Sherlock Holmes (Stoll film series)

Background

Sir Oswald Stoll, an Australian-born Irish theatre manager, moved into film production after World War I. In 1920 he purchased the rights to produce Sherlock Holmes films. The first series of fifteen shorts, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, was released in 1921, directed by Maurice Elvey. Norwood, then 59, was chosen for the role and became obsessed with fidelity to the stories, even learning to play the violin. Conan Doyle was so impressed that he gave Norwood a dressing gown worn in many films, though he criticized the modern settings.

The success of the first series led to a feature-length adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles in 1921, which was less faithful to the original story. A second series of fifteen shorts, The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, followed in 1922 under director George Ridgwell. A final series, The Last Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, was released in 1923, along with a second feature, The Sign of Four, which replaced Hubert Willis with Arthur Cullin as Dr. Watson because director Maurice Elvey considered Willis too old for a romantic role.