Monday, November 9, 2009

On DVD: Sherlock Holmes (1955)

A few months back, I bought a bargain basket DVD collecting 3 episodes of this mid-50's series, produced in France. As a Holmes fan going all the way back to my school days, I thought this might be a good addition to my collection.

After 1 episode, my opinion changed. Holmes, as played by Ronald Howard, comes across as a forerunner to a lot of the TV detectives that have come since, like Richard Diamond and Jim Rockford, for example. More jovial than normal, and sparring more than cooperating with Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard. The episode in question, "The Case of Harry Crocker", has Holmes hired----after a fashion----by Crocker, a stage performer accused of murder. Much of the episode is spent with Crocker either evading or being captured by the police, and Holmes & Dr. Watson caught in the middle. This is not typical Holmes fare.

Edit, 1/28/17: Had to replace the video for "The Case of Harry Crocker":




I just couldn't take any more. Luckily, I do have a couple of DVDs of those Basil Rathbone-Nigel Bruce classics to reach for another day.

Rating: C-.

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