L'homme à la lèvre tordue

Evidently, more than 40 two-reel silent Sherlock Holmes films were made between 1920-23 in the UK by "Stoll Picture Productions" and starring stage actor Eille Norwood as Sherlock Holmes. I own three of them and this adaptation of THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP is a good example of these short films. Dr. Watson is summoned to an opium den in a seedy London neighborhood to find a man who was reported lost. While there, he meets Sherlock Holmes in disguise, who reveals himself, takes the Doctor back to Baker Street, and explains the case to him. The man's wife, who initially summoned Dr. Watson, also appears. Basically, the short takes sequences from the story and strings them together as part of the tale told by Holmes through inter-titles. The seedy atmosphere is convincing, and suspense is created well when the wife sees her husband in the opium den window and when the "man with the twisted lip" is confronted at different times. It's also interesting to see how the Baker Street flat is depicted and to see the relationship between Holmes and Watson. As a Sherlock Holmes fan, I found this silent short quite interesting. I saw a rumor on the internet that these shorts are being restored by a company owned by Andrew Lloyd Webber (!!!). I'm not sure how many survive, but I for one would enjoy seeing all the surviving short films from this series. These Holmes films starring Eille Norwood were quite popular in England and in the USA, and they are a fascinating curio.

Dying Detective, The (1921)

** (out of 4)

Sherlock Holmes (Eille Norwood) knows that a man has killed a former partner but he can't prove it unless he finds a dying detective who knows what really happened. Norwood would play Holmes in over thirty films and he's quite good in the role bring an intelligent looking character but that's about the only good thing here. The story is somewhat hard to follow and again, Holmes isn't given much to do.

Devil's Foot, The (1921)

*** (out of 4)

Sherlock Holmes (Eille Norwood) is on vacation when he stumbles into a house and discovers two bodies. Both have been dead for hours but there aren't any visible signs of violence and soon other bodies start to pile up. Here's one I actually enjoyed since we get to see Holmes investigating the murders. As with the other film, Norwood turns in a good performance and the mystery works nice as well.

Man with the Twisted Lip, The (1921)

*** (out of 4)

Sherlock Holmes (Eille Norwood) begins an investigation into a dead man but clues make him think there might not be a body at all. Once again the mystery here is pretty good and Norwood delivers another good performance.

This short film is one of the first to feature the mighty Sherlock. No Rathbone or Brett to compare. As such, I found Mr. Norwood very believable, displaying a naturalistic acting style that works quite well on the screen. Of course all these actors were stage actors, effective in the histrionic techniques of the day; and the film is made as a series of tableaux, also very common in that day.

But what is so fascinating is that the people that went to see this movie had followed Sherlock's development all along. Very likely, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle saw this film! It's just what people saw in those days.

A LOT of fun.

I liked this silent Sherlock Holmes film for many reasons and feel is it significantly better than the much more famous (but pretty terrible) silent Holmes film starring John Barrymore (which was not the least bit accurate in its portrayal of the fictional detective). The most important reason I liked the film is that it's actually based on a Conan Doyle story and it sticks pretty close to it. While the Basil Rathbone films were popular, for example, the plots bore almost no similarity to the original stories. Second, the characters were amazingly normal and underplayed in the film. You DON'T see Holmes acting like an action hero or wearing the Deerstalker hat (something he DIDN'T wear in the stories except when traveling--which was pretty seldom). Third, it was an interesting Conan Doyle story to begin with and made for a very different film. Overall, it's quite entertaining--especially, if like me, you enjoy silent films and long for a silent about Holmes that doesn't totally suck--like the Barrymore version!

I've been a great Sherlock Holmes fan for many years and one of the "Holy Grails" of Holmesian film and TV productions has always been the Ellie Norwood Sherlock Holmes shorts. They're referenced in all sorts of books, but it's taken me sixteen years to actually find one to watch. You can well believe, then, how excited I was to actually see one is included on the "Sherlock Holmes Archive Collection" DVD set.

I guess I'm a little curious why they included this particular installment, out of the 49 silent Holmes performances by Norwood (one feature film, 48 shorts). I know two or three of the shorts were also released on VHS, once upon a time, and "The Man with the Twisted Lip" was included there, too - perhaps, then, only a very few of them still exist. The reason I find it curious is because "Twisted Lip" is not a terribly dynamic Holmes tale: Holmes sits, he tells a story to Watson, they go and make a discovery. Both men are fairly incidental to the plot.

All that means is that Norwood's Holmes - and even more, Hubert Willis' Dr. Watson - don't get too much of a chance to shine. Most of the story is background or flashback material where they're not involved. The most notable Holmes/Watson interaction of the original short story - Watson discovering Holmes in an opium den - is severely truncated at the start of the short, with the set piece mostly relying on watching Norwood transform out of his disguise and back into Holmes in "real time." That's probably the most interesting aspect of the entire short.

That said, I found "Twisted Lip" to be a faithful interpretation of the Conan Doyle story, and for a half-hour silent film, I thought it was certainly well-paced. I definitely enjoyed the opportunity to finally witness Norwood's Holmes in action. I just wish he'd had more...action...to perform in this installment of the series.