 Editor in Chief Bill   | 02 Mar 2020 11:19 a.m. PST |
You were asked – TMP link Who has done the best role of Sherlock Holmes on film or stage? 42% said "Basil Rathbone"
31% said "Jeremy Brett"
9% said "Robert Downey Jr." |
| JMcCarroll | 02 Mar 2020 11:54 a.m. PST |
To me Jeremy Brett will always be Sherlock Holmes. |
| newarch | 02 Mar 2020 11:59 a.m. PST |
Jeremy Brett was much better than Basil Rathbone imo. I did like the Robert Downey Jr films though as a sort of interesting spin on the character. Benedict Cumberbatch was pretty good too. |
nnascati  | 02 Mar 2020 12:20 p.m. PST |
Jeremy Brett without a doubt. |
| mad monkey 1 | 02 Mar 2020 12:48 p.m. PST |
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Phillius  | 02 Mar 2020 1:37 p.m. PST |
I missed the poll! Jeremy Brett without a doubt. Not that I have seen many Basil Rathbone renditions, but Robert Downey Jr was awful. |
| Shagnasty | 02 Mar 2020 2:10 p.m. PST |
Brett was the most canonical but Rathbone was charismatic and vivid. 51% Brett 49% Rathbone for me. |
| Tin hat | 02 Mar 2020 3:17 p.m. PST |
Jeremy Brett all day long! |
| Lascaris | 02 Mar 2020 3:19 p.m. PST |
Also agree that Jeremy Brett is by far the best Sherlock. |
| nnascati | 02 Mar 2020 3:53 p.m. PST |
The new series with Cumberbatch started off great, but went downhill IMHO after season 2. |
| Ten Fingered Jack | 02 Mar 2020 5:10 p.m. PST |
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| jedburgh | 02 Mar 2020 5:22 p.m. PST |
What no Jonny Lee Millar! |
| John Leahy | 02 Mar 2020 6:14 p.m. PST |
Jeremy Brett. Simply the best. |
| djbthesecond | 02 Mar 2020 6:30 p.m. PST |
Did Peter Cushing not get a look-in? |
| Gonsalvo | 02 Mar 2020 7:22 p.m. PST |
William Gillette would perhaps be the best answer, although few alive now would ever have seen him act. He became very wealthy, depicting Holmes on stage 1,300 times, writing his own Holmes play (with Conan Doyle's cooperation and blessing). The deerstalker cap, curved pipe, the violin, the magnifying glass, and "Elementary my dear fellow! Elementary!" which eventually became "Elementary my dear Watson!" None of these appear in the books. Then there is the quirky Gillette castle near the mouth of the Connecticut river,,, Wikipedia entry:
link |
| Glengarry5 | 02 Mar 2020 7:50 p.m. PST |
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| Zephyr1 | 02 Mar 2020 10:22 p.m. PST |
Rathbone. With Downey's music from the movies… |
| shaun from s and s models | 03 Mar 2020 2:16 a.m. PST |
what about ian richardson? |
| ChrisS1944 | 03 Mar 2020 6:14 a.m. PST |
Jeremy Brett is definitive! |
| StarCruiser | 03 Mar 2020 9:07 a.m. PST |
Jeremy Brett lived and breathed the character so well, he might as have been Sherlock Holmes! |
| Mollinary | 03 Mar 2020 9:16 a.m. PST |
Sorry, folks none of the above could hold a candle to Douglas Wilmer, with Nigel Stock as Dr Watson, in the BBC series in the 1960s I believe he was honoured by the Sherlock Holmes Society as the ‘definitive' Holmes. |
| d88mm1940 | 03 Mar 2020 2:04 p.m. PST |
Never heard of Jeremy Brett.
I don't think that Britain could have won the war without Basil Rathbone… |
| jedburgh | 03 Mar 2020 6:17 p.m. PST |
Basil Rathbone M.C. intersting article anout Rathbone and some other Hollywood Brits who all served in the same regiment.
link
Check out Rathbone in his kilt. |
| darthfozzywig | 03 Mar 2020 10:28 p.m. PST |
This poll is really a survey of TMP age. |
| ACWBill | 04 Mar 2020 3:24 a.m. PST |
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| JMcCarroll | 05 Mar 2020 7:49 a.m. PST |
"This poll is really a survey of TMP age."
Spot on darthfozzywig! in 20 years Downey's will be considered the best and Basil Rathbone sadly forgotten. |
| Oppiedog | 06 Mar 2020 12:57 p.m. PST |
As quick side note, the William Gillete version is available on DVD for those who like the obscure. Do enjoy watching it but will always have soft spot for Rathbone. |
| deadeye48042 | 25 Nov 2021 1:22 p.m. PST |
Late as I am coming in on this topic, I will agree Basil Rathbone set the standard for Sherlock Holmes. Unfortunately, only The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes were set in Victorian England. The rest of his were just geared for war time consumption and period.
Sadly, I did not see anyone mention Ronald Howard's Sherlock in the 1950's television series. I barely remember anything of it from then, but I have acquired the DVDs and seen them. Another Holmes fan I know has seen them and agrees that the stories were a much better attempt to portray Holmes and Watson than the later Rathbone movies. Howard's Holmes did not appear as brooding as Rathbone's or Brett's. I consider these half hour shows to be more than the portrayals of Cumberbatch or Miller. You will never see Cumberbatch or Miller work on a two-pipe problem. |
| QUATERMASS | 24 Apr 2022 5:47 p.m. PST |
Jeremy Brett by a light year just read the books
I like Basil Rathbone & Robert Downey Jr but you can't take them seriously and whoever played irene adler "that women"in the Guy Richie version is smokin hot. |
