Differences Between The Books and Films
Most of the movies took great liberties with the Sherlock Holmes canon:
- Beginning in 1942, Holmes was updated to fight modern villains, such as the Nazis. However, after the first three films, his enemies became much less politically oriented and the war was never specifically mentioned after Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943).
- Several Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stories were often mixed to create a new narrative. Only The Hound of the Baskervilles closely followed its source material.
- Bruce's portrayal of Dr. Watson as a doddering old fool is quite different from Conan Doyle's conception of him in the original stories, where he is a competent, if unexceptional, physician.
- The same is true of the Inspector Lestrade character, whose portrayal by actor Dennis Hoey is unlike the character in the Conan Doyle stories.
Read more about this topic: Sherlock Holmes (1939 Film Series)
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