Sherlock Holmes suggestions?

[The Borgified Corpse]

Who owns Holmes? I thought he was in the Public Domain?

The estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle holds the rights to Sherlock Holmes, and anyone else wishing to use the character needs to pay a license fee. ST:TNG producer Jeri Taylor described it as a "very reasonable" fee (in reference to licensing the holodeck Moriarty character), but TNG no doubt had a higher budget than Sliders did. So instead of Holmes, Arturo was programmed to believe he was the great detective "Reginald Doyle."

Then what's the deal with the Matt Frewer movies that begin with some kind of disclaimer that basically says the Arthur Conan Doyle estate didn't approve this movie but we're making it anyway?

 

[Christopher]

To Captaindemotion: Robert Downey, Jr. is a very skilled chameleon. This is the man who played both Iron Man and Charlie Chaplin and was equally convincing as both, so I'm sure he's capable of pulling off Sherlock Holmes. Particularly since this is something of a revisionist Holmes, building more on the information in the original Conan Doyle canon about his skills as a pugilist and man of action, rather than the more debonair image that's accreted onto the character through the iconic performances of various actors.

To Borgified: I don't know the niceties of the licensing issues, but the fact that the Frewer films had such disclaimers in the first place suggests that they were insisted upon by the Doyle estate. If the estate had no rights at all to the character, then such disclaimers wouldn't be needed. I don't have all the answers; you'd have to ask an entertainment lawyer.

 

[RJDiogenes]

That's fascinating. It's been over eighty years since the last Holmes story was published-- and over 120 since the first. Not that I really mind since I believe in intellectual property Rights (although I was kind of assuming I could use Holmes in my own stories), but I'm surprised. So all those bazillions of Holmes pastiches that are published out there-- including one every month in The Strand still-- bring in money to the Conan Doyle estate?

Now that I'm thinking about it, this tickles a little memory in the back of my head. I remember reading that the estate of Edgar Rice Burroughs has managed to hang on to some Rights for the ERB characters even though the stories have gone into the public domain-- or something.

 

[Hopeful Romantic]

There's also the William Gillette stage play "Sherlock Holmes," which was filmed (taped?) and shown on HBO in 1981, with Frank Langella as Holmes and Stephen Collins also in the cast. I don't even know if it ever came out on VHS or DVD... I saw the play in Los Angeles with Leonard Nimoy as Holmes back in the day. Wonderful stuff.

And here's another vote for "Murder by Decree." I really loved the cast in that one--Christopher Plummer as Holmes, James Mason as Watson, Donald Sutherland as a troubled psychic who could see Saucy Jack's crimes. Terrific atmosphere and music.

I grew up watching Rathbone as Holmes ("Scarlet Claw" is my favorite), but Jeremy Brett blew me away with his portrayal of Holmes. I wish he'd been able to do the whole canon. *sigh*

 

[Captaindemotion]

To Captaindemotion: Robert Downey, Jr. is a very skilled chameleon. This is the man who played both Iron Man and Charlie Chaplin and was equally convincing as both, so I'm sure he's capable of pulling off Sherlock Holmes. Particularly since this is something of a revisionist Holmes, building more on the information in the original Conan Doyle canon about his skills as a pugilist and man of action, rather than the more debonair image that's accreted onto the character through the iconic performances of various actors.

Yeah, I know. I mean, I think he's one of the finest actors alive and made a brilliant Iron Man. But from day one, I could see him as Tony Stark - the real life addiction problems made his casting particularly appropriate. But I'm just having difficulty in seeing him as Holmes, chameleon qualities aside. I mean, Ed Norton is similarly brilliant and chameleon like but I can't see him playing, e.g. James Bond.

I know that the screen image of Holmes doesn't necessarily coincide with Conan Doyle's depiction - for example, the deerstalker was a cinematic invention, IIRC. But there is definitely a Holmesian look, which RDJ just doesn't seem to have. The stills I've seen from this movie just make me think that he's playing Chaplin again. But time will tell.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

That's fascinating. It's been over eighty years since the last Holmes story was published-- and over 120 since the first. Not that I really mind since I believe in intellectual property Rights (although I was kind of assuming I could use Holmes in my own stories), but I'm surprised. So all those bazillions of Holmes pastiches that are published out there-- including one every month in The Strand still-- bring in money to the Conan Doyle estate?

Now that I'm thinking about it, this tickles a little memory in the back of my head. I remember reading that the estate of Edgar Rice Burroughs has managed to hang on to some Rights for the ERB characters even though the stories have gone into the public domain-- or something.

I think a lot of the works are in the public domain, but this page has more information.

In the US, the Sony Bono Copyright Extension Act of 1997 (105th Congress, 1st Session H.R. 604 ) has extended the renewal term of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's works among others for an additional 20 years. This means that all works published after December 31, 1922 are protected for 95 years following the date of publication.

The characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Watson, Mrs. Hudson, Professor Challenger, Brigadier Gerard and the Hound of the Baskervilles among others are trademarked by the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Literary Estate.


Use of any character or any book not in the public domain for any purpose whatsoever is prohibited without a license from the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Literary Estate.

 

[The Lady Eve]

This is a little off-topic, but Julian Barnes wrote an excellent novel called Arthur & George. It's based on the true story of Sir Arthur's crusade and Sherlock-like detective work to free an innocent man from prison.

Arthur&George

 

[RJDiogenes]

That's fascinating. It's been over eighty years since the last Holmes story was published-- and over 120 since the first. Not that I really mind since I believe in intellectual property Rights (although I was kind of assuming I could use Holmes in my own stories), but I'm surprised. So all those bazillions of Holmes pastiches that are published out there-- including one every month in The Strand still-- bring in money to the Conan Doyle estate?

Now that I'm thinking about it, this tickles a little memory in the back of my head. I remember reading that the estate of Edgar Rice Burroughs has managed to hang on to some Rights for the ERB characters even though the stories have gone into the public domain-- or something.

I think a lot of the works are in the public domain, but this page has more information.

In the US, the Sony Bono Copyright Extension Act of 1997 (105th Congress, 1st Session H.R. 604 ) has extended the renewal term of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's works among others for an additional 20 years. This means that all works published after December 31, 1922 are protected for 95 years following the date of publication.

The characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Watson, Mrs. Hudson, Professor Challenger, Brigadier Gerard and the Hound of the Baskervilles among others are trademarked by the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Literary Estate.


Use of any character or any book not in the public domain for any purpose whatsoever is prohibited without a license from the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Literary Estate.

Thank you. That's very interesting indeed. Looks like the vast majority of stories are in the Public Domain, but they've got Trademarks on the major characters. Good for them. I imagine The Strand must have their own "account rep" at the Doyle Estate.

It must be a similar situation with the Burroughs Estate.

 

[S. Gomez]

...the deerstalker was a cinematic invention, IIRC.

(I hate sounding like a know-it-all, but I'll attempt it here...)

The deerstalker was actually put on Holmes by the original illustrator of the stories as they appeared in The Strand, Sidney Paget. After it first showed up in an illustration, Conan Doyle mentioned "an ear-flapped travelling cap" in a later story, but nothing much either than that. Holmes never wears it except when he goes out from London and into the country. Actually, it was considered rather old-fashioned even in the 1880s.

 

[Kail]

Anyone ever seen a made for TV movie entitled "The return of the world's greatest detective"? It starred Larry Hagman as a motorcycle cop whose bike falls on his head and he wakes up thinking he is Sherlock Holmes. Very cute movie, a nice mystery played with some laughs. I wish it would come out on DVD, or be shown on TV, as I have not seen it in years.

 

[M'Sharak]

It's not an Arthur Conan Doyle story, and in fact, a great deal of the story is involved in waiting for Sherlock Holmes to arrive, but "A Double-Barrelled Detective Story" by Mark Twain is an entertaining read. It's been anthologized a few times and can also be found in full text online.

http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/TwaDoub.html


I don't think I've seen it mentioned yet, but the movie The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother has some very good parts, and stars Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn and Marty Feldman, with Leo McKern as Moriarty.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Anyone ever seen a made for TV movie entitled "The return of the world's greatest detective"? It starred Larry Hagman as a motorcycle cop whose bike falls on his head and he wakes up thinking he is Sherlock Holmes. Very cute movie, a nice mystery played with some laughs. I wish it would come out on DVD, or be shown on TV, as I have not seen it in years.

I don't remember that one, but there were a couple of TV movies that brought the real Holmes to the present day. In one, he had contracted Bubonic Plague and put himself in suspended animation; when he woke up, it was just a matter of taking antibiotics. Of course, he was completely disoriented by the modern world-- for about five minutes.

 

[ClayinCA]

Anyone ever seen a made for TV movie entitled "The return of the world's greatest detective"? It starred Larry Hagman as a motorcycle cop whose bike falls on his head and he wakes up thinking he is Sherlock Holmes. Very cute movie, a nice mystery played with some laughs. I wish it would come out on DVD, or be shown on TV, as I have not seen it in years.

I vaguely recall that one. It's a different take on the same idea behind They Might Be Giants, a fantastic movie starring George C. Scott and Joanne Woodward (mentioned above by Captain Dago), and also not available on DVD.