A lost 1916 silent film version of "Sherlock Holmes" was found at French film archive Cinemathèque Française.
According to Variety, the "Sherlock Holmes" film stars American actor William Gillette, who is world-renowned for his stage portrayals of Sherlock Holmes. It is the only film in which the actor appeared.
The film is being restored and will premiere in France in January 2015 and debut at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival in May 2015.
Long thought to be lost, the film was directed by Arthur Berthelet and
produced by the Essanay Studios in Chicago, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Gillette is credited with popularizing the line, “Oh, this is elementary, my dear fellow,” spoken to sidekick Dr. Watson.
“At last we get to see for ourselves the actor who kept the first generation of Sherlockians spellbound,” Russell Merritt, the supervising editor of the restoration project and a member of the Baker Street Irregulars, said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “We can also see where the future Holmeses — Rathbone, Brett, Cumberbatch, and the rest — come from. As far as Holmes is concerned, there’s not an actor dead or alive who hasn’t consciously or intuitively played off Gillette.”
Fans expressed their delight on Twitter.
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