Sherlock Holmes seems to regenerate almost as much as Doctor Who. Recently we’ve had Benedict Cumberbatch, Jonny Lee Miller and Robert Downey Jnr shouting "elementary!" at their various put-upon Watsons, with Sir Ian McKellen up next as an aged Mr. Holmes with memory problems (perhaps trying to recall all the people who've played him). A mini-festival of all things Sherlockian supported by Film Hub London is set to hit the capital's screens next month with a range of interpretations of the Victorian dick plus fun activities to go with them.
Dress-Up Sherlock Film Night - Museum of London
10 April, 7pm
Why anyone would need an outfit to stalk deer in a museum is anyone’s guess. Nevertheless there’ll be prizes for fans wearing the most imaginative costumes along with talks, comedy, a raffle and quiz ahead of a screening of Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes at 9pm. The film features Downey Jnr twitching his way through the title role with a moustachioed Jude Law playing catch-up as his flunky. This event, run with the Lost Picture Show ties in with the museum's current exhibition.
The Sign of Four - Barbican Centre
29 March, 4pm
The screening of this early silent adaptation will have live musical accompaniment by John Sweeney, while the story weaves together convicts, the East India Company and a young woman who's been receiving a pearl every year from a mysterious anonymous sender. It features the pairing of Eille Norwood as Holmes and Arthur Cullin as Watson.
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (PG) - Phoenix Cinema
3 April, 11:30pm
Ingenious director Billy Wilder moved from Hollywood to the Highlands to create this unusual take which includes psychosexual undertones, the Loch Ness monster and Christopher Lee as Mycroft. This time it’s a stiff upper-lipped Robert Stephens as Holmes and Colin Blakely in sidekick mode.
The Hound of the Baskervilles (PG) - Rio Cinema
4 April, 11:30pm
Christopher Lee again, as Sir Henry Baskerville this time, struggling with a curse in the form of a giant glow-in-the-dark dog that mauls hikers on the moors. Horror critic Kim Newman will introduce this newly remastered HD version of one of Hammer’s most atmospheric films. Holmes here is Peter Cushing on great form with André Morell as Watson.
The Dying Detective And Other Episodes - Phoenix Cinema
5 April, 7:30pm
More 1920s gems with a triple bill of episodes from the Stoll series that starred Eille Norwood again as Holmes (though this time it's Hubert Willis flannelling about as Watson). Stephen Horne will play live piano alongside The Dying Detective (1921), The Devil’s Foot (1921) and The Final Problem (1923). Conan Doyle wrote of Norwood: “He has that rare quality that can only be described as glamour, which compels you to watch an actor eagerly even when he is doing nothing. He has the brooding eye which excites expectation and a quite unrivalled power of disguise.”
Kids Club: Basil the Great Mouse Detective (U) - Phoenix Cinema
4 April, 12pm
One for younger fans as the rodentine Holmes-a-like investigates the kidnapping of a toy-maker and uncovers a conspiracy that leads all the way to his dastardly nemesis Professor Ratigan (yikes). Take cheese flavoured popcorn and get lost in a nicely-rendered cartoon version of Victorian London.
