Saturday, September 29, 2012
Jeremy Brett: The Quintessential Sherlock Holmes
One of the greatest travesties in of ALL of film is that Jeremy
Brett who played the title role from 1984 through 1994 was ignored by
his peers. Shame on them, because although the series was a huge
critical success, he never received an award of any kind for his
outstanding portrayal. Amazingly, it seems that Granada Television
received no awards, nor anyone even remotely connected to this
outstanding series of mysteries. What seems to be the greatest mystery
of all is how on earth this finely tuned team was ignored. The sets were
ALWAYS painstakingly accurate, and certainly that was no small feat,
the cinematography excelled at creativity, and the costumes were
inspired. This is not mention the screen writing that was minimal
(as most great screen writing should be) when in the hands of a
talented cast, directors and producers.
Mr. Brett died in 1995 working on Sherlock Holmes until close to
the bitter end. He was admired and befriended by Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle's daughter Dame Jean Conan Doyle. The forty one episodes are all
delightful. All are available on DVD or online at Netflix. I saw the
series first on PBS and later on A & E. I was thrilled to see them all
again on Netflix and mind you, it did not bother me in the least. It
did remind me of just how wonderful Mr. Brett was as an actor. It
reminded me of that period of time in British Television when series
like Upstairs Downstairs, All Creatures Great and Small, Poirot (to
name a few) were not only highbrow, but actually taught us something
positive. These were family shows, there was never an abundance of
violence, they were elegant and taught us manners. One of my favorite
line's of Holmes is at the end of the video I'm sharing: when he SIC tells
an adversary that " He should take off the cigar band from his cigar or
people will assume he is a bounder". It is nuances like these that not
only school us, but we remember.
Some may want to challenge my "Colonial" views on this Blog
because I am in THIS instance, saluting The Raj, yet those would be
the lowbrows. Fortunately the highbrows have absorbed what they
choose to of Colonialism and spit the rest out. Perhaps it is because
my Dad was an architect that I enjoyed the Adventures of Sherlock
Holmes so much. When we look at all the manufactured crap that we are
producing in today's world and the decline and fall of artistic
masters of tradesmen be they working in iron, stone, fabric or woodwork
its little wonder I liked the sets. There are a few giants of film
that painstakingly reproduce a set the way it should be like David
Mamet, Robert Altman or Ashutosh Gowariker, but not many who don't cut
corners these days.
because I am in THIS instance, saluting The Raj, yet those would be
the lowbrows. Fortunately the highbrows have absorbed what they
choose to of Colonialism and spit the rest out. Perhaps it is because
my Dad was an architect that I enjoyed the Adventures of Sherlock
Holmes so much. When we look at all the manufactured crap that we are
producing in today's world and the decline and fall of artistic
masters of tradesmen be they working in iron, stone, fabric or woodwork
its little wonder I liked the sets. There are a few giants of film
that painstakingly reproduce a set the way it should be like David
Mamet, Robert Altman or Ashutosh Gowariker, but not many who don't cut
corners these days.
I miss the lack of these type of family shows and to be honest I
miss Mr. Brett and his cerebral charm or maybe it was more of his
aloofness or dismissive nature. You can find Mr. Brett in a few other
notable films, but not many. He was in War and Peace with Audrey
Hepburn and again with her in My Fair Lady. I always thought he'd make
a great Jeeves as I have always found those who tried to be PG
Wodehouse's unique character Jeeves to be somewhat lacking.
Unfortunately, we'll never know. It is ELEMENTARY that If any actor
deserves an award (of any kind) posthumously, it is Mr. Brett. Do hunt
for the series and you'll not be disappointed nor do you require to see
the episodes in any particular order.
Here is a very worthwhile petition you can sign
www.bafta4jb.com/the-petition/
miss Mr. Brett and his cerebral charm or maybe it was more of his
aloofness or dismissive nature. You can find Mr. Brett in a few other
notable films, but not many. He was in War and Peace with Audrey
Hepburn and again with her in My Fair Lady. I always thought he'd make
a great Jeeves as I have always found those who tried to be PG
Wodehouse's unique character Jeeves to be somewhat lacking.
Unfortunately, we'll never know. It is ELEMENTARY that If any actor
deserves an award (of any kind) posthumously, it is Mr. Brett. Do hunt
for the series and you'll not be disappointed nor do you require to see
the episodes in any particular order.
Here is a very worthwhile petition you can sign
www.bafta4jb.com/the-petition/
Labels: Charles Spencer King, Granada Television, Jeremy Brett, Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
# posted by Cubaking @ 12:34 AM 
