A Few Words About A few words about...™ Sherlock Holmes (1916) -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

Although there is a continuing interest in the "silent" cinema, Blu-ray releases from the era are still few and far between.

The recent discovery in Paris of the French 1920 serialized version of the 1916 Sherlock Holmes with William Gillette, was a major addition to the known films of the era.

Fortunately, the Cinematheque Francaise has partnered a restoration with the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, and the results are now available for everyone to enjoy thanks to Flicker Alley.

If you're not an aficionado of the silent cinema, this one may not be the perfect introduction, but for those who can't get enough, Sherlock Holmes is both a major find, and welcome addition to any silent library.

Tints have been accessed from printing notes, and nicely applied.

The reproduction quality is quite good, with a bit of deterioration or shrinkage here or there, but nothing that will impede one's enjoyment.  Grain structure is in evidence, and there is enough shadow detail to work.

Image - Very acceptable

 

Audio - N/A

4k Up-rez - N/A

 

Pass / Fail - Pass

 

Recommended

 

RAH

Saw a DCP of this film projected at Culpeper, VA. It is indeed a beautiful restoration.

As a fan of silent cinema, and particularly as a Sherlock Holmes enthusiast, this has been one of my most eagerly anticipated releases for the year. Can't wait to see it. It's always a major coup when a "lost" film is found. And any opportunity to see a Sherlock Holmes picture I haven't seen is always welcome. So this is a win-win.

There are TONS of silent film blu-rays available... Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd, Murnao, Lang, Griffith, Eisenstein, Von Stroheim, Borzage, Chaney, Fairbanks, Pickford, Barrymore, epics, war films, experimental films, documentaries, foreign films... I haven't counted but I have dozens and dozens of them myself. The availability of silent film on blu-ray is far beyond what you used to be able to get at your Blockbuster in the VHS and DVD era. The two niche markets that have benefitted the most from blu-ray are silent films and complete operas. There are more of both of these to choose from than ever before, and in much higher quality presentations.

By the way, you rate the audio as N/A. Does that mean there is no musical track with this? That would be a cardinal sin. The music is half the show in a silent film.

I saw a play entitled The Game's Afoot last year that used Gillette as the main character. He hosts a Christmas party in order to try to solve a murder from his last performance as Holmes. Wendy Robie, from People Under The Stairs was one of the actors in the play, btw. I'm quite interested in seeing this, as the play was pretty fun and I'm curious to see how the real Gillette compared to the one in the play.

So am I, as I also enjoyed a local production of the play last year. Haven't gotten over to see Gillette's castle yet, but that will happen.

This goes on the list.

Is this title delayed for everyone? Or just at Amazon?

Not sure, but i switched my order from Amazon to Flicker Alley's site in hopes it will ship quicker. I will let you know if mine shipped in the next day or so.

Flicker Alley usually fills their own orders before they ship boxes off to Amazon.

Charles Smith said:

So am I, as I also enjoyed a local production of the play last year. Haven't gotten over to see Gillette's castle yet, but that will happen.

This goes on the list.

Click to expand...

I didn't know he was in silent films. I have been to the castle but it was decades ago.

Got mine yesterday and it is gorgeous, indeed. The warm almost flesh colored orange tints bring out a hint of purple and blue in the image, quite mesmerizing. I found the HD extras delightful, especially the sit down interview with Arthur Conan Doyle. I'm now inspired to read more of his latter work, which I've just ordered from Amazon. Probably the cleanest and sharpest transfer from this era I've ever seen, really pleased with it. The piano and violin score is sultry and absolutely perfect.

I've only seen screenshots thusfar, but I have to say that I'm amazed at the level of clarity and the overall scarcity of damage. Considering there was only one source to work from, this restoration appears to have yielded fairly miraculous results. Will most definitely be adding this to my collection shortly!