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elabyIn my effort to watch/read/hear all things Holmesian, I've been putting movies into our Netflix queue. I've also been reading fan reviews to see which movies I want to see first (I haven't seen any before, even though I taped the PBS one with Rupert Everett when it was on. I don't think I ended up ever watching it O_o) One of the ones I put in the queue was Murder at the Baskervilles or Silver Blaze, with Arthur Wontner as Holmes (1941). Yeah, I know the Baskervilles had nothing to do with Silver Blaze, but in this movie they decided to stick the famous family into the less famous story, thereby (I guess) making it more recognizable to the general public. Anyway, we've been taking care of ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
_melisande_'s puppy this weekend, and she had it on DVD! She has the best movies ever! The review I read of it said that the actors playing Holmes and Watson were incredibly talented, and that the whole thing was ridiculously slashy.
Well, if you take the qualifying adjectives off, you'd pretty much get my impression of it. The problem with me is that I just can't seem to appreciate movies from this time period. Aside from the fact that the old film is hard to see and the sound quality makes the dialogue really hard to understand, I'm just too used to modern acting. There were enjoyable things about it, of course, but I think I'm going to need to find some of the more recent movies.
So not only did this movie feature Henry Baskerville (and his daughter, and her fiance) but it also had Moriarty. I get really weirded out at the thought of Moriarty as a fat, hand-rubbing, mobster-style bad guy who apparently takes clients (to do what? To do nasty things on their behalf, apparently). Although he did manage to kidnap Watson, which led to the only instance of Holmes reacting to anything in the movie with something more than slightly detached interest. I know, I'm just not used to the acting style. Anyway, I should break this up into sections!
First of all, the era change: It was set in the 40's, instead of in the 1880's-90's. This isn't as weird as I thought it would be; it'd be like taking something set in the 60's and making a movie where it's set now. Unless it was about the actual political and social problems of the time (which it wasn't) it wouldn't be that jarring. Besides, the clothing looked similar (yay fedoras!), and the only real difference was the whole "cars and telephones" thing. It didn't have that Victorian London feel, but most of it took place in the country anyway.
Holmes and Watson: The actors were pretty good, especially Watson. He was expressive and competent, and since Watson from this era's movies is normally a blithering idiot, that was very welcome. He also did a very good job making it obvious that he and Holmes are entirely comfortable around one another. There was teasing; there were knowing glances; there was proud and dignified defense of Holmes's awesomeness. This was definitely the Canon Watson we all know and love. Holmes was also very good, but I wished he'd been a little bit more engaged in the case. He had all the good lines from the story, but he didn't have the "YAY I'm on the right track!" thing Holmes does so well. I'm used to Jeremy Brett taking full advantage of the enthusiasm Holmes has in the stories, the "'Please excuse me while I satisfy myself as to this floor' *flings self onto face on carpet*" sort of stuff. He did, however, actually react when Watson got kidnapped, as I mentioned before. It was a good contrast, since in every other situation, he gave the impression that he had everything under control and in fact probably knew the explanation behind everything too. In the scene where he was talking to Watson on the phone and Watson got clocked in the middle and dragged off, he almost sounded panicky. It was pretty great.
Also, the actor played this Holmes as extremely tactile. He not only had his hands all over Watson the entire time, but he touched EVERYone, even going so far as to cover Lestrade's hand with his own when expressing concern about his welfare XD I imagine Lestrade would be kind of like O_o;;;; But it was mostly with Watson. There was barely a scene where they were on screen together where he wasn't touching Watson. Wontner's Holmes has a way of touching and poking and tapping and caressing Watson with one finger, and it's just delightful XD This is aside from all of the arm-holding and shoulder-patting and general grabbing and escorting and leaning. It was especially great when he came to rescue Watson from Moriarty, and Watson was like "Holmes!!! *leaps*" and there was much hand clasping and protectiveness. They were generally adorable. When you're watching a movie like this, it's the little things ^^;;
Other than that, though, I wasn't much interested in the story. The lines I liked from Silver Blaze were well-delivered, but the extraneous bits were... well, I felt they were extraneous. I don't follow non-character-driven plots very well ^^;;
So on the whole, it was enjoyable. I'm not sure I'd want to see it again, but if I wouldn't mind clips of those bits I mentioned XD
_melisande_'s puppy this weekend, and she had it on DVD! She has the best movies ever! The review I read of it said that the actors playing Holmes and Watson were incredibly talented, and that the whole thing was ridiculously slashy.Well, if you take the qualifying adjectives off, you'd pretty much get my impression of it. The problem with me is that I just can't seem to appreciate movies from this time period. Aside from the fact that the old film is hard to see and the sound quality makes the dialogue really hard to understand, I'm just too used to modern acting. There were enjoyable things about it, of course, but I think I'm going to need to find some of the more recent movies.
So not only did this movie feature Henry Baskerville (and his daughter, and her fiance) but it also had Moriarty. I get really weirded out at the thought of Moriarty as a fat, hand-rubbing, mobster-style bad guy who apparently takes clients (to do what? To do nasty things on their behalf, apparently). Although he did manage to kidnap Watson, which led to the only instance of Holmes reacting to anything in the movie with something more than slightly detached interest. I know, I'm just not used to the acting style. Anyway, I should break this up into sections!
First of all, the era change: It was set in the 40's, instead of in the 1880's-90's. This isn't as weird as I thought it would be; it'd be like taking something set in the 60's and making a movie where it's set now. Unless it was about the actual political and social problems of the time (which it wasn't) it wouldn't be that jarring. Besides, the clothing looked similar (yay fedoras!), and the only real difference was the whole "cars and telephones" thing. It didn't have that Victorian London feel, but most of it took place in the country anyway.
Holmes and Watson: The actors were pretty good, especially Watson. He was expressive and competent, and since Watson from this era's movies is normally a blithering idiot, that was very welcome. He also did a very good job making it obvious that he and Holmes are entirely comfortable around one another. There was teasing; there were knowing glances; there was proud and dignified defense of Holmes's awesomeness. This was definitely the Canon Watson we all know and love. Holmes was also very good, but I wished he'd been a little bit more engaged in the case. He had all the good lines from the story, but he didn't have the "YAY I'm on the right track!" thing Holmes does so well. I'm used to Jeremy Brett taking full advantage of the enthusiasm Holmes has in the stories, the "'Please excuse me while I satisfy myself as to this floor' *flings self onto face on carpet*" sort of stuff. He did, however, actually react when Watson got kidnapped, as I mentioned before. It was a good contrast, since in every other situation, he gave the impression that he had everything under control and in fact probably knew the explanation behind everything too. In the scene where he was talking to Watson on the phone and Watson got clocked in the middle and dragged off, he almost sounded panicky. It was pretty great.
Also, the actor played this Holmes as extremely tactile. He not only had his hands all over Watson the entire time, but he touched EVERYone, even going so far as to cover Lestrade's hand with his own when expressing concern about his welfare XD I imagine Lestrade would be kind of like O_o;;;; But it was mostly with Watson. There was barely a scene where they were on screen together where he wasn't touching Watson. Wontner's Holmes has a way of touching and poking and tapping and caressing Watson with one finger, and it's just delightful XD This is aside from all of the arm-holding and shoulder-patting and general grabbing and escorting and leaning. It was especially great when he came to rescue Watson from Moriarty, and Watson was like "Holmes!!! *leaps*" and there was much hand clasping and protectiveness. They were generally adorable. When you're watching a movie like this, it's the little things ^^;;
Other than that, though, I wasn't much interested in the story. The lines I liked from Silver Blaze were well-delivered, but the extraneous bits were... well, I felt they were extraneous. I don't follow non-character-driven plots very well ^^;;
So on the whole, it was enjoyable. I'm not sure I'd want to see it again, but if I wouldn't mind clips of those bits I mentioned XD
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no subject
Date: 2008-09-21 02:05 pm (UTC)Kyeeheehee. *^^* I love how you perk up on the tiniest hints of slash. I just LOVE it!
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Date: 2008-09-21 02:19 pm (UTC)I like the tiny hints sometimes better than the blatant ones!
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Date: 2008-09-21 05:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-21 05:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-23 12:18 am (UTC)Just noticed this: the first Sherlock Holmes film. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eO3EbFG0ak)
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Date: 2008-09-23 01:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-23 01:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-23 01:03 am (UTC)I'm addicted to the slashy fanvids. I wish there were more.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-23 01:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-23 02:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-23 10:27 pm (UTC)