''Sherlock Holmes'' is a 1916 American

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

starring

William Gillette William Hooker Gillette (July 24, 1853 – April 29, 1937) was an American actor-manager, playwright, and stage-manager in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best remembered for portraying Sherlock Holmes on stage and in a 1916 ...

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

. Directed by

Arthur Berthelet Arthur Rolette Berthelet (October 12,1879September 16, 1949; credited as Rolette Bertheletto, Arthur Berthelet, and Arthur R. Berthelet) was an American actor, stage and film director, dialogue director, and scriptwriter."California Death Index, ...

, it was produced by

Essanay Studios The Essanay Film Manufacturing Company was an early American motion picture studio. The studio was founded in 1907 in Chicago, and later developed an additional film lot in Niles Canyon, California. Its various stars included Francis X. Bushman, ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. The screenplay was adapted from the 1899 stage play of the same name, which in turn was based on the stories, " A Scandal in Bohemia," "

The Final Problem "The Final Problem" is a short story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle featuring his detective character Sherlock Holmes. It was first published in ''The Strand Magazine'' in the United Kingdom, and ''McClure's'' in the United States, under the title " ...

," and ''

A Study in Scarlet ''A Study in Scarlet'' is an 1887 detective novel by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. The story marks the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, who would become the most famous detective duo in literature. The book's title deri ...

'' by

. All surviving prints of the 1916 film ''Sherlock Holmes'' were once thought to be

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

. However, on October 1, 2014, it was announced that a copy had been discovered in a film archive in France.

Plot

A prince, the heir apparent to a large empire, was once the lover of Alice Faulkner's sister. During their love affair, he had written some incriminating letters to her. Alice was given these letters for safe keeping on the deathbed of her sister. Count von Stalburg, the prince's assistant, and Sir Edward Palmer, a high British official, have been given the task of negotiating the restitution of the letters to the prince prior to his upcoming marriage. However, Alice Faulkner is being held captive by the Larrabees, a husband and wife team of crooks who realize the value of the letters and are trying to get them from Alice in order to blackmail the prince. Failing to secure the letters for themselves, they decide to involve

Professor Moriarty Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character and criminal mastermind created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to be a formidable enemy for the author's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. He was created primarily as a device by which Doyle could ...

in the affair. The film unfolds as a battle of wits ensues between Moriarty and Holmes. Dr. Watson is only marginally involved until the final third. Holmes receives more assistance from an associate named Forman and a young bellboy named Billy. William Gillette in Sherlock Holmes by Essanay Studio

William Gillette in Sherlock Holmes by Essanay Studio

Cast

*Marjorie Kay as Alice Faulkner *

Ernest Maupain Ernest Maupain (1869–1944) was a French film actor who appeared in many American films during the silent era. He played the role of Professor Moriarty in the 1916 Essanay Studios film ''Sherlock Holmes''.Kabatchnik p.167 Selected filmography * ' ...

Edward Fielding Edward Fielding (March 19, 1875 – January 10, 1945) was an American stage and film actor. Career Edward Fielding appeared in nearly 40 Broadway productions between 1905 and 1939, often in leading roles. He played as a leading man with famous ...

Dr. Watson John H. Watson, known as Dr. Watson, is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson first appeared in the novel ''A Study in Scarlet'' (1887). The last work by Doyle fe ...

*Stewart Robbins as Benjamin Forman * Hugh Thompson as Sir Edward Leighton *Ludwig Kreiss as Baron von Stalburg *

Mario Majeroni Mario Majeroni (1870–1931) was an Italian-born American playwright and stage and film actor. Biography Majeroni came to the United States in 1906 and started acting on Broadway that year. Prior to coming to the United States he had lived and w ...

as James Larrabee * William Postance as Sidney Prince *Chester Beery as Craigin *Frank Hamilton as Tim Leary *

Fred Malatesta Fred Malatesta (April 18, 1889 – April 8, 1952) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 110 films between 1915 and 1941. He was born in Naples, Italy, and died in Burbank, California. Selected filmography * ''Sherlock Holme ...

as "Lightfoot" McTague *Grace Reals as Madge Larrabee *Miss Ball as Therese *Burford Hampden as Billy *

Marian Skinner Marian Skinner (January 8, 1880 – June 7, 1963), was an American film actress of the silent era. She appeared in more than 50 films between 1915 and 1924. She was born in New York, New York, and died in San Francisco, California. Select ...

as A Suffragette (billed as Marion Skinner) * Edward Arnold as Crippled Henchman In Striped Cap (uncredited)

Release

The film was released in the US as a seven-reel feature. In 1920, after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

was over and US films were returning to Western European screens, it was released in France in an expanded nine reels format. This was so it could be shown as a four-part serial, a popular format at the time. The first episode had three reels while the other three had two reels each.

Production

The film is based on the 1899 stage play ''

''. Gillette had played the role of Holmes 1,300 times on stage before it was made into a "moving picture". It was he who was responsible for much of the costume still associated with the character, notably the

deerstalker hat A deerstalker is a type of cap that is typically worn in rural areas, often for hunting, especially deer stalking. Because of the cap's popular association with the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, it has become stereotypical headgear fo ...

and the

calabash pipe A tobacco pipe, often called simply a pipe, is a device specifically made to smoke tobacco. It comprises a chamber (the bowl) for the tobacco from which a thin hollow stem (shank) emerges, ending in a mouthpiece. Pipes can range from very simp ...

. ''Sherlock Holmes'' is believed to be the only filmed record of his iconic portrayal.

Preservation

The 1916 print of ''Sherlock Holmes'' had long been considered a

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

. However, on October 1, 2014, the

San Francisco Silent Film Festival The San Francisco Silent Film Festival is a film festival first held in 1996 and presented annually at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, California, United States. It is the largest silent film festival in the United States, although the largest ...

(SFSFF) and the

Cinémathèque Française The Cinémathèque Française (), founded in 1936, is a French non-profit film organization that holds one of the largest archives of film documents and film-related objects in the world. Based in Paris's 12th arrondissement, the archive offers ...

announced that a print of the film had been found in the Cinémathèque's collection in Paris. The restoration of the film was overseen by SFSFF board president Robert Byrne in collaboration with the Cinémathèque Française. The French premiere of the restored film took place in January 2015; the U.S. premiere followed in May 2015. The print that was found is a nitrate negative of the nine-reel serial with French-language intertitles which were translated from French back into English by Daniel Gallagher in consultation with William Gillette's original 19th century manuscripts, which are preserved at the Chicago History Museum. The film had been mixed up with other Holmes-related media at the Cinémathèque and had been incorrectly labeled.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sherlock Holmes (1916 film) 1916 films 1916 drama films 1916 short films Silent American drama films American silent short films American black-and-white films Essanay Studios films Films based on multiple works Sherlock Holmes films 1910s rediscovered films Rediscovered American films American films based on plays 1910s American films Silent mystery films Silent thriller films