The Devil's Foot | |
---|---|
Directed by | Maurice Elvey |
Based on | "The Adventure of the Devil's Foot" by Arthur Conan Doyle |
Produced by | Jeffrey Bernerd |
Starring | See below |
Cinematography | Germain Burger [1] |
Release date |
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Running time | 2 reels; [2] 2513 feet [3] |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
The Devil's Foot is a 1921 British short film directed by Maurice Elvey [3] starring Eille Norwood as Sherlock Holmes. [1]
Following "The Dying Detective" (1921), the film is the second in the Stoll Pictures' short film series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes .
While on vacation, Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson walk by the sea. Hoping to ask for directions back to their inn, they call upon a house but discover three dead people seated at a table and with no signs of violence. Initially, the victims' brother Tregennis is suspected, but when he is killed in a similar way, then the explorer Dr. Sterndale becomes a suspect.
Sterndale shows Holmes and Watson a note where Tregennis confesses to the murder of his siblings to acquire their property. The last third of the film is Sterndale's story told to the pair through a series of Flashbacks. Sterndale tells them that Tregennis had shown a great interest in Sterndale's exotic poisons and that Sterndale was in love with the sister and killed Tregennis in an act of revenge. The flashback shows Sterndale forcing Tregennis to write a confession at gunpoint. Holmes questions Sterndale for taking justice into his own hands, but when the police arrive, he tells them that Tregennis had committed suicide.
The beginning of the film differs from "The Adventure of the Devil's Foot". [4]
In a review in 2011, Christopher Campbell called the short film a "relatively faithful adaptation", though also appreciated the liberty taken with the source material for the beginning of the film. Campbell commented on the film's use of intertitles, writing that the film is "quite verbal for a silent picture", but that this is not unexpected for a mystery film. [4]
"A Scandal in Bohemia" is the first short story, and the third overall work, featuring Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. It is the first of the 56 Holmes short stories written by Doyle and the first of 38 Sherlock Holmes works illustrated by Sidney Paget. The story is notable for introducing the character of Irene Adler, who is one of the most notable female characters in the Sherlock Holmes series, despite appearing in only one story. Doyle ranked "A Scandal in Bohemia" fifth in his list of his twelve favourite Holmes stories.
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"A Case of Identity" is one of the 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and is the third story in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It first appeared in The Strand Magazine in September 1891.
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"The Adventure of the Norwood Builder", one of the 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is the second tale from The Return of Sherlock Holmes. The story was first published in Collier's (US) on 31 October 1903 and in The Strand Magazine (UK) in November 1903.
"The Adventure of the Red Circle" is one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. It is included in the anthology His Last Bow.
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The stories of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle have been very popular as adaptations for the stage, and later film, and still later television. The four volumes of the Universal Sherlock Holmes (1995) compiled by Ronald B. De Waal lists over 25,000 Holmes-related productions and products. They include the original writings, "together with the translations of these tales into sixty-three languages, plus Braille and shorthand, the writings about the Writings or higher criticism, writings about Sherlockians and their societies, memorials and memorabilia, games, puzzles and quizzes, phonograph records, audio and video tapes, compact discs, laser discs, ballets, films, musicals, operettas, oratorios, plays, radio and television programs, parodies and pastiches, children's books, cartoons, comics, and a multitude of other items — from advertisements to wine — that have accumulated throughout the world on the two most famous characters in literature."
Eille Norwood was an English stage actor, director, and playwright best known today for playing Sherlock Holmes in a series of silent films.
John H. Watson, known as Dr. Watson, is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson first appeared in the novel A Study in Scarlet (1887). "The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place" (1927) is the last work of Doyle featuring Watson and Holmes, although their last appearance in the canonical timeline is in "His Last Bow" (1917).
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Hubert Willis was a British actor best known for his recurring role as Doctor Watson in a series of silent Sherlock Holmes films co-starring with Eille Norwood.
The Sign of Four is a 1923 British silent mystery film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Eille Norwood, Isobel Elsom and Fred Raynham. The film is based on the 1890 novel The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle, and was one of a series of Sherlock Holmes films starring Norwood.
From 1921 to 1923, Stoll Pictures produced three series of silent black-and-white films based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. Forty-five short films and two feature-length films were produced featuring Eille Norwood in the role of Holmes and Hubert Willis cast as Dr. Watson with the exception of the final film, The Sign of Four, where Willis was replaced with Arthur Cullin. Consequently, Norwood holds the record for most appearances as Sherlock Holmes in film.
The Dying Detective is a 1921 British short film directed by Maurice Elvey. The film is the first in the Stoll Pictures' short film series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
The Man with the Twisted Lip is a 1921 British short silent film directed by Maurice Elvey. It is the eighth film in Stoll's Adventures of Sherlock Holmes series starring Eille Norwood as the detective.