Mr Holmes and still rides his bicycle and bought a new car two years ago, going home this afternoon. Have you tried it on maxdome.de ?

Just saw dear Caya's post on the first 'page' : yes, both Mycroft and John are dead, so is Mrs Hudson.

[Boswell]

I watched Mr. Holmes too, yesterday, and loved it. It is a beautiful interpretation, and nicely executed. It is not your 'regular' Holmes movie of course, but there is a case thread running throughout the movie and forming the basis for an almost spiritual denouement, which thankfully is also done in a most natural, nonpompous, nondramatic way.

You stay with Holmes, in his head, throughout his journey, and never for a second do you lose your empathy for him (Especially if you're already a committed fan, i guess) I don't understand some of the published reviews calling it a 'slow' movie as I can't see how it can be done any other way. Of course it's not a roller coaster, it is a movie to be savoured, and not a single minute of screen time is wasted. 

The casting and performances actually enhance the delicate flavour of the movie, and the wonderful music elevates it further. And I haven't even mentioned the lovely cinematography yet.

 

The movie explores Holmes' vulnerable side without compromising his rationality or his towering dignity, which was very important for me. I couldn't help thinking what a lesson there is in that for Gatiss and Moffat who IMO have done Holmes & Watson an injustice with their soap-operaisation and sitcomification of Sherlock in Series 3.

 

The best thing for me, and something I had been looking forward to, was how the movie provides a sense of closure, as his 'corrected' story does for Mr. Holmes in the movie.

I knew my obsession with the Sherlock series was getting to be rather irrational and was hoping that seeing Sherlock grow old and confront his human failings would help me to restore some objectivity to my opinions, and thank God it has! Of course, i still love the series and look forward to more of it, but I have a better sense of context and a necessary emotional distance now  

 

[Inge l-w]

Dear Boswell, my sentiments exactly! In S3, it seems the creators got rid of all the emotional hang-ups they had as fans, and we can only hope that with the upcoming series everything will be righted, including the discreet removal of Mary the -gun-for-hire.
I particularly loved the ending, where he

 

places the little memorial stones in a circle and almost lays the paperweight with the bees down for himself, but the boy stops him: he still has much to live for, our favourite detective!

 

Edited July 28, 2015 by Carol the Dabbler
Added spoiler box

[Boswell]

Yes, what a lovely ending that was! I liked all his scenes with the boy, who is himself quite a delight, and the scene where he signs the book for the Japanese chap and, needless to say, the one with Mrs. Kelmot on the park bench.

I have some timid hopes for Sherlock S4 myself, but keeping my expectations firmly in check, for my own good

[Sherlock1854]

Dear Fellow Sherlockians:

 

This is Sherlock. Greetings from Baker Street!!!

 

I just came back from the Internet Movie Database. One of you asked about Watson, and he is there! He's played by Colin Starkey. Mrs. Hudson is also there--played by Sara(h) Croyden. Now, there wasn't any mention of Lestrade. There was an Inspector listed--Gilbert, I believe--but I didn't recognize him. 

 

I hope this clears up a few things!!!

 

 

 

                                                                         Cheers always,

 

                                                                          Sherlock.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Thank you, Mr. 1854 -- and congratulations on your first post! 

 

I assume that Watson and Mrs. Hudson are shown in flashbacks?

 

Also, I am reminded that Inspector Gilbert is played by Phil Davis (Jeff the Cabbie from "Study in Pink").  And Mycroft Holmes is played by John Sessions (Kenny Prince from "Great Game").

 

[Inge l-w]

Dear Carol, you will probably have to edit this one too:

Since the story arc is split between his last case and his return to Sussex from Japan with almost thirty years difference in between, after the conclusion of his last case with Mrs Kelmot, he falls into one of his black moods, so Dr Watson is there but his face is never seen, the same goes for Mrs Hudson: they take care of him as per usual, but the scenes are shot so that you only see their feet and lower halves, not their faces, neither has a speaking role, and Dr Watson is only ever glimpsed whole from the living room window as he is supervising his move to his new home and wife.

The scene with Mycroft takes place at the Diogenes club, but it never really happened.

The end is as described above. Mycroft, Dr Watson and Mrs Hudson are all dead.

There is also a direct quote from HLV, at the beginning, as he comes home: at the station a woman exclaims: Is that really him? I couldn't help but snigger.