Sherlock Holmes Baffled Film Analysis

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Sherlock Holmes Baffled (1900), directed by Arthur Marvin, is considered to be the first screen adaptation of Sherlock Holmes`s character. It is a silent film which lasts only 30 seconds. Besides, it is the first officially recorded movie in the detective genre. The fact that no one else but Sherlock Holmes was the first book character who started the development of detective films is definitely very significant and symbolic: "…it is an early trick film clearly made for viewing on a mutoscope or peepshow machine. Although a tiny, trivial piece, it is historic as being the earliest known use of Sherlock Holmes in moving pictures…”(Wolff 27). Moreover, this movie is probably the only one where the famous sleuth is shown as a loser against the background of a criminal: the burglar disappears and Holmes is “baffled” (Zecher 461). The movie was considered to be lost but after it was rediscovered in 1968 in the Library of Congress. The plot develops around Holmes who finds out that some of his goods were stolen. The thief, who apparently mastered the trick of disappearing, appears again, and while Sherlock is trying to give a good lesson to the burglar by firing a pistol at him, he vanishes in the window with …show more content…

Nostalgia for the adventures of Sherlock Holmes recently appeared in a contemporary Russian version Sherlock Holmes (2013) directed by Andrey Kavun and starring Igor Petrenko as Sherlock Holmes and Andrei Panin as Dr. Watson. The film series, which consist of 16 episodes, features the famous duo solving mysteries in Victorian London (Review: New Russian

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