Cushing Holmes
Mar. 7th, 2019 07:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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victorian221bAnyone who saw the films and the series, share your impressions? Cushing certainly has the looks of Holmes. His Holmes is a reserved thinker, masterful and occasionally short-tempered.
So far I liked best the first Holmes installment he did, The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959). The dynamic with Watson (Andre Morell) is beautiful: Watson is a competent helpmate whom Holmes respects and values. The good doctor is a partner in every sense of the word: they share glances and smiles, often don't need words to understand each other, and work as a team, even when apart. Basically, as they do in the books.
Then there's the 1968 TV series. From it I saw only a half of HOUN and gave up because the take on Watson (played by Nigel Stock) was too painful to watch. He is never Holmes's equal: I had an impression that he's Holmes's butler or secretary, not a friend.
And the last Cushing installment is The Masks of Death (1984). It's a nice pastiche set in 1913. Holmes is in retirement, but it seems that he hasn't abandoned Baker Street altogether, and he takes on a case when asked by Inspector MacDonald. Here the dynamic between Holmes and Watson is close to the glorious companionship of the 1959 Hound, although Watson is a little bit too bumbling. It's also weird that people treat him as a mere tagalong of Holmes while by that time Watson surely is a celebrity in his own right. Anyway, the plot is entertaining, and whenever I'll need to imagine them in older age, I'll keep these images in mind. And there were moments which are simply gems.
By the way, Irene Adler makes an appearance. It's explained rather neatly that the rumours of her demise were exaggerated. Thankfully, she's not made into an old flame of Holmes's. Her portrayal is quite faithful to the Canon: she's a worthy rival, the woman who outwitted Holmes once. This time they combine their efforts to solve the case, and their bickering and begrudging respect are hilarious.
So far I liked best the first Holmes installment he did, The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959). The dynamic with Watson (Andre Morell) is beautiful: Watson is a competent helpmate whom Holmes respects and values. The good doctor is a partner in every sense of the word: they share glances and smiles, often don't need words to understand each other, and work as a team, even when apart. Basically, as they do in the books.
Then there's the 1968 TV series. From it I saw only a half of HOUN and gave up because the take on Watson (played by Nigel Stock) was too painful to watch. He is never Holmes's equal: I had an impression that he's Holmes's butler or secretary, not a friend.
And the last Cushing installment is The Masks of Death (1984). It's a nice pastiche set in 1913. Holmes is in retirement, but it seems that he hasn't abandoned Baker Street altogether, and he takes on a case when asked by Inspector MacDonald. Here the dynamic between Holmes and Watson is close to the glorious companionship of the 1959 Hound, although Watson is a little bit too bumbling. It's also weird that people treat him as a mere tagalong of Holmes while by that time Watson surely is a celebrity in his own right. Anyway, the plot is entertaining, and whenever I'll need to imagine them in older age, I'll keep these images in mind. And there were moments which are simply gems.
By the way, Irene Adler makes an appearance. It's explained rather neatly that the rumours of her demise were exaggerated. Thankfully, she's not made into an old flame of Holmes's. Her portrayal is quite faithful to the Canon: she's a worthy rival, the woman who outwitted Holmes once. This time they combine their efforts to solve the case, and their bickering and begrudging respect are hilarious.
