A Novel Adaptation #2: ‘The Sign of Four’

 

Having mused last month on fifty dramatisations of ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’, this month I intend to move on to the twenty versions of ‘The Sign of Four’, my favourite of the novels, which I have experienced. The novel balances a detective story with a love story, as Watson meets his future wife, Mary Morstan, and was recently part of the GCSE English Literature syllabus.

 

Radio/Audio

It is again in the audio medium that I intend to start. The most recent are the entries in the complete Sherlock Holmes projects of BBC Radio (starring Clive Merrison and Michael Williams) and Jim French Productions in the US (starring John Patrick Lowrie and Larry Albert), with Brian Blessed’s wonderfully overacting Jonathan Small and Sion Probert’s very Welsh Inspector Athelney Jones, in the former being a highlight. I have also enjoyed versions starring Carleton Hobbs and Norman Shelley (also BBC Radio) and Kevin McCarthy and Court Benson (CBS). However, my favourite radio version is the first BBC Radio version, starring Richard Hurdnall (previously known to me for replacing William Hartnell as the First Doctor in ‘Doctor Who’ anniversary story, ‘The Five Doctors’, unpaid as it turned out as he died soon after) and Brian Coleman. Dramatised in five parts, the story is allowed to unfold exactly as it does in the novel, and there is not the rush that is present in the other radio versions (save in the climactic river chase scene).     

 

 

 

Films

There have been two black-and-white films of SIGN, the first being a silent film starring Eille Norwood in 1923 (and now easily available online) and the second starring Arthur Wontner in 1932. The Norwood version has the distinction of the river chase actually being filmed on location on the Thames, but the Wontner version includes unbelievable deductions and makes unnecessary changes to the plot (such as Holmes and Watson living at 22A Baker Street) and unusually starts with the events in India that lead to the crimes. There is also the animated version produced by Burbank Films in 1983, but my comments about their HOUND stand for this also.

 

 

 

Television

As with HOUND, the earliest television SIGN that I have seen is the 1968 BBC version, starring Peter Cushing and Nigel Stock, one of the few episodes to remain from that series. I also enjoyed a French/German co-production, available in either language (but unfortunately not English), starring Rolf Becker and Roger Lumont, and a Russian one from 1983, starring the excellent Vasily Livanov and Vitaly Solomin. In 1987 Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke gave us their version, and in 2001 Matt Frewer appeared in a Canadian version. Further updated versions were seen in ‘Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century: The Sign of Four’ and 'Sherlock: The Sign of Three'.

It is now time to focus on my two favourites. In 1983,  Ian Richardson stepped up to investigate the Great Agra Treasure, in a version that I much prefer to the follow-up HOUND, as David Healy’s Watson is far superior to Donald Churchill’s.  (It also features Clive Merrison in a supporting role as one of the Sholto twins). It is a shame that due to the Granada series, we saw no more adaptations starring Richardson.

However, my favourite version may come as a bit of a surprise, the 1991 TV movie version of Paul Giovanni’s stage play – ‘Crucifer of Blood’, starring Charlton Heston (reprising his stage role, in which Jeremy Brett was his Watson). After my rant against ‘too old’ Stewart Granger in the 1972 Universal TV movie of HOUND you would expect me to hate this, but I am able to overlook Heston’s performance and age due to so many other things that I enjoyed about it, particularly the rest of the cast. Richard Johnson is an excellent Watson, Simon Callow an amusing Lestrade, and the lovely Susannah Harker as Irene St. Clair (whose name and back-story take in at least five Sherlockian women) is enchanting. It also shares a Tonga with the Granada version – Kiran Shah. The horror level is pumped up, and the resulting production is very engaging. The ending is also a surprise (deviating from the novel), which I would usually hate, but for some reason I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. Seek out a copy on DVD. 

            

 

Theatre

I have seen just three theatrical versions of SIGN, and two in the last year (with two also being within the Portsmouth area). The first was in 2018 by Blackeyed Theatre Company, starring Luke Barton and Joseph Derrington, at Portsmouth .  (see here for my full review) This production was aimed at schools teaching SIGN as part of the GCSE syllabus, and concentrated a little too much on the Indian back-story for my liking. They also mangled my favourite line of the novel, and had a very un-Welsh Athelney Jones.

I also watched a live stream online theatre dramatisation of ‘The Sign of Four’ from Hardin County Schools Performing Arts Center in 2020 (as well as my 50^th HOUND, they have also done ‘A Study in Scarlet’). This interspersed the Indian backstory with the ongoing investigation very effectively.

However, my favourite theatre version was seen just outside Portsmouth, also in 2020, by Fareham Musical Society, in a production written by Nick Scovell, who also starred as Watson. Scovell was previously known to me as since 1996 he has portrayed the Doctor from ‘Doctor Who’ on film, stage and audio, in original productions and reimagined versions of TV stories. I was therefore interested in seeing him play ‘my other favourite Doctor’.  The adaptation was excellent, focusing on both the detective story and the love story, with the Indian backstory swiftly recounted.  In fact I found myself regretting that I had missed their HOUND the year before.  (The poster is at the top of this post).

 

 

 

Conclusions

So after twenty dramatisations what have I learnt ? Don’t go overboard on the backstory. Remember that it’s a love story as well. Taking your time to cover the story properly goes a long way.  Don’t mangle Doyle’s phrases. And finally, Athelney Jones should have a Welsh accent.

 

 

Favourites:

Radio/Audio: ‘The Sign of Four’ – BBC Light Programme 1959   (Hurndall/Coleman)

Film: ‘The Sign of Four’ – Stoll Pictures 1923    (Norwood/Cullin)

TV: ‘The Crucifer of Blood’ – Turner Network TV 1991   (Heston/Johnson)

Theatre: ‘The Sign of Four’ – Fareham Musical Society 2020   (Redwood/Scovell)  

 

 

Click here for a full list of dramatisations.