Mr. Gillette as Sherlock Holmes

From The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia

Mr. Gillette as Sherlock Holmes is an article written by W. W. published in the New-York Tribune on 7 november 1899.

This is a review of the Sherlock Holmes play performed at the Garrick Theatre (New York, USA) between 6 november 1899 and 16 june 1900.


Mr. Gillette as Sherlock Holmes

New-York Tribune (7 november 1899, p. 7)

Mr. Gillette appeared at the Garrick Theatre last night and impersonated Sherlock Holmes, in a new play, by Conan Doyle and himself, made on the basis of selected portions of the Adventures of the Detective, written by Mr. Doyle, and, doubtless, familiar to all readers of contemporary fiction. Holmes and Moriarty are confronted in this play, in a duel of the wits, for the possession of certain papers, the publicity of which might disgrace a royal name. No observer of the proceedings feels the least interest in the royal name or the least solicitude as to its welfare, but all observers are interested in an exposition of mental ingenuity and strategical tactics, and the purpose of the play is the accomplishment of that exposition. This purpose has been pursued by the most conventional of all theatrical methods — the beguilement of a gallant adventurer into a den of thieves and murderers and the sudden liberation of him from imminent peril, at a moment when his escape seems impossible. This time-honored situation may be found, in possibly its best development, as far back as Bulwer's novel of "Pelham." In which epitome of heroic dandyism, likewise, the elegant, nonchalant, imperturbable, and all-fascinating man of action is a conspicuous figure. Mr. Doyle and Mr. Gillette, however, have contrived to make this ancient device momentarily effective: and Mr. Gillette, as the tall, lithe, muscular, expeditious, fey and indomitable Sherlock Holmes, — clerical in aspect and crisp in vocalism, — was sufficiently audacious and formidable to satisfy every reasonable requirement of the character and the story. The play is trivial at the beginning and feeble at the end, but it provides a sharp colloquy between Moriarty and Holmes in the middle, and this is supplemented with a good old-fashioned scene of melodrama, wherein one determined man discomfits five bloody-minded ruffians by the simple device of smashing a lamp. The Sherlock Holmes stories, notable for ingenuity of invention and clarity of style, are agreeable at the first reading and some of them can be read with interest a second time, or even a third. The tale of the snake that crawled down the bell-rope possesses, indeed, a peculiar and enduring fascination — so abundantly suggestive is it of horrible possibilities in common experience. But stories of this kind are for the reader rather than the spectator. They lose their charm when they are taken from the field of the imagination and placed in that of the clear vision. Poe's story of "The Purloined Letter" or "The Gold Bug" could not be shown on the stage: and certainly the essential quality of Conan Doyle's style was nowhere manifested in Mr. Gillette's drama. A large audience, however, followed the performance with attention and received it with considerable favor. The play has no lasting value, of any kind whatever, unless it be the value of an occasional melodramatic incident. The Ruffian and the Page divided the honors of the night with Mr. Gillette.

W. W.


CAST OF SHERLOCK HOLMES





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