Sherlock Holmes
About Sherlock Holmes
A prince, heir to an empire, once wrote compromising letters to Alice Faulkner's sister. On her deathbed the sister gives Alice the letters. Count von Stalburg and Sir Edward Palmer are sent to get them back before the prince's marriage. The Larrabees, a husband-and-wife pair of crooks, hold Alice and try to take the letters to blackmail the prince. When they fail, they bring in Professor Moriarty. Holmes, with Forman and the bellboy Billy, matches Moriarty. Watson comes in for the last third.
Cast & crew
More about Sherlock Holmes
Arthur Berthelet directed. Essanay made it in Chicago from William Gillette's 1899 play, itself drawn from "A Scandal in Bohemia," "The Final Problem," and A Study in Scarlet. Gillette plays Holmes. It opened on May 15, 1916, in seven reels, 116 minutes. Wikipedia gives a budget of $19,000. Edward Fielding and Ernest Maupain are billed with Gillette.
Themes
Making
Essanay shot Gillette's stage Holmes in Chicago rather than recast the part.
Notes
- Gillette had already played Holmes on stage for years. The film uses his play, not a single Doyle story.
- Forman and the bellboy Billy do more of the helping than Watson until the last third.
- The letters belong to the prince and were left with Alice by her sister.
- The crooks who hold her are the Larrabees.
Scenes
- The Larrabees hold Alice for the prince's letters.
- They call in Moriarty when they cannot get the papers themselves.
Influenced by
- William Gillette's play Sherlock Holmes (1899)