Real Sherlock Holmes

Rating:
Summary: Good documentary--Sir Arthur Conan Doyle vs. Sherlock Holmes
Review:  Narrated by Liam Dale, this 2004 documentary examines the life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), especially as it pertains to his creation, Sherlock Holmes. There are excellent quality modern scenes of Edinburgh, Portsmouth, Windlesham, etc., which relate to Doyle, plus other modern scenes of Baker St., Sherlock Holmes Pub, Sherlock Holmes Museum, Dartmoor, etc., which relate to Holmes. There is some padding, such as the introduction, and some peripheral material, such as the fascinating circumstances of Burke and Knox, who murdered people to supply bodies to medical schools. The documentary would have benefited from having a snippet or two from the 12-minute 1927 interview with Doyle (this is on the 2000 Focus DVD, Terror by Night).
Beside an index to the 12 scenes of this 57-minute DVD, the only extra is an original radio broadcast: Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Devil's Foot (29 min), which was broadcast 13 January, 1947 and stars Tom Conway (who replaced Basil Rathbone) as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Watson. This radio broadcast is playable in a DVD player but not in a strictly CD player.
This low-priced region 0 DVD is mostly in color but does have some B&W scenes--many illustrations and seven Rathbone-Bruce film clips.
I recommend this documentary as a good introduction to Doyle's life and to his creation of the Sherlock Holmes character. Incidentally, the 1986 documentary, The Many Faces of Sherlock Holmes, with Christopher Lee narrating, focuses on the numerous actors who have portrayed Sherlock Holmes on screen and on stage, with emphasis on Basil Rathbone.