A really good detective never gets married. Raymond Chandler
‘The name’s Sherlock Holmes and the address is 221B Baker Street.’ Timeshift: How to be Sherlock Holmes, BBC 2015
For over 100 years, more than 80 actors have a varying face to the world’s greatest consulting detective. ibid.
I think that’s enough. You are a doctor after all. Sherlock Holmes 2009 starring Robert Downey junior & Jude Law & Mark Strong & Rachel McAdams & Kelly Reilly & Eddie Marsan & Geraldine James & Hans Matheson & James Fox & Robert Maillet et al, director Guy Ritchie, Holmes & Watson strangle geezer
[Holmes inhales deeply] Ah! Putrefaction. ibid.
I will create an empire that will endure for millennia. Indestructible and eternal. ibid.
1889: In all England there is no district more dismal than that vast expanse of primitive wasteland, the moors of Dartmoor in Devonshire. The Hound of the Baskervilles 1939 starring Basil Rathbone & Richard Greene & Wendy Barrie & Nigel Bruce & Lionel Atwill & John Carradine & Barlowe Borland & Beryl Mercer & Morton Lowry & Ralph Forbes et al, director Sidney Lanfield, caption
My conjecture is that he’ll be murdered. ibid. Homes
Murder, my dear Watson. Refined cold-blooded murder. ibid.
Oh, Watson. The needle. ibid. closing words
Sherlock Holmes, the immortal character of fiction created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is ageless, invincible and unchanging.
In solving significant problems of the present day he remains – as ever – the supreme master of deductive reasoning. Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror 1942 starring Basil Rathbone & Nigel Bruce & Evelyn Ankers & Hendy Daniell & Thomas Gomez & Reginal Denny & Montagu Love, director John Rawlins [based on ‘His Last Bow’], caption
Germany broadcasting! Germany broadcasting! People of Britain, greetings from the Third Reich! ... This is the voice of terror. ibid.
I’ve asked Mr Sherlock Holmes to come here. In this emergency we should take advantage of everyone’s peculiar gifts. ibid.
You’re Mr Sherlock Holmes, ain’t ya? I wouldn’t come down here if I was you. This is Limehouse and we don’t fancy your sort of bloke in these parts. ibid. geezer
Our country. England is at stake. ibid. Sherlock to Kitty
We Nazis keep our promises. ibid. Nazi broadcast
Yes, I’ve always felt that a thorough knowledge of the classics might come in handy. Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon 1942 starring Basil Rathbone & Nigel Bruce & Lionel Atwill & Kaaren Verne & William Post junior & Dennis Hoey & Holmes Herbert & Mary Gordon & Henry Victor et al, director Roy William Neill, Holmes
The principle of Doctor Tobel’s device involves the use of three sonic beams. ibid. army geezer
Holmes: It’s a staggering blow against your own country.
Moriarty: That doesn’t concern me overly. I shall make greater profit in this affair than all my other ventures put together. ibid.
The detective novel is the art-for-art’s-sake of our yawning Philistinism, the classic example of a specialized form of art removed from contact with the life it pretends to build on. V S Pritchett, New Statesman 16th June 1951
Why did so many believe that Conan Doyle’s fictitious sleuth was real? Portillo's State Secrets I/10, BBC 2015
I know how you feel. I’m not the guy to go running to the cops. I’m on the lam myself. I swear, I can prove it. Make time. I got the dough. Roadblock 1951 staring Charles McGraw & Joan Dixon & Lowell Gilmore & Louis Jean Heydt & Milburn Stone et al, director Harold Daniels, driver to dude with gun
Her: Some day you’re going to want something nice and expensive. But you can’t afford on a detective’s salary.
Him: Like what?
Her: Like me. ibid.
And I want you, Joe [kisses]. But not as an insurance cop making three hundred and fifty a month. ibid.
Set up a general road block covering all transportation and embarkation points – air, rail, bus and water. We want Joe Peters for murder and robbery of the United States’ mail. Peters is driving a black 1950 Plymouth sedan … ibid. rozzer on radio
When it comes to stories of crime and detection we we have long been a nation obsessed. But why do we British so enjoy reading about a spot of murder? … These familiar components give us that comforting feeling of the classic whodunnit. Andrew Marr, Sleuths, Spies & Sourcerers I, BBC 2016
Rule 1: A Mystery Begins With a Mystery. ibid.
The Duchess of Death herself: Agatha Christie … The rules of ordinary life have suddenly been suspended. ibid.
The quintessential location is the country house. ibid.
The rules of the detective novel are the rules of a game. ibid.
The first great sleuth in detective fiction is Sherlock Holmes. ibid.
So what makes Sherlock Holmes so irresistible? ibid.
Rule 5: The Crime Must Be Credible. ibid.
Christie used poisons more often than any other crime writer. ibid.
’70s detectives: Driving fast cars and shouting a lot … Bonehead and Foil: The Bullshitters. The Comic Strip Presents s5e1 … Wild Turkey
People got a lot of names for someone like me. The way I see it I deal in the lies people tell and the truths they don’t. I deal in secrets. I dig them up and rob everything for ever. City of Tiny Lights 2016 starring Riz Ahmed & Reiss Kershi & James Floyd & Antonio Aakeel & Billie Piper & Cush Jumbo & Roshan Seth & Jake Fairbrother & Vincent Regan & Danny Webb & Alexander Siddig & Liv Hansen et al, director Pete Travis, opening monologue
Websleuths: The biggest true crime forum online. Here more than 100,000 active users become amateur detectives. Dark Net s2e2: My Justice, Netflix 2017
Who was Sherlock Holmes? … How much of Bell was in Holmes, how much of Doyle himself, no-one can say for sure. In Search of s3e12 … Sherlock Holmes, 1978
A man who elevated the science of deduction to an art: the world’s first and undeniably most famous consulting detective. The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes 1970 starring Robert Stephene & Colin Blakely & Genevieve Page & Christopher lee & Irene Handle & Clive Revill & Tamara Toumanova & Stanley Holloway & Mollie Maureen et al, director Billy Wilder, Watson’s introduction
Look at this – an urgent appeal to find some missing midgets. ibid. Holmes to Watson
There are no great crimes any more, Watson. ibid.
You hired a Dick to find an asshole. Barfly 1987 starring Mickey Rourke & Faye Dunaway & Alice Krige & J C Quinn & Frank Stallone & Jack Nance & Sandy Martin et al, director Barbet Schroeder
Maybe you don’t think murder looks so good on you. Farewell, My Lovely aka Murder, My Sweet 1944 starring Dick Powell & Claire Trevor & Anne Shirley & Otto Kruger & Miles Mander & Mike Mazurki & Douglas Walton & Ralf Harolde & Esther Howard & Ernie Adams et al, director Edward Dmytryk, rozzer to Marlowe
My mind felt like a plumber’s handkerchief. ibid. Marlowe
Nothing bothered me. The 220 felt nice and snug against my appendix. ibid.
The name is Moose … Moose Malloy. You’ve heard of me maybe. ibid. dude looking for dolly
She was a gal who’d take a drink. ibid. Marlowe
I think I’ll put some powder on my nose. ibid. client to Marlowe at club
I find men very attractive. ibid. blonde to Marlowe
You’re not very hip but I believe you. Harper aka The Moving Target 1966 starring Paul Newman & Lauren Bacal & Julie Harris & Arthur Hill & Janet Leigh & Pamela Tiffin & Robert Wagner & Robert Webber & Shelley Winters & Harold Gould et al, director Jack Smight, her to him
You were hired by a bitch to find scum. ibid. killer to Newman in car