John Barrymore was eager to become the third screen incarnation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective when offered the role by Goldwyn Pictures. He had just wrapped his autumn European vacation with his second wife, Blanche Oelrichs (who fell in love with a poet in Venice), before he went to London to shoot the film's exteriors. He then returned to New York for the interior shots in preparation for the release of March 1922's "Sherlock Holmes."
Barrymore's take on the detective was more of a romantic one than the classic stage portrayal of William Gillette's. Directed by Albert Parker, who handled Rudolph Valentino's first major role in 1919 'Eyes of Youth,' "Sherlock Holmes" is largely known for the cinematic debuts of future Academy Award nominees William Powell and Roland Young. The feature film also stars the eventual newspaper columnist Hedda Hopper as well as D. W. Griffith's primary actress Carol Dumpster, the only time the pioneering director loaned her out to another studio. It had been rumored that Dumpster, whose role served as Holmes' love interest, upset Barrymore so much during the production that he insisted for the romantic concluding scene to have a stand-in for the passionate kiss.
"Sherlock Holmes" was Powell's first movie. After 10 years on the stage, both on road tours and in New York City, the 29-year-older was hired for the film after his appearance in the Broadway hit play 'Spanish Love" drew positive notice. Powell's part is rather large for a film novice: he's an orphan who's groomed to do the dirty work of Holmes' arch-nemesis Professor Moriarty. But when cornered by Barrymore, Powell confesses all he knows and works to foil his former mentor. Powell, who acted in over 30 silent films and was nominated for the Oscars three times--1934's 'The Thin Man,' 1936's 'My Man Godfrey,' and 1947's 'Life with Father'--appeared in his last movie playing Doc in 1955's 'Mister Roberts.'
Roland Young, also in his first film, as Holmes' sidekick Dr. Watson, was an English-born stage actor who shuffled between New York and London theaters. Busy throughout the 1930's, he played the bank president who was constantly hounded by the ghosts of his deceased clients in 1937 'Topper,' a role he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Billie Burke, who played opposite of him in the Cary Grant vehicle, wrote that Young "was dry and always fun to work with."
The actor playing Prince Alexis, Reginald Denny, is a recognizable character actor to today's viewers. In Alfred Hitchcock's 1940 'Rebecca' and playing alongside Frank Sinatra in 1966's 'Assault on the Queen,' he's most remembered by TV fans as Commodore Schmidlapp in the 1966 'Batman' series.
Hedda Hopper was already a successful silent movie actress commanding over $1,000 a week when she took the role of Madge Larrabee in "Sherlock Holmes." After 120 movies in 23 years of acting, her failure to make a successful transition to sound in the mid-1930's led her to use her Hollywood insider contacts to become a noted, if not controversial, gossip columnist for the Los Angeles Times. She was also a recognizable figure in television during the 1950's and 1960's.
Barrymore's take on the detective was more of a romantic one than the classic stage portrayal of William Gillette's. Directed by Albert Parker, who handled Rudolph Valentino's first major role in 1919 'Eyes of Youth,' "Sherlock Holmes" is largely known for the cinematic debuts of future Academy Award nominees William Powell and Roland Young. The feature film also stars the eventual newspaper columnist Hedda Hopper as well as D. W. Griffith's primary actress Carol Dumpster, the only time the pioneering director loaned her out to another studio. It had been rumored that Dumpster, whose role served as Holmes' love interest, upset Barrymore so much during the production that he insisted for the romantic concluding scene to have a stand-in for the passionate kiss.
"Sherlock Holmes" was Powell's first movie. After 10 years on the stage, both on road tours and in New York City, the 29-year-older was hired for the film after his appearance in the Broadway hit play 'Spanish Love" drew positive notice. Powell's part is rather large for a film novice: he's an orphan who's groomed to do the dirty work of Holmes' arch-nemesis Professor Moriarty. But when cornered by Barrymore, Powell confesses all he knows and works to foil his former mentor. Powell, who acted in over 30 silent films and was nominated for the Oscars three times--1934's 'The Thin Man,' 1936's 'My Man Godfrey,' and 1947's 'Life with Father'--appeared in his last movie playing Doc in 1955's 'Mister Roberts.'
Roland Young, also in his first film, as Holmes' sidekick Dr. Watson, was an English-born stage actor who shuffled between New York and London theaters. Busy throughout the 1930's, he played the bank president who was constantly hounded by the ghosts of his deceased clients in 1937 'Topper,' a role he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Billie Burke, who played opposite of him in the Cary Grant vehicle, wrote that Young "was dry and always fun to work with."
The actor playing Prince Alexis, Reginald Denny, is a recognizable character actor to today's viewers. In Alfred Hitchcock's 1940 'Rebecca' and playing alongside Frank Sinatra in 1966's 'Assault on the Queen,' he's most remembered by TV fans as Commodore Schmidlapp in the 1966 'Batman' series.
Hedda Hopper was already a successful silent movie actress commanding over $1,000 a week when she took the role of Madge Larrabee in "Sherlock Holmes." After 120 movies in 23 years of acting, her failure to make a successful transition to sound in the mid-1930's led her to use her Hollywood insider contacts to become a noted, if not controversial, gossip columnist for the Los Angeles Times. She was also a recognizable figure in television during the 1950's and 1960's.