Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15390 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-08-28
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Full Screen, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 110 minutes

Amazon.com
In "The Crooked Man," Sherlock Holmes (Jeremy Brett) fetches Dr. John Watson (David Burke) on an urgent mission: Colonel James Barclay (Denys Hawthorne) has been found dead in his home, with his comatose wife (Lisa Daniely) beside him. While Holmes and Watson work to clear the widow's name of any suspicion, a weird, badly stooped man (Norman Jones) holds onto the secret of the Barclays' misfortune. This episode in the long-running Granada Television series is a fascinating puzzle all around, highlighted by a long flashback into a grim tale of treachery and revenge.

One of the strongest entries in the series, "The Speckled Band" finds distraught Helen Stoner (Rosalyn Landor) coming to Holmes and Watson in fear for her life since announcing her betrothal. The reason: Helen's sister Julia (Denise Armon) died mysteriously and in apparent terror in her bedroom on the night before her own wedding, and her final words were a strange reference to a "speckled band." This episode has it all: a damsel in distress, a considerable villain, lots of suspense, and a solution worth waiting for. Brett and Burke are at the top of their game as Doyle's dynamic duo; this story was, in fact, Doyle's personal favorite from the Holmes canon. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Better quality than Volume One, but still problems...
Volume two contains THE CROOKED MAN and THE SPECKLED BAND, two of the very best adaptations in the series.

The quality of transfer from 16mm on this DVD is superior to the first volume (although still slightly grainy), but there are some problems.

THE CROOKED MAN does have some image stability problems, which causes the image to jump very slightly up and down at times (and actually roll on one of my DVD players). There is also a slight greenish tint to the fist few minutes of the episode. THE SPECKLED BAND also has some image stability problems, especially in chapter five (the train sequence) where the right side of the screen shifts slightly, causing the image to "float". There are also sound synchronicity issues in both episodes, very brief, but noticeable nonetheless. Both episodes do have lint (at the top of the frames), scratches and holes intermittently, which could have been cleaned up digitally. The sound is good throughout the DVD--none of the warbling that marred the first DVD in the series occurs here.

Jeremy Brett and David Burke are at their best in well-scripted adaptations of the original stories. The supporting players are wonderful as well.

There are also a photo gallery, biographies and filmographies, and a list of Sherlockian and Jeremy Brett Societies.

In all, a much better quality DVD than Volume One, and, despite the problems, I'd recommend this DVD, especially if your VHS tapes have started to degrade. One hopes that the quality will continue to improve, and I eagerly await the next volume.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Vol 2.
As a big fan of Sherlock Holmes, and Jeremy Brett I was delighted to see the release of the first series on DVD by MPI.The overall quality of the DVD's has been good, the standard of the picture is high, and the sound quality is acceptable.The second DVD in the series is an improvement on the first, however the quality of the sound could be improved, as bad lip synchronization is distracting, particularly in the Speckled band.I have already placed an order for the 3 vol in the series, and I look forward to the future release of the second series.

Jeremy Brett
Our Well Studied and Deliberately Executed Holmes:

In reviewing this DVD, I'm actually examining the actor's performance as the character in the entire series, rather than those encapsulated within the specific titles. I have seen these episodes, and could do a separate review of each, but I think in this case that would actually be inappropriate. I can say, however, that these episodes are very good, and represent this outstanding series very well. The DVD itself is also of very high quality, as far as sound and picture are concerned. Granada did a first rate job, that has translated itself very handily to the new format.

Jeremy Brett's Holmes is something other than the various Holmes' we've been exposed to in the past. I was raised on Rathbone. But when I saw Brett's performances when they first aired on PBS, I slowly forgot Rathbone's influences. Brett immerses himself in such a way that must make it very personal to him, then displays the character of Holmes in a forceful and deliberate manner - and in a depth we may not see again.

The key thing to understanding Holmes, I think, is that he is unique as a genius as any genius would be. Exercising his talents to there fullest doesn't give him super-status as an overall human being by erasing other flaws. Instead, his talent takes precedence, accentuating his human flaws by casting them into a state of neglect that highlights them. Brett understands this, clearly because he himself is either a bona fide genius, or he has somehow deciphered the code that generates a genius' idiosyncratic behaviors. I can't say which. I can say that I really believe his Holmes. Brett may as well BE Holmes.

My second favorite aspect of Brett's Holmes is the level of humor. Great care was taken here to make each little "quip" more situationally true to the character. His humor is really more an expression of how he so uniquely relates to those around him - and is frequently not acknowledged by the other characters - being that they are fairly unaware. We, as the audience are in-on-the-joke, which is nice, and it's usually a pretty funny one.

I guess I just want to say that I think a great deal of this series. Jeremy Brett is the best, and here, has given us so much! He actually died while still "in service" to the roll. Not to sound too stupid about this, but I think there was something very appropriate in that. It's like he waited until he had gained perfection before moving on.

Bravo!