Holmes investigates the disappearance of a champion racehorse and the murder of its trainer on a lonely moor.Holmes investigates the disappearance of a champion racehorse and the murder of its trainer on a lonely moor.Holmes investigates the disappearance of a champion racehorse and the murder of its trainer on a lonely moor.
Derek Pykett
- Gipsy
- (uncredited)
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I'm starting to note that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was certainly fascinated by the moors and cliffs of England. They seem to figure prominently in his stories, most prominently of course in The Hound Of The Baskervilles. Silver Blaze based on his story The Adventures Of Silver Blaze also has a setting on the moors.
It's on the moors on one of those English murder mystery nights that the prominent race horse Silver Blaze disappears from the stable of his owner Peter Barkworth. Later on those desolate English moors the trainer Barry Lowe is found dead with a bad head wound.
In this one Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes has to not just deduce clues from humans, but reason why a pair of animals, the selfsame race horse Silver Blaze and a dog behave as they do. As it turns out the current whereabouts of the horse and what happened to its trainer have only the slightest of connections.
This particular Holmes story is a well put together one, the conclusion will perk the interest. And we even learn that Edward Hardwicke as Dr. Watson has a fancy for the sport of kings.
It's on the moors on one of those English murder mystery nights that the prominent race horse Silver Blaze disappears from the stable of his owner Peter Barkworth. Later on those desolate English moors the trainer Barry Lowe is found dead with a bad head wound.
In this one Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes has to not just deduce clues from humans, but reason why a pair of animals, the selfsame race horse Silver Blaze and a dog behave as they do. As it turns out the current whereabouts of the horse and what happened to its trainer have only the slightest of connections.
This particular Holmes story is a well put together one, the conclusion will perk the interest. And we even learn that Edward Hardwicke as Dr. Watson has a fancy for the sport of kings.
The Granada Holmes episodes are hit and miss. This is a hit.
For this to work, you have to have a backbone that's strong. In this case, it is because Holmes is depicted here as an actual detective, someone who figures things out. No tricking, no undercover work, just thinking.
On that, you hope the adapter hangs appropriate cinematic storytelling. This isn't great, but compared to other episodes is refreshing.
This is the famous episode where an important clue is that the dog didn't bark.
This is the series where Holmes is depicted as the detective that does bark. It works, after a fashion.
Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.
For this to work, you have to have a backbone that's strong. In this case, it is because Holmes is depicted here as an actual detective, someone who figures things out. No tricking, no undercover work, just thinking.
On that, you hope the adapter hangs appropriate cinematic storytelling. This isn't great, but compared to other episodes is refreshing.
This is the famous episode where an important clue is that the dog didn't bark.
This is the series where Holmes is depicted as the detective that does bark. It works, after a fashion.
Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.
What happened to the famous race horse Silver Blaze on the eve of a significant race? Sherlock Holmes must find out who took the horse, where the horse is, now, and who brutally murdered its trainer.
This is one of the great Brett episodes.
To be honest, knowing nothing about racing or horses, the story left me cold in the book.
This story does contain one of the most famous Holmesisms, but I won't spoil it.
The Brett version keeps everything clear. And as the stable owner, Colonel Ross, guest star Peter Barkworth is perfectly cast and even brings a touch of humor to an unpleasant role.
We Brett fans despaired when Burke left the role of Doctor Watson. In this episode Edward Hardwicke proves why he was such a readily-accepted replacement. It was not the actor but the perception of Watson that mattered. And Hardwicke was the more common perception of what Watson looked like in the mind's eye.
This is one of the great Brett episodes.
To be honest, knowing nothing about racing or horses, the story left me cold in the book.
This story does contain one of the most famous Holmesisms, but I won't spoil it.
The Brett version keeps everything clear. And as the stable owner, Colonel Ross, guest star Peter Barkworth is perfectly cast and even brings a touch of humor to an unpleasant role.
We Brett fans despaired when Burke left the role of Doctor Watson. In this episode Edward Hardwicke proves why he was such a readily-accepted replacement. It was not the actor but the perception of Watson that mattered. And Hardwicke was the more common perception of what Watson looked like in the mind's eye.
One of the best episodes from "The Return of Sherlock Holmes" volume of the Granada series. Holmes and Watson visit Dartmoor (the setting of "The Hound of the Baskervilles") to investigate the disappearance of a missing horse with a winning streak named Silver Blaze. Along the way the Horse's keeper is brutally killed. The story manages to be really clever as it is fun to watch as Holmes is able to little by little piece together all of what happened. The solution to it all is satisfying as well. Jeremy Brett as usual reminds us yet again as to why he is the perfect actor to play Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary sleuth and Edward Hardwicke makes for a Dr. Watson of equal perfection. The photography and location work is excellent here too. I definitely recommend it.
I would have been bored if this turned out to be a racetrack story, but SILVER BLAZE is a very clever mystery about a missing horse who disappears from his stable and goes somewhere on the moors. It takes Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson to solve the mystery of his disappearance.
Not overly complicated with baffling clues, it's one of the better Holmes stories. Little by little Holmes puts together pieces of what might have happened by questioning servants and stable boys and dealing with the owner of a nearby estate who knows something about the whole episode.
The usual good photography, especially for the outdoor settings on the moors and a nice performance by PETER BARKWORTH as the owner of Silver Blaze.
Not overly complicated with baffling clues, it's one of the better Holmes stories. Little by little Holmes puts together pieces of what might have happened by questioning servants and stable boys and dealing with the owner of a nearby estate who knows something about the whole episode.
The usual good photography, especially for the outdoor settings on the moors and a nice performance by PETER BARKWORTH as the owner of Silver Blaze.
Did you know
- TriviaIn the opening titles the producer's name appears twice and with two different spellings. The first credit is "Developed for Television by John Hawkesworth", and the second reads "Dramatised by John Hawksworth".
- GoofsAt the end of the race, a photographer photographs the winning horse and its owner using a camera of the era with a cloth hood. When the lens cap is removed, the subject of the photograph was required to stand perfectly still for several seconds while the camera collected enough light in order for the image to be sharp. However, the people in front of the camera continue to move chaotically and the cameraman does nothing about it. The resulting photograph would have been nothing but an unintelligible blur.
- Quotes
Inspector Gregory: Is there any other point to which you wish to draw my attention, Mr. Holmes?
Sherlock Holmes: To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.
Colonel Ross: But the dog did nothing in the night-time.
Sherlock Holmes: That is the curious incident.
- ConnectionsVersion of Silver Blaze (1923)
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