Inside the Archive: restoring Conan Doyle's favourite screen Sherlock | BFI

[@nidhavellir]

Eille Norwood was just a stage name. His birth name, amazingly, was Anthony Brett.

[@GrantTarredus]

Wonderful, exciting news! And I’m stunned to learn that EVERY film in the series has survived. Marvelous!

[@SlashManEXE]

Incredible foresight to preserve these films in the 30s. Films were considered a disposable medium with no long term utility even decades later.

[@davidgradwell8830]

THANK YOU!!!! I despaired that I'd never see these films. I thought they had been lost forever. But, you have resurrected them! Thank you so much, BFI! The game is afoot--again!

[@richardking3206]

I try to get all the Silent Holmes stories that I can, and these are now on my list! I appreciate that the BFI will want to have some prestige events to showcase the revival of these films to the public, but then we need a lovely box set with them all in and plenty of documentary coverage of their history. The BFI have their own releases on blu ray (etc) so know how to do this stuff well. I can’t wait!

[@MrChristiangraham]

Fantastic. Thanks so much for talking through it all, Bryony. When can we get them on shiny silver discs?

[@alexandergleason8237]

hooray - at last a worthwhile project. So so much British material in the archive that desperately needs restoration

[@johncraske]

I would have liked to have seen some 'before and after' examples of the restoration work.

[@TheMadAfrican1]

Pretty sure you can find the unrestored versions on KZbin. I remember watching them that way. The prints are pretty rough.

[@LeinwandLyrik]

@@TheMadAfrican1 Don't think those were "unrestored", just bad dupes. BFI has the originals but never released them to my knowledge... it's about time and highly appreciated!

[@TheStockwell]

It would've been nice to have seen at least a few seconds a footage from these films. I mean, I enjoy seeing film curators sitting in comfortable chairs and speaking as much as the next fellow, but still . . . ! 😏

[@markandresen1]

Excellent work and congratulations to all involved in the restoration and post-production.

[@ArchieAndy27]

Wonderful to know all the films survive! Incredible that Stoll had the foresight to pass them onto the the archive early on. Not sure where Norwood stands in the pantheon of on-screen Holmes? Thank you, BFI, for restoring these classics!

[@writeralbertlanier3434]

This is fascinating because I have seen Basil Rathbone, Jeremy Brent and of course Benedict Cumberbach as Sherlock. I wasn't aware though of this Stoll Film Series of silent films about Holmes. Clearly this will be an event when these films will be screened.

[@malfattio2894]

Amazing stuff! I'm looking forward to seeing the end result

[@douglasrice7524]

This wonderful news! The game is afoot at the BFI and an excited world audience awaits their good efforts!

[@moorbilt]

Best not be a silent release. I don’t want to miss it.

[@mondomacabromajor5731]

looking forward to seeing it all.

[@SaifullahRaes]

Thank you, Bryony, that was very interesting. I would love the BFI to capitalise on this by releasing them on disc to the buying public. Make some income for themselves whilst interest is high. I'd certainly like to be able to enjoy them!

[@davidqualls7986]

Wow, this is great news! I thought only 4 or 5 of these survived. All that i have seen are in pretty horrible condition, except "The Sign of Four". It will be great to see them restored!

[@anastasiabeaverhausen8220]

Bravo BFI from an american film lover and anglophile.

[@domdombear]

Will there be a big chunky Blu-ray boxset one day?

[@pendorran]

Conan Doyle never saw Jeremy Brett's Holmes. 🙂

[@Manwithnoname2]

Or Basil Rathbone

[@TheStockwell]

I think Doyle would've been horrified at Nigel Bruce's version of Watson - and baffled by Sherlock Holmes fighting Nazi spies during World War II. 🤔 ​@@Manwithnoname2

[@Manwithnoname2]

@@TheStockwell he said in a interview that Watson was a bit stupid, and yeah him fighting Nazis would be weird. I think though he’d like the first 2 Holmes films set in Victorian times. I like Nigel Bruce as Watson anyway but Edward hardwicke is my favourite.

[@ConradSpoke]

I hope BFI does a better job releasing these than it did with the Hitchcock restorations. What's the point of doing all this work if you just show them at a couple of film festivals and then never do a DVD or streaming release for North America?

[@farmbrough]

North America isn't the world.

[@ThreadBomb]

Probably because they don't own the rights to the films and aren't willing to sell their restorations to the rights holders.

[@haroldfarthington7492]

Where can I watch this?

[@jjmboston9526]

Thank you for this. Is their a link to donate to this project?

[@britishfilminstitute]

Hi, we don't have a specific fund to donate to for this project, but here's some information about making a donation to the BFI: theb.fi/3C22oSL

[@jmalmsten]

I chime in with the others. If you go through all this work and only release it in a few cinemas and maybe the region blocked BFI Player service. The only people outside of britain that gets any compensation are the pirate streaming and file sharing sites that collect dubious ad revenues. Cinephiles all over the world want to throw money at you to thank you for your efforts in exchange for plastic discs that are shiny and contains the fruits of the labour. Why not let us do this trade? Why let the pirates prosper?

[@ThreadBomb]

I presume that the two feature films were accompanied by original musical scores. I wonder if they have survived?

[@hpoonis2010]

Seeing as Doyle died in 1930 the choice of on-screen personifications was extremely limited. Hardly a dramatic headline. Jeremy Brett all the way.

[@ProfessorEchoMedia]

Someone should have woken up that lady prior to filming!

[@MrBrutal33]

Rather pointless when you don't show any footage and a rather fatuous title given that there had only been two adaptations before Norwood took on the role - William Gilette and an anonymous American actor