The very first movie to star Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is one of the most frequently portrayed characters in film history. The role of the witty detective has consistently cropped up in film and television for over a century, with over 75 actors stepping up to play him.
From silent films to the BBC’s now beloved adaptation of the character, Holmes seems to have found a permanent place on our screens. When the medium was still in its infancy, the likes of Francis Ford and Clive Brook took on the role. In more recent memory, the likes of Michael Caine, Robert Downey Jr and Benedict Cumberbatch have provided their own spins on the character.
While Downey Jr.’s iteration of the character depicted him as suave and extroverted, Cumberbatch’s Holmes was calculated and unemotional, easily deducing clues and disregarding those around him. Though the name is always the same, the character often differs, as each director and actor work together to find a new take on the beloved detective.
As with James Bond or Doctor Who, the Sherlock we know and love best can differ with age and personal preference. While many modern audiences know and have grown to love Cumberbatch’s cold version of Holmes, others prefer Jonny Lee Miller’s reworking of the character in Elementary. With such a prolific on-screen presence, there’s a Sherlock for everyone.
But how did our on-screen obsession with the detective first begin? Long before the likes of Caine or Ian McKellen became associated with Holmes, the character received his film debut in a short silent film directed by Arthur Marvin. Created over a century ago, in 1900, the black-and-white picture has a run time of just under a minute, providing a very brief introduction to a future film staple.
Far from the stylistic filmmaking, complex plots and swirling visual deductions displayed by the BBC’s take on the series, Sherlock Holmes Baffled features just one shot, which begins with a hooded thief. Each time the cigar-smoking Holmes catches the thief, they disappear from the frame, even evading a gunshot. In the film’s final moments, the sack of stolen items disappears from Holmes’ clutches, leaving him, as the title suggests, baffled.
The film couldn’t be much more different from the depictions of Holmes we now know, which rarely allow him to fail, even when faced with the menace of Jim Moriarty. The character has come a long way since his cinematic inception in 1900, as has the medium he exists within, but Sherlock Holmes Baffled still provides an intriguing look at the origins of Holmes on-screen and the origins of cinema.
Watch Sherlock Holmes Baffled, the very first movie to star Sherlock Holmes, below.
