To me, this is the ultimate Holmes adventure. International stakes, personal stakes, great Watson moments, great Lestrade moments and Brett at his absolute peak. Just the amazing acting by Brett when Lestrade shows him the second stain- totally motionless, yet you can SEE Holmes' excitement! Top notch!
I think it is called "The Second Stain" because it is when Holmes sees the second stain and realises that the carpet has been moved that he solves the mystery. The exterior locations are all shot in and around Westminster and Whitehall. The large building behind the opening titles is the Foreign Office and the Hope's house, in Carlton Gardens, just up the road from Buckingham Palace is still, the Foreign Secretary's official residence.
This has always been one of my favorite episodes! Holmes is so animated the snorting when crawling on the floor, the burst of laughter when he shows the constable the photograph, and the jump at the end. When I saw this as a teen I fell in love with Sherlock and have never looked back. ❤
The premise of this story, that Europe was an armed camp just waiting for something to set off a war, was very accurate for the 1890's when it was written. I recently watched a documentary about how World War 1 broke out (less than 20 years after this) and it emphasized how for years those tensions had existed among European nations, people everywhere fearful that even some minor event (even a misplaced letter) could light the fuse.
Franz Ferdinand, archduke of Austria was assassinated June 28, 1914 by a young Serbian nationalist. All the great European powers were locked into protective treaties, and so Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. This led to a cascading series of war declarations, with Europe splitting into two warring camps. Many people later would ask "what was that war all about?"
The only person who can match the deductive capabilities of Sherlock Holmes is one Mia the Great! This is a great episode. Colin Jeavons is incredible as Lestrade. Boastful but not entirely unlikeable. A great character.
Colin Jeavons is also great in the UK House of Cards (he's in the first two seasons). He seems to have a minor role in the story at first, but we find out there are more layers to his character as things go along...
A couple of notable guest stars here. Harry Andrews as the PM was one of the leading actors of British Cinema in the 1950s and 1960s. He was best known for military roles in films like Ice Cold in Alex or The Charge of The Light Brigade amongst many. He had a long theatre career before that, focused on Shakespere. Later he did some supporting TV roles and this was one of his later ones, he died three years after it. Patricia Hodge is still going strong with a role in the TV series All Creatures Great and Small currently, in a role she took over from Diana Rigg. Her prime focus is Theatre but has had many TV roles since the 1970s. Best known for a regular role in Rumpole of the Bailey the classic legal drama series starring the great Leo McKern. Or in the comedy series Miranda.
The PM was played by Harry Andrews, a great character actor of British cinema and Shakespearean actor of some renown. Hope you're enjoying this series and Edward Hardwick as Watson.
I was just wondering when the next episode was going to be. Next episode is in my top 5 of favourite ‘Sherlock Holmes’ cases and one of the best episodes in the series.
Some Sherlockians theorise that there is a "second" second stain case, as it is mentioned elsewhere in the stories, but the description does not fit this story. Holmes in the stories turns down a knighthood -- which Conan Doyle wanted to do but for his mother's insistence that it would insult the crown. A knight is Sir "FirstName" when cutting the name down, so "Sir Arthur." Doyle is also referred to as "Doyle" or "Conan Doyle," the latter of which because he did use it as a double last name (like Bonham Carter).
My 'growing up' Holmes on tv was Douglas Wilmer in the '60s, but I have come to recognise Brett as the definitive Sherlock Holmes. Your comment on the Holmes/Watson relationship being like master and student is perceptive and makes this version particularly appealing too as it treats Watson like the intelligent man he undoubtedly is. Too many films - particularly the Basil Rathbone films - treat Dr Watson like a buffoon which is highly unfair.
9:44 it's not shown in your review, but (in my opinion) one of the greatest moments/scenes in the Brett version of Homes comes after this scene, when he shows the outside guard the photograph: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-lEwmmquJmXs.htmlsi=7an6E1xekEDCCyO2&t=2036
I have a reproduction of one the original sherlock books with drawings that adorned some of the pages. You mentioned that you liked it that the last freeze frame of Sherlock jumping turned into a picture. But It looks to me like it's one of the original drawings, so in this case it was the other way around, they took one of the orignal drawings and they had Jeremy imitate the jump drawing at the end. I think these are from the Strand Magazine drawings.
I think it's obvious why Conan Doyle named it THE SECOND STAIN. It is sufficiently obscure. One does not wish to give too much if anything away in the title.
Conan Doyle must have had ideas for this story early in his writing career as he mentioned a case called the Second Stain three times, which can not all be the same case. Also, in a late case called the Three Garridebs, Watson mentions that Holmes was offered a knighthood, which he refused even though he accepted the Order of the Legion of Honour from the French.
My ultimate Holmes and Watson pairing never took place. In the wake of the tremendous success of Brideshead Revisited in the early 1980s, I imagined Jeremy Irons as Holmes and Anthony Andrews as Watson, but apparently nobody else did. Too late now.
It's great that you're reviewing classic films. If I may offer a suggestion - The Hill (1965) directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Sean Connery. It's an absolute masterpiece of drama and tension.
In addition to its literal reference to a vital clue, a bloody spot on a rug and its corresponding mark on the wood floor beneath, the word “stain” can also mean when something brings discredit or permanently spoils someone's reputation. In this case, such a scandal brought to light could have seriously adversely affected both the Secretary’s political career as well as his wife’s reputation. Hence, the title, “The Second Stain.” At least, that’s what I surmise.
Hello, it's me again Really looking forward to the Musgrave Ritual. I think these episodes are when this series, always excellent, is at its absolute best. Brett and Hardwicke have established a great relationship, the series is so successful that budgets aren't an issue and Jeremy Brett's health problems hadn't become a serious issue. Not long now to the feature length "Hound of the Baskervilles"! And can I mention the music by Patrick Gowers? The opening theme is always the same but within each episode the music, based around the main theme, is arranged in a way that is appropriate to the particular episode. So in "The second stain" it arranged in an Elgarian imperial pomp and circumstance sort of way. Compare and contrast the way the it sounds in The Musgrave Ritual.
Gotta say, it certainly FEELS more like Jeremy Brett's series after Burke left. Hardwicke is fine, but makes less of an impression, in my opinion. Barely registered in this one.
I like them both but you are right, Burke had more energy and Hardwicke is a more pensive character, which is fine since he is a little bit older and Brett's Sherlock being rather outgoing in contrast, it doesn't feel wrong. But I did miss Burke's Watson being kinda quirky and spontaneous and adventurous very much at times.
It is interesting that an author can get tired of one of their characters who seems to take on a life of his own. Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot appearing in 33 novels, two plays and 51 short stories published between 1920 and 1975. While she didn't kill him off mid-stream (she eventually did, in Curtain), she often expressed how tired of him she was. According to Wikipedia: "By 1930, Agatha Christie found Poirot "insufferable", and by 1960 she felt that he was a "detestable, bombastic, tiresome, ego-centric little creep". Despite this, Poirot remained an exceedingly popular character with the general public. Christie later stated that she refused to kill him off, claiming that it was her duty to produce what the public liked." L. Frank Baum's Wonderful Wizard of Oz was the first of 14 Oz stories written by him. At one point, he had grown weary and so had Dorothy and her aunt and uncle finally move to Oz (in the books, Oz was always a real place) and declare that all therefore there would be no more stories. Children besieged him with letters begging for more. Finally one little girl pointed out that with the recent advance in wireless telegraphy, Dorothy could continue send info in order to justify further sequels. Baum realized he was licked and relented.
It is quite the "Whatever you own, owns you in the end." when it comes to an author's characters. Once they become (for lack of a better word) "self-aware" they are perceived as more realistic, while at the same time become harder to control. You can not force them to go out-of-character once it is established, especially when they have collected a fan following, you simply can't get away with it. So as a writer you are being controlled not just by the character but also by the public, which takes away the initial creative freedom, yet as seen with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, you can't just walk away from it. It's like a crime novel in itself, once the facts are set in place, there is only one possible outcome, the author will be swinging the ax at it. In the case of Sherlock Holmes I daresay, and this is my personal opinion, that it might have worked out if it had been a more satisfying end, but The Final Problem is not even a good story. It feels lazy and careless to report such an important moment through conjecture and reflection alone. The fight between Moriarty and Holmes seemed to be a fight between Conan Doyle and Holmes and when the author is willing to go down with his character in such a rash display, that tells a lot about where his mind is at.
@@MoviesWithMia Don't know but it may be because Doyle was trying to distance himself from Holmes at that time (Doyle almost declined himself suspecting he was being knighted for creating Sherlock Holmes but the Queen assured him it was for his service in the Boer War and other non-literary achievements) and, of course, that Holmes prized his anonymity. His work was its own reward.
Throughout the 56 short stories and 4 novels that Conan Doyle wrote about Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson (who was the "author" of almost all) alludes to cases which, for one reason or another, he merely names but does not elaborate. In the first paragraph of "The Adventure of the Naval Treaty", Watson states: "The July which immediately succeeded my marriage was made memorable by three cases of interest in which I had the privilege of being associated with Sherlock Holmes, and of studying his methods. I find them recorded in my notes under the headings of "𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙙𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣," (my emphasis) "The Adventure of the Naval Treaty," and "The Adventure of the Tired Captain." He then goes on to lengthily embellish the intriguing but ultimately bogus details of the "Second Stain" before stating "...the new century will have come before that story can be safely told." At the start of the actual "Second Stain" text, Watson reminds Sherlock that he had promised to tell this story when the time was ripe. I think in the intervening years Doyle thought of a hook whereby the title of the story would be justified.
