One more thought on Mycroft, then I gotta get back to work...

Back in the '70s, Gene Wilder made a movie called "Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother". I didn't know much about Holmes at that time - I was just a little kid - but the title struck me funny anyway.

Imagine how surprised I was - and how much I LOLed - when I started reading the Holmes stories many years later only to learn that Holmes really DID have a smarter brother! Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Webby, I'm sure you've read Heinlein's masterpiece THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS. Remember "Mike"?

Webby, I'm sure you've read Heinlein's masterpiece THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS. Remember "Mike"?

Oh, yeah ... that was another little LOL moment.

If you've never seen the old Sherlock Holmes television series by Granada (British) with Jeremy Brett portraying Holmes then you are missing out. Brett is considered by many to be the epitome of Doyle's Holmes. They are available on DVD and once you see them I would imagine that, like me, you'll never see another actor as Holmes. Jeremy Brett WAS Holmes...its a shame he died so young and before they finished the canon.

Both David Burke and Edward Hardwicke portrayed Dr. Watson throughout the show and while both were excellent in the role, I prefer Hardwicke's Watson just slightly over Burke's.

Indeed! I've seen all the episodes with Jeremy Brett, multiple times, and no one, not even Rathbone, fulfills the part the way he did. I still catch them, every time that I can on PBS. I also agree about Harwick as Dr. Watson, who was never the bumbling, mumbling sidekick that Nigel Bruce portrayed him to be.

Still, I also have a collection of audio tapes with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce from the '40s radio show. It was the most popular radio program of its era.

NYj

Indeed! I've seen all the episodes with Jeremy Brett, multiple times, and no one, not even Rathbone, fulfills the part the way he did. I still catch them, every time that I can on PBS. I also agree about Harwick as Dr. Watson, who was never the bumbling, mumbling sidekick that Nigel Bruce portrayed him to be.

Still, I also have a collection of audio tapes with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce from the '40s radio show. It was the most popular radio program of its era.

NYj

It was Hardwicke's Watson that said to Colonel Shlessinger in The Disappearance of Lady Carfax "I was a soldier in India, Sir. I've shot nobler creatures than you."

He delivered that line with such seriousness and determination that for a moment you wanted the Colonel to make a move so Watson could make good on his word.

Indeed! I've seen all the episodes with Jeremy Brett, multiple times, and no one, not even Rathbone, fulfills the part the way he did. I still catch them, every time that I can on PBS. I also agree about Harwick as Dr. Watson, who was never the bumbling, mumbling sidekick that Nigel Bruce portrayed him to be.

Still, I also have a collection of audio tapes with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce from the '40s radio show. It was the most popular radio program of its era.

NYj

Joe, what's your favorite Holmes story? Me, I gotta go with THE ADVENTURE OF THE DYING DETECTIVE. But then, there's also... And we can't forget...

It was Hardwicke's Watson that said to Colonel Shlessinger in The Disappearance of Lady Carfax "I was a soldier in India, Sir. I've shot nobler creatures than you."

He delivered that line with such seriousness and determination that for a moment you wanted the Colonel to make a move so Watson could make good on his word.

I just watched that episode last night for the second time. It was as enjoyable as the first.

NYj

Joe, what's your favorite Holmes story? Me, I gotta go with THE ADVENTURE OF THE DYING DETECTIVE. But then, there's also... And we can't forget...

Watch Jeremy Brett in "The Empty House." Holmes returns after what, two years, and we get to see his final duel with Moriarty at the Reichenback Falls.

Watching this episode, one realizes the depth of affection (in a manly way, of course) between Dr. Watson and Holmes. There have been a couple of interpretations of Holmes that suggested he was gay (Timothy Dalton's, I believe, or was it George Lazenby, whose short-lived career as James Bond was quite unremarkable) and (although there is nothing wrong with being gay, right Tony?), Holmes as gay borders on sacrilege!

In the final episodes with Jeremy Brett, I think one was called "The Devil's Root," you can see that he is actually quite ill and dying and really using all the energy he has left to fulfill his role. It's really quite as sad as watching John Wayne in "The Shootist."

NYj

The Empty House was an excellent episode and Holmes' reaction when he confronts Colonel Moran is quite a delight.

I don't think Brett was dying when he filmed The Devil's Foot. He was suffering a severe bout of depression because I believe that was around the time his second wife died. His hair is also much shorter in that episode because in one of his bouts of depression he cut alot of it off. It is said that Brett was trying to escape from becoming Holmes.

And in terms of Holmes being gay? Of course that has been said because of his friendship with Watson, but remember it was Watson that described Holmes' love for Irene Adler as being the only woman Holmes truly loved. I think more Sherlockians believe Holmes more asexual than anything else.

Watch Jeremy Brett in "The Empty House." Holmes returns after what, two years, and we get to see his final duel with Moriarty at the Reichenback Falls.

Watching this episode, one realizes the depth of affection (in a manly way, of course) between Dr. Watson and Holmes. There have been a couple of interpretations of Holmes that suggested he was gay (Timothy Dalton's, I believe, or was it George Lazenby, whose short-lived career as James Bond was quite unremarkable) and (although there is nothing wrong with being gay, right Tony?), Holmes as gay borders on sacrilege!

In the final episodes with Jeremy Brett, I think one was called "The Devil's Root," you can see that he is actually quite ill and dying and really using all the energy he has left to fulfill his role. It's really quite as sad as watching John Wayne in "The Shootist."

NYj

Joe, isn't it =queer= that any portrayal, these days, of manly affection is automatically gay?

The Empty House was an excellent episode and Holmes' reaction when he confronts Colonel Moran is quite a delight.

I don't think Brett was dying when he filmed The Devil's Foot. He was suffering a severe bout of depression because I believe that was around the time his second wife died. His hair is also much shorter in that episode because in one of his bouts of depression he cut alot of it off. It is said that Brett was trying to escape from becoming Holmes.

And in terms of Holmes being gay? Of course that has been said because of his friendship with Watson, but remember it was Watson that described Holmes' love for Irene Adler as being the only woman Holmes truly loved. I think more Sherlockians believe Holmes more asexual than anything else.

"Asexual" is a possibility, I grant you. Many Victorian confirmed bachelors had an antipathy to women, despite their Monarch on the throne. Some may have carried this to extremes (Jack the Ripper).

Roger Moore's portrayal of Holmes (with Charlotte Rampling as Ireme Adler) was quite interesting since they had a son together.

I firmly believe that the English "public school" system (which is not public at all, really) seems to encourage some measure of "gaiety" in the British upper class. Witness the notorious Cambridge Four spies, at least two of whom were gay and one bi-sexual. BBC did an interesting series on them, I have it on DVD. Somehow, in this version, these traitors are portrayed sympathetically as anti-fascist! I guess if you let enough years go by, and memories fade as contemporaries die off, you can get away with spinning historical facts any way you like. I wonder what they will say about Obama in 60 years?

NYj