Arthur Conan Doyle’s first Sherlock Holmes story was published just a year before the filming of Roundhay Garden Scene (1888), the oldest surviving film. Holmes and cinema have grown and matured together, their histories interweaving in sometimes beautiful, occasionally regrettable ways. Now the BFI National Archive have begun an ambitious project to restore one of the legendary detective’s earliest adaptations. Between 1921 and 1923, the Stoll Picture Company made 45 two-reel films with Eille Norwood as the eponymous, ubiquitous detective.
As a preview of this effort, the BFI are touring a programme of three of the shorts. A Scandal in Bohemia (1921) adapts Holmes’ first confrontation with his ingenious rival Irene Adler (Joan Beverly). Though the film eschews the tantalising encounters between the two, favouring the elaborate schemes Holmes undertakes to retrieve the essential blackmail letter at the heart of the case, the filmmakers don’t shy away from depicting Adler (renamed in the film) as Holmes’ intellectual equal. The final note she leaves him is a tantalising tease of a dynamic that would become essential to later adaptations of the character.
The second film, The Golden Pinch-Nex (1922), is a very traditional detective story. Holmes and Watson are summoned to a country home to investigate a seemingly impossible murder. This mystery represents another common theme of Doyle’s stories: a moral dilemma. Once the murderer is revealed, the film instead concerns itself with their motives and the correct application of justice.
And finally, The Final Problem (1923), of course, adapts Holme’s infamous ‘end’ as he finally confronts his ultimate nemesis; Professor Moriarty (Percy Standing). More action-focused than the other films, this short sees Holmes evade assassins and pursue the Napoleon of crime to their famous mountain-set face-off.
What’s clear from all three stories is how effectively the core appeal of Doyle’s world-famous detective and his adventures translates to the silver screen. As thrilling as any fight or chase sequence, Sherlock’s minute observations are made for cinema’s close-ups and slow motion. Future adaptations may offer more clues for the audience to follow and anticipate the final answer to the case, but the shorts are showcases of Doyle’s meticulous plotting.
However the films are certainly technically ambitious. Right from the opening of the first film, a clever use of flashback encourages audiences to reconsider what they’ve seen in new context. This visual shorthand and tricks are essential to distilling complex, albeit short, stories into compelling 20 minute features.
As a character, Sherlock emerges from the page fully formed. Norwood’s Holmes is sharp but playful, especially in his affectionately prickly interactions with his faithful assistant Watson (Hubert Willis). The lineage through all the most iconic interpretations of the character is clear, a testament to Norwood’s ability and the strength of Doyle’s characterisation.
The films were shot on 35mm and the restoration is wonderful. The characters and settings spring to life in these carefully cleaned frames. The BFI have also commissioned new scores in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Music. Composers Joanna MacGregor CBE, Joseph Havlat and Neil Brand have each scored one of the films, bringing fresh musical perspectives to each case.
The films are a tantalising preview of a restoration that may return to prominence an essential piece of cinematic history. For a whole generation these were the definitive adventures of Holmes and Watson and they serve as a wonderful reminder of how cinema and the great detective helped shape each other from their very beginnings.
The Silent Sherlock trilogy shall be screened in Curzon cinemas around the country from the 2nd of January 2026.