keith-moyes This short-lived TV series is a fairly lightweight interpretation of Sherlock Holmes, but is well worth a view. I am glad it has been rescued from oblivion and made available on DVD for a new generation of viewers to enjoy.Ronald Howard, H Marion Crawford and Archie Duncan are by no means the definitive Holmes, Watson and Lestrade but they make a good team in their own right. Watching them go through their paces, I found it was easy to temporarily forget other, more substantial, interpretations of these characters.The series was shot on film and the production values are pretty good for a cheaply-made TV series of the mid-Fifties. Each episode is limited to a handful of sets, but the standing set of Baker Street is widely used and there is enough location shooting to prevent the shows becoming too claustrophobic. Shooting in France probably stretched the budget further than would have been possible in America, or even England.Each episode is only 25 minutes, so don't expect complex plots or baffling mysteries. We do get some good deduction from time to time, but on other occasions Holmes leaps to conclusions by something not far short of clairvoyance. Of course, the stories vary in quality, with a couple veering perilously close to farce (the cowgirl and suffragette stories being the most overtly comic) but most are very enjoyable. I tended to watch two or three episodes at a time and I was never bored.However, I must sound two warnings.Firstly, the source prints are very ragged: clearly they have all been through the projector far too often. They are watchable, but would benefit from extensive restoration. Since these shows are far from being classics it is unlikely this will ever happen.Secondly, while it is understandable that a company releasing budget price DVDs will use whatever prints they can get their hands on (and these might be the only ones that have survived), there can be no excuse for the wretched DVD transfer.Digital recording is inherently inferior to analogue recording, so DVDs are inherently inferior to videos (until they start to deteriorate - which happens quite quickly). I have found that even major companies producing full price DVDs often use inadequate compression software that cannot handle subtle movement (e.g. close-ups of faces). This becomes particularly obtrusive when recording old films, where worn sprocket holes cause a slight shaking of the image that completely confounds many digital recording systems.Having said that, the DVD transfer here is not just poor; it is probably the worst I have ever seen. Movement is often very jerky and there is highly distracting flickering and wavering throughout, with whole areas of the screen appearing to move independently of each other.Some episodes seem worse than others (I have no idea why) but even the best of them are dismal. You can buy bargain-basement DVD recorders that give better results than this.Nonetheless, if you can ignore the poor prints and atrocious transfer and just watch the shows, there is much innocent pleasure to be had.

Chesterfield_Invincible While Sherlockians and other Baker Street Irregulars might balk at the liberties taken, this "Sherlock Holmes" series is quite enjoyable, a perfect companion on cold rainy weekends. Ronald Howard is quite affable as the sleuthing tenant of 221B Baker Street, while H. Marion Crawford plays Dr. Watson as nature (read Conan Doyle) intended. The fact that this series was filmed in Paris is suggested in several ways: London Bobbies silently salute Inspector Lestrade, indicating that they were probably portrayed by Frenchmen, Conan Doyle's "The Greek Interpreter" is transformed into "The French Interpreter", and of course there's the inevitable "As long as we're in Paris, we might as well have a story taking place at the Eiffle Tower" episode. One can only imagine what the series would have been like had it been filmed in Rome with Cinecitta at their command. The theme music, more or less a variation on "Gone With the Wind" is interesting, but even more superb in a one-off episode played on a Roger Williams-style piano. Incidentally, the company credited with sound equipment, Poste-Parisien, was a leading commercial radio station in France before the French government declared a broadcasting monopoly after World War II. To sum up, and to paraphrase some other former Baker Street tenants (as in The Apple Boutique) "a splendid time is guaranteed for all!"

moriarty1993 Sherlock Holmes is a very good TV series for two reasons:Ronald Howard and H.Maron Crawford.Ronald Howard is quite far the second best Holmes of the screen(next to Basil Rathbone,of course) but this show's Watson goes un-rivaled.Not a bungler like Nigel Bruce or a completely boring and pointless character like Ian Flemming.Rather,a very interesting character with a lot of personality.Howard's Holmes reminded me more A.Conan Doyle's character of the sixty published cases than anyone else.These scripts provide both suspense and humor,something that uaually doesn't work.My favorite episode of all time was probably "The Pennsilvania gun.It was the perfect Sherlock Holmes episode.Overall,this show is a superb representation Holmes and MUST NOT BE MISSED.

Arsen Dalavaccio If you are not so interested in the mysteries, but rather Holmes himself, you will not be disappointed in this series. Whatever it may lack in directing, staging or filming, Ronald Howard makes up for it (Especially when many of the episodes can be found very cheaply.) While it does deviate from Doyle's original stories in fact, it does not deviate in spirit.There are some moments in which characters such as Dr. Watson and Lestrade are given center stage while Holmes is put to the side, which might disappoint some viewers. Dr. Watson, who is closer to the everyman than Holmes, seems to be the center of attention quite a bit more than some might like. While these might detract from the few episodes which are like this, they do not affect the series as a whole.Even if it does not become the favorite of any Holmes collector who chances to pick it up, it will at least become an admirable addition to any DVD or memorabilia stronghold.