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Has anyone yet been able to watch the 1916 Sherlock Holmes starring William Gillette? This film was thought to have been lost but was found in 2014 (having been mislabeled) in the Cinémathèque Française collection.

The print has just been restored and released on DVD. There is a small clip of it online:



It has already been shown on Turner Classic Movies. The DVD can be bought on Amazon but either the release date has been put off or it is on back order.

William Gillette was Doyle's Holmes. Doyle wrote a Sherlock Holmes stage play which starred Gillette. I was so excited to see this film because, before Basil Rathbone, Gillette was the seminal Holmes in the public imagination. I never dreamed I would actually get to see him playing Holmes -- and for a whopping 2 hours, too! I'm midway through the material. It's not very exciting: Being a silent, it lacks the fast paced exposition and repartee which Holmes is famous for. But Gillette is very graceful as Holmes and has a strong presence.

It ran on TCM a week or so ago. Because it was a silent film, most of the dialogue was absent except for a few comments posted on the screen. It was quite interesting. I believe that there were three noteworthy features:

1. Gillette seemed to be the only person who was NOT visibly acting. He just wandered around looking cool.

2. The female lead's costumes would have made Audrey Hepburn look a frump. I am aware of pre-WW-I female fashions, but the costume selections for her were as bad as any I have ever seen.

3. This print was copied from a French version of the film, which was done differently from the English versions. Many of the scenes were "tinted" in a single color, which varied between scenes. The effect was startlingly effective. In several scenes my eyes were tricked into thinking they saw a variety of colors. I have seen many old movies and I never saw tis process before. It was most interesting.

4. The play, itself, was amusing, but did not compare to later plays and movies. Gillette's acting was probably the best thing in the play. As I said, the other characters were simply actors playing roles.

Can't wait to finish this film. What a treat.

okay, that was brilliant! A silent Sherlock movie en francais!!!

Gillette looks like the love child of Richard Burton and Albert Finney. I agree he does not over-act. he made me forget I was watching a silent movie.

I see that even in 1913, he already had The Hat.:). Thank you for posting that clip.

I'm glad you enjoyed it :-) hopefully you can catch the film in its entire on TCM.

My husband bought me the DVD for Christmas. Mark Gatiss is #1 on the list of restoration supporters - so cheers, Mark Gatiss! :)