A Novel Adaptation #4: ‘A Study in Scarlet’

Holmes criticises those who tell their tales back to front, but I intend to end this series, with looking at the first of the novels, ‘A Study in Scarlet’, originally published in Beetons Christmas Annual 1887. As with ‘The Valley of Fear’, this tale is in two books, with the second not featuring our heroes until a final wrap-up chapter. Therefore, it seems fit that I have also experienced twelve versions of STUD  (the same as VALL).

 

Radio/Audio

This section contains a number of familiar names, with the most recent being 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). The former represented the first pairing of Merrison and Williams (following the Rees/Logan HOUND pilot), and interests me greatly because of this. I have also again enjoyed versions starring Carleton Hobbs and Norman Shelley (also BBC Radio) and Kevin McCarthy and Court Benson (CBS). However, my favourite radio version is again another BBC Radio version, in 1983 and starring Robert Powell (who would go on to play Holmes twice on stage, and Watson once on record) and Dinsdale Landen.  In 88 minutes, both narratives get appropriate time, with a good focus on the first meeting – ‘Doctor Watson, Mr. Sherlock Holmes’.   (The cassette case is at the top of this post)

Films

There is only one existing film of STUD  (a 1914 version is lost), ‘A Study in Scarlet’ (1933) starring Reginald Owen and Warburton Gamble. However, the film bears no relation in plot to the novel, as the producers purchased rights only to the title, not the storyline of Conan Doyle's book. Instead Holmes investigates the deaths of the members of a London secret society. There is also the animated version produced by Burbank Films in 1983, but my comments about their HOUND apply here also.

Television

As with HOUND & SIGN, the earliest television STUD that I have seen is the 1968 BBC version, starring Peter Cushing and Nigel Stock. Remarkably of the five remaining stories from the 1968, three of them were their novel dramatisations (unfortunately VALL is missing). The Granada series also never adapted the duo’s first story. However, I also enjoyed the updated versions presented in ‘Sherlock: A Study in Pink’, both the transmitted version and the pilot version found on the DVD. (My perfect version would include parts from both). However, my favourite version is a Russian one from 1979, starring the excellent Vasily Livanov and Vitaly Solomin.

         

Theatre

I have seen just two theatrical versions of STUD. The most recent was a live stream online from Hardin County Schools Performing Arts Center (who I have also seen do the other three novels). This again interspersed the American backstory with the ongoing investigation very effectively, and featured an interesting talk from some real Mormons at the end.

The first, and my favourite was by Tacit Theatre Company at Southwark Playhouse in 2014, starring Philip Benjamin and Edward Cartwright. The play was staged in the venue’s smaller theatre, making the interspersed American scenes more immersive. They also made the most of the scene of our heroes meeting.

Conclusions

So after twelve dramatizations what have I learnt ? Intersperse the narratives. Trumpet the first meeting. Not all Mormons are criminals. Just because a film’s called ‘A Study in Scarlet’ doesn’t mean that’s what it is.

 

 

Favourites:

Radio/Audio: ‘A Study in Scarlet’ – BBC Radio 1983   (Powell/Landen)

Film: ‘A Study in Scarlet’ – Fox Film Corporation 1933    (Owen/Gamble)

TV: ‘Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson: Acquaintance/Bloody Inscription’ – Lenfilm Movie Studio 1979   (Livanov/Solomin)

Theatre: ‘A Study In Scarlet’ – Tacit Theatre Company 2014   (Benjamin/Cartwright)  

 

 

 

Click here for a full list of dramatisations.

A Novel Adaptation #3: ‘The Valley of Fear’

Having previously mused eighteen months ago on fifty dramatisations of ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ and twenty dramatisations of ‘The Sign of Four’, following a recent theatre trip, I intend to move on to the twelve dramatisations of the final of the novels, ‘The Valley of Fear’, that I have experienced. I have left this and ‘A Study in Scarlet’ to the end as their structure – Part 1 featuring Holmes and Watson solving the case ending with a sudden denouement, then Part 2 featuring a seemingly unrelated story about an American society turned criminal with no sign of Holmes and Watson until a final chapter in which the narratives come together explaining the why-dunnit part of the crime – does not suit itself to dramatisations. Not wishing to pre-empt the following discussion, but a ‘shuffled deck’ approach seems to work best, alternating parts of each narrative. ‘The Valley of Fear’ also features the only novel appearance of Holmes’ equal, Professor James Moriarty, albeit in a ‘working behind the scenes’ role.

 

Radio/Audio

It is once again in the audio medium that I intend to start. The most recent again 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 the revelation of the identity of the narrator in the former being a highlight. I have also enjoyed a version starring Carleton Hobbs and Norman Shelley (also BBC Radio). However, my favourite radio version is the BBC Radio version in 1986, starring Tim Pigott-Smith (previously a stage Watson, and later author of the ‘Baker Street Mysteries’ series) and Andrew Hilton, and directed by Brian Miller (who played Bradstreet in Granada’s ‘The Blue Carbuncle’), which dramatises the whole case in one 105 minute episode.

Films

I have seen two black-and-white films based on VALL, the first being ‘The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes’ (1935), starring Arthur Wontner and Ian Fleming (not the one you’re thinking of), and ‘Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace’ (1962) a German production featuring Christopher Lee and Thorley Walters. Of these I slightly prefer the latter, despite it being slightly less faithful to the original story. There is also the animated version produced by Burbank Films in 1983, but my comments about their HOUND stand for this also.

 

Television

Just three television versions, as VALL is not commonly adapted. The first is ‘Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Pennsylvania Gun’ (1954) starring Ronald Howard and H. Marion-Crawford. Unfortunately, the 1968 BBC Peter Cushing version is the only one of the novels not to survive, but an Italian 3-part dramatisation of the novel starring Nando Gazzolo and Gianni Bonagura is easily available online. Neither the Granada nor ‘Sherlock’ series has adapted VALL, but an updated version was seen in ‘Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century: The Crime Machine’.  Of these, the Italian version is my favourite.  (I just love a cheeky Nando !).

       

Theatre

I have seen just two theatrical versions of VALL, and both this year. The first was a live stream online from Hardin County Schools Performing Arts Center (who I have also seen do the other three novels). This interspersed the American backstory with the ongoing investigation very effectively. The second was by Blackeyed Theatre Company, starring Luke Barton and Joseph Derrington, at Greenwich. (see here for my full review) I had already seen ‘The Sign of Four’ tackled by the same team in 2018, and with the same adapter, Nick Lane. This successfully intertwined the two narratives, but gave Professor Moriarty slightly too much direct involvement, with a new scene featuring a newly imagined first meeting between the foes in an art gallery.

 

Conclusions

So after twelve dramatisations what have I learnt ? Intersperse the two narratives. Don’t build up Moriarty’s part – no meeting Holmes (yet). Never trust a freemason. And I can understand why VALL is rarely adapted, or radically changed if it is.

 

 

Favourites:

Radio/Audio: ‘The Valley of Fear’ – BBC Radio 4  1986   (Pigott-Smith/Hilton)

Film: ‘Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace’ – Central Cinema Company 1962    (Lee/Walters)

TV: ‘La Valle Della Paura’ – Radiotelevisione Italiana 1968   (Gazzolo/Bonagura)

Theatre: ‘The Valley of Fear’ – Blackeyed Theatre Company 2022   (Barton/Derrington)  

 

 

 

Click here for a full list of dramatisations.

Sherlockian Sojourns #40: As Seen On Screen 2 - Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich

Having booked to see a stage production of ‘The Valley of Fear’ at Greenwich Theatre, I decided to spend the afternoon at the nearby Old Royal Naval College, which is a well-known film location, including several Sherlockian productions such as the two Robert Downey Jr. films and ‘Enola Holmes’ (2020). (In fact, Empire Magazine once dubbed it ‘possibly the most popular filming location in the world’).

I had booked onto one of their regular Film and TV Tours, which promises ‘a fascinating insight into how some of the most spectacular scenes in showbiz were shot’. Making my way to Greenwich, and passing multitudes of people dressed as ‘Alice in Wonderland’ characters for an all-day treasure hunt that was going on in Greenwich, my first port of call was the ORNC Visitors Centre, where my ticket was scanned and I was given a tour wristband. The meeting point for the tour was over by a large display board featuring photographs from some of the productions filmed on site, including ‘Sherlock Holmes’ (2009).

The group having convened and spotted the two mistakes on the board (It states that it shows 9 movies and 1 TV production but all are movies, and radio Mrs. Hudson Dame Judi Dench’s name is spelt ‘Judy’), we followed our guide outside to the area usually used for make-up etc, as it would be impossible for filming not to be interrupted by passers by outside the College. After a few stops we reached the outsides of the Painted Hall and Nelson Room, where a carriage had had to be dropped into a courtyard for ‘Sherlock Holmes’ (2009), as it would not fit through the narrow doorway and could not be disassembled. Due to the historic contents of both buildings, the carriage had to be swung in over the small building between them.

Another courtyard served as Buckingham Palace in ‘The Crown’ with a particular drainpipe having a starring role as the drainpipe climbed by Michael Fagan (Tom Brooke – Bill Wiggins in ‘Sherlock’) in Series 4 Episode 5. 

Moving along to the Great Square, workmen were putting up large wooden columns in preparation for upcoming filming on a secret production. Here the guide told us was where a London Street was created for ‘Enola Holmes’ when Enola (Millie Bobby Brown) first arrives in London. This was a location that was not on the list I had prepared prior to my visit. It was also where the barricade scenes were filmed in ‘Les Miserables’ (2012), destroying the grass.

 

Next up was Queen Anne Court, where Sherlock (Robert Downey Jr.) and Irene (Rachel McAdams) walk amongst a travelling show in ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows’ (2011). The guide highlighted the corridor used for Irene’s entrance, with a similar one the other side being used in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’ (2011). My previous researches indicated that the courtyard was also used in ‘Murder By Decree’ (1979), being where Robert Lees (Donald Sutherland) follows Sir Thomas Spivey (Roy Lansford).

SH:AGOS

 

MBD

The final stop on our tour was the impressive Painted Hall, built as a grand ceremonial dining room, and painted with English Baroque art. The main ceiling features William III and Mary II, the founders of the Royal Hospital, and celebrates Britain’s political stability, commercial prosperity and naval power. This was the only area visited that requires an entrance fee, but the tour price was the same as this entrance fee and allowed free return visits for up to 12 months. The Hall features as a dining room in both ‘Victoria and Abdul’ (2017) and ‘The Crown’, and is where Captain Jack Sparrow manages to escape in ‘PotC:OST’ seemingly jumping through one of the 300 year old windows, but it was its appearance as a lecture hall in ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows’, where Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris) is giving a lecture, that meant that I attempted to take photos in the very low light.

The tour having come to an end, I exited the main hall, reaching what is now the café, but which, before being developed as such, featured in ‘Skyfall’ (2012) with M and the coffins of the dead agents. I then got my ticket endorsed to allow re-entry to the Painted Hall in future.

 

Back outside, I made my way to King William Court, which features in both Downey Jr. films – as the scene of the riot outside the Houses of Parliament in ‘Sherlock Holmes’ and where a disguised Sherlock meets Irene in ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows’. It was to this courtyard that the carriage had had to be carefully deposited.

SH          SH:AGOS

  

Across the way was Queen Mary Court which doubled for Covent Garden Market in ‘Enola Holmes’ in the scene where Enola and Tewksbury (Louis Partridge) reunite.

Next up was College Way which features as Victorian streets in both Downey Jr. films, with the Grand Hotel in the first film and the Auctioneers in the second film being shot here. It was also here that Irene gets into a coach in the first film to meet with the unseen Moriarty, and where Enola walks on alighting in London in 'Enola Holmes'.

SH

SH: AGOS    EH

It was then across the road to the Queen’s House, which was undergoing repairs. Home to an internationally renowned art collection, Inigo Jones’ architectural masterpiece was the first Classical building in the UK. It was here that the ambush and first fight scene in ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows’ was filmed.

 

Returning to the Old Naval College, I took a few more photos as the light was beginning to fade, then finally exited the site, to waste some time in Greenwich, and have a meal that was a late lunch and early dinner combined.

 

It was then time to make my way to Greenwich Theatre, for my evening’s entertainment, an adaptation of ‘The Valley of Fear’, the final Holmes novel by the same production company (Blackeyed Theatre) that I had previously seen tackle ‘The Sign of Four’ in 2018. The same core trio were involved – Luke Barton as Holmes, Joseph Derrington as Watson, and adapter/director Nick Lane. I purchased a programme and playscript, and it was soon time to take my seat. The adaptation was excellent (click here for a full review), and all too soon it was time to make my way home. 

THEATRE REVIEW: Sherlock Holmes: The Valley of Fear

 THEATRE REVIEW: Sherlock Holmes: The Valley of Fear

by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Adapted by Nick Lane
Directed by Nick Lane.  

An adaptation of the final Holmes novel by the same production company (Blackeyed Theatre) that I had previously seen tackle ‘The Sign of Four’ in 2018, this was the first stage adaptation that I had seen live  (I saw an American production online). The same core trio were involved – Luke Barton as Holmes, Joseph Derrington as Watson, and adapter/director Nick Lane. Touring the country, I decided to watch it at the only London date of the tour, Greenwich Theatre. Therefore, having spent the day photographing all parts of the nearby Old Royal Naval College which appear in multiple Sherlockian (and non-Sherlockian) TV and film productions, I made my way to the theatre, again purchasing both a programme and a playscript.

‘The Valley of Fear’ is one of the two Sherlock Holmes novels (along with ‘A Study in Scarlet’) that is in two books, the first featuring Holmes and Watson solving a crime, leading to a surprise capture of the criminal, then a second book covering the back-story that led to the events investigated, featuring an American organisation gone bad (in ‘ASIS’ the Mormons, and in ‘TVOF’ the Freemasons, here renamed the Scowrers). It is also the one novel to feature Professor Moriarty, albeit in a limited role.

In relation to these two points, Nick Lane’s adaptation sensibly utilises what he terms a ‘shuffled deck’ approach, alternating the two narratives. The only downside to this approach is that he ends up having two denouements one after another. He also slightly increases Moriarty’s involvement, with a newly imagined first meeting between Holmes and the Professor in an Art Gallery, prior to that mentioned in ‘The Final Problem’.

As with their earlier drama, the production involved lots of doubling up with five actors playing a total of twenty-two characters between them across the two narratives, and also being responsible for rearranging the stage furniture between scenes. All five were excellent, with Barton’s excitable Holmes again being a highlight, and Derrington’s Watson again a strong support, getting laughs without being an imbecile.

So, did the structure work ?  Listening to fellow theatre goers on the way out, some did seem a little confused. Also, several seemed to believe that Moriarty had been added to the novel by the dramatist, feeling that his involvement was unnecessary, and just there to make for a more exciting end to both Acts One and Two. I must admit that I take their point, and at this point in the story, Moriarty is a guiding presence, rather than a character that should appear in person.   

Definitely worth catching if it comes to a theatre near you.   (Click here for tour dates)

Rating:    (4/5)