23 January 2007

"Voices of Sherlock" Quiz #3

In which of the New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes serials, produced for radio in the 1940s, is Holmes accused of shoplifting?
a) "The April Fool’s Day Adventure"
b) "The Elusive Emerald"
c) "The Tell Tale Pigeon Feathers"
d) "The Haunting of Sherlock Holmes"

Answer correctly and receive one free "Harper Chronicles" short story in e-booklet format!

Daniel Elton Harmon
d@danieleltonharmon.com
www.danieleltonharmon.com

19 January 2007

The Interrupted Broadcast

“Mrs. Warren’s Lodger,” the episode of The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes broadcast on NBC Radio 7 December 1941, is remarkable for several reasons. It’s among only several dozen plays in the series that have been preserved, out of more than 200 that were produced. To my knowledge, it’s one of just five Rathbone/Bruce shows surviving from the first five seasons of the series, which began in 1939 (and one of the others is incomplete). Most of the salvaged broadcasts date to 1945 and 1946. By that time, the writers long since had depleted the plots of Doyle’s original story collection and were on their own, improvising altogether new tales. “Mrs. Warren’s Lodger,” by contrast, adhered closely to the story line of Doyle’s “The Adventure of the Red Circle” (although Inspector Gregson and Leverton, the American detective, were written out, apparently to shorten the production to the half-hour constraint of the radio format).

Most fascinating is the network announcer’s interruption, a third of the way into the broadcast, stating that President Franklin Roosevelt would address a joint session of Congress the following day at noon. What momentous event could have prompted such an intrusion into one of the most popular radio shows of the era? In a word: war.

We remember 7 December 1941 as “Pearl Harbor Day.” In Hawaii that morning, Japanese planes had attacked and crippled America’s Pacific naval fleet. In the next day’s address, Roosevelt would ask Congress to declare war, citing 7 December as “a date which will live in infamy.”

Daniel Elton Harmon
d@danieleltonharmon.com
www.danieleltonharmon.com

06 January 2007

A Most Formidable Mrs. Hudson

The writers of the BBC Radio series of Holmes dramatizations had, among other virtues, a splendid sense of humor. One example: In Doyle's published version of “The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone,” we find that “Billy,” a “young but very wise and tactful page,” had become part of Holmes’ daily routine after Dr. Watson married and moved away. Billy clearly was a young man of substantial physique. When Holmes in this story instructs Billy to bring in a loiterer off the street—the boxer Sam Merton, an accomplice of Count Sylvius in stealing the valuable gem—Billy asks, “If he won’t come, sir?”

Holmes responds, “No violence, Billy. Don’t be rough with him. . . .”

In the BBC version, Billy is altogether absent from the tale. It is Mrs. Watson, the landlady, who handles such housekeeping tasks. It is she—a woman somewhat advanced in years, we’ve always assumed—who is asked to summon the ruffian boxer up to Holmes’ rooms. With no slight display of wryness, the writers let Doyle’s original dialogue stand.

“Ask him to come up, please,” Holmes instructs.

“And if he won’t, sir?”

“No violence, Mrs. Hudson. Don’t be rough with him.”

Those unfamiliar with the story may be doing a double take at this point. “He’s telling Mrs. Hudson not to do what?”

Those who understand the original role which was played by Billy, the strapping page, undoubtedly are—in the vernacular of the Web generation—ROTFL.

Daniel Elton Harmon
d@danieleltonharmon.com
www.danieleltonharmon.com

05 January 2007

Ralph Cosham's "Great Authors" Narrations

The best deal I’ve ever found via Amazon.com is the six-cassette Holmes readings in the “Great Authors” segment from Commuters Library. I obtained the handsome, durable boxed set, originally priced at $34.95 (copyright 1997), in Spring 2006 for $5.15 plus postage. They’re in excellent condition. In addition to The Hound of the Baskervilles, the 12 sides include “The Musgrave Ritual,” “The Red-Headed League,” “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” and “The Final Problem.”

Ralph Cosham renders fine, unabridged readings in an earnest, friendly voice. While these are straightforward narratives—not audio dramatizations (such as those delivered so effectively by Robert Hardy in the 1980s)—Cosham makes the stories his own and deserves a place of honor among the many “voices” of Sherlock Holmes. Not counting Hardy, whose recordings are altogether unique, Cosham is among my five favorite Holmes readers.

The set includes notes on Doyle and the Holmes series as well as publication details concerning each of the five tales. Truly a collector’s treasure.

Daniel Elton Harmon
d@danieleltonharmon.com
http://www.danieleltonharmon.com/

03 January 2007

Strand Magazine Reprints Available

From late January to April, you can obtain a printed series of Sherlock Holmes magazettes as they appeared originally (with illustrations) in The Strand Magazine. The series is produced by Stanford University (http://sherlockholmes.stanford.edu). From 26 January to 13 April, 12 selected stories are being reissued in magazette print format. The cost for subscribing to the series is $20.

Stanford in 2003 began publishing replicated reprints from its Special Collections. Three Dickens novels were produced first, followed last year by Stanford’s first series of Holmes tales. While you’re at the Web site, check out the literary archives.

Note that these are print productions, not audio-visual. Of course, after you download any text (PDF, HTML or word processing format) file of period literature, you can have your computer read it aloud to you. If you’ve yet to experiment with automated reader utilities, they’re worth testing. Read-aloud functions come free with certain popular software applications. The early (1990s-vintage) electronic reading “voices” sound horribly robotic—often to the point of incomprehensibility. Newer voices are much more “human”-sounding. Some voices can be downloaded free, others for a fee. In future blogs, we’ll examine read-aloud (text-to-speech) technology and its potential value for studying and enjoying the literature of Doyle and other classic authors.

Daniel Elton Harmon
d@danieleltonharmon.com
www.danieleltonharmon.com

02 January 2007

"Voices of Sherlock" Quiz #1

In "The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" radio series, what actor replaced Basil Rathbone as Holmes for the 1946-47 season?

Answer correctly and receive one free "Harper Chronicles" short story in e-booklet format!

Daniel Elton Harmon
d@danieleltonharmon.com
www.danieleltonharmon.com

01 January 2007

A Bit of Confusion From the BBC

The BBC Radio productions of the Sherlock Holmes stories and novels, produced during the 1980s and '90s, are outstanding. I've collected them all, and they're among my favorite lunchtime audio breaks.

Two general complaints, however:

First, the voices and stylistic deliveries of Clive Merrison (Holmes) and Michael Williams (Watson) are maddeningly similar. Unless you know the stories well, you likely will be baffled regularly as to which character is speaking.

Second, while the writing/production team turned out highly commendable broadcasts—freshly rendering the various adventures and intrigues while remaining essentially true to Doyle's published plots and characterizations—they sometimes went to problematic lengths for the sake of originality. Abrupt and rapid scene shifts leave even dedicated Holmesians confused as to what's going on, in some of the presentations. Important background information and character associations contained in the published tales often are missing. As I listen and relisten, I suspect this series of radio plays was crafted specifically for Holmes aficionados, with little regard for newcomers to the canon.

Daniel Elton Harmon
d@danieleltonharmon.com
www.danieleltonharmon.com