Sherlock Holmes

Comparing the Blu-ray to the DVD, slight picture improvement & trailers added.
Comparing the new Blu-ray to the old DVD shows that there are two main, but slight, improvements.
First: The black levels have been raised a little, just enough to bring out details that are hard to see in the old DVD but not enough to make it look washed out. (The same player was used for both discs so it is not a player issue.)
Second: The framing shows just a sliver more picture on all sides. I first noticed this when you can see the film frame line move into the picture and move back out. This is no doubt the result of image stabilization which was masked off in the DVD presentation.

A good frame to compare the presentations on is at 04:14 into the movie. An interior office shot with two men at a desk. At the top of the picture the two books on the mantle piece are completely in view on the Blu-ray, but the DVD cuts off the top of the second book. Likewise there is a knob at the bottom of the picture that gets cut off slightly in the DVD. The right side of...

Great To Have On DVD But Wish Movie Was Better.
I have looked forward to having John Barrymore's SHERLOCK HOLMES on DVD for quite some time. I had seen the movie before but only in a wretched public domain VHS which was so dark that most of the film was hard to make out. It's also hard to follow because it's based on the William Gillette play which takes several liberties with Conan Doyle's original source material. Like the play, the film is problematic in many ways. Though atmospherically lit, the camerawork is rather static and the direction is often ponderous. To be fair, this restoration by the George Eastman House is 24 minutes shorter than the original and this could be a case of where the missing footage makes it seem longer. There are obvious gaps and the film just doesn't flow right.

The biggest problem with this release as far as I'm concerned is the use of Ben Model's virtual organ score. Model is a fine musician who has enhanced many a silent film but this is a movie that badly needs an orchestral score to...

A different and silent Sherlock
This is one of several early, silent film versions of the ever-popular detective, and one that lives up to the original and traditional trademarks and characteristics of Sherlock Holmes. In just under 90 minutes, this fast-moving drama takes us from the beginning of Sherlock's career as a freelance sleuth helping out Scotland Yard, meeting his arch enemy, Professor Moriarty, and finishing with the capture of the infamous evildoer after forty crime cases Holmes had worked on over the years. But rather than the typical murders and crimes we are used to today, the story of this 1922 version revolves only around one particular case of a theft and consequent set-up of a European Prince, as well as letters to his betrothed which are later the object of a blackmail attempt. Even so, Holmes puts into action his famous (and often humorous) astute observations and deductive reasoning with his loyal companion, Doctor Watson, and even disguises himself as Moriarty in order to trap the villain...

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