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Sherlock Holmes (1916 film)

Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes 1916 2.jpg
Ad in Moving Picture World (October 1916)
Directed by Arthur Berthelet
William Postance (assistant director)
Written by Arthur Conan Doyle (characters)
William Gillette (play)
H. S. Sheldon (scenario)
Starring William Gillette
Edward Fielding
Ernest Maupain
Distributed by Essanay Studios
Release date
  • May 15, 1916 (1916-05-15)
Running time
116 mins (7 reels)
Country United States
Language Silent film
English intertitles

Sherlock Holmes is a 1916 American silent film starring William Gillette as Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. The film, which was directed by Arthur Berthelet, was produced by Essanay Studios in Chicago. It was adapted from the 1899 stage play of the same name, which was based on the stories, "A Scandal in Bohemia," "The Final Problem," and "A Study in Scarlet" by Arthur Conan Doyle.

All surviving prints of the 1916 film Sherlock Holmes were once thought to be lost. However, on October 1, 2014, it was announced that a copy had been discovered in a film archive in France.

A prince, the heir apparent to a large empire, was once the lover of Alice Faulkner's sister. During their love affair, he had written some incriminating letters to her. Alice was given these letters for safe keeping on the deathbed of her sister. Count von Stalburg, the prince's assistant, and Sir Edward Palmer, a high British official, have been given the task of negotiating the restitution of the letters to the prince prior to his upcoming marriage.

However, Alice Faulkner is being held captive by the Larrabees, a husband and wife team of crooks who realize the value of the letters and are trying to get them from Alice in order to blackmail the prince. Failing to secure the letters for themselves, they decide to involve Professor Moriarty in the affair. The film unfolds as a battle of wits ensues between Moriarty and Holmes.

Dr. Watson is only marginally involved until the final third. Holmes receives more assistance from an associate named Forman and a young bellboy named Billy.

The film was released in America as a seven-reel feature. In 1920, after World War I was over and American films were returning to European screens, it was released in France in an expanded nine reels format. This was so it could be shown as a four-part serial, a popular format at the time. The first episode had three reels while the other three had two reels each.


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