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From 1921 to 1923, Stoll Pictures produced a series of silent black-and-white films based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. Forty-five short films and two feature length films were produced featuring Eille Norwood in the role of Holmes and Hubert Willis cast as Dr. Watson with the exception of the final film, ''The Sign of Four'', where Willis was replaced with Arthur Cullin. Consequently, Norwood holds the record for most appearances as Sherlock Holmes in film.〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=On the trail of the cinematic Sherlock Holmes )〕 ==Production== Sir Oswald Stoll, an Australian-born Irish theatre manager〔 ran music halls and West End stages until WWI when he segued into film production.〔 Beginning in 1919, Stoll opened a series of cinemas and purchased a disused aircraft factory to create the then-largest film studio in Britain.〔 In 1920, Stoll purchased the rights to produce films based on Sherlock Holmes' tales from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Stoll embarked on the production of his first series of fifteen short films entitled ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' in 1921. The films were directed by Maurice Elvey〔 and then 59-year-old actor Eille Norwood〔 was chosen to portray Sherlock Holmes, with Hubert Willis cast as Dr Watson. Norwood was obsessed with portraying Holmes true to the written stories. He re-read all the stories published up to that time〔 and even learned to play the violin.〔 Norwood had a reputation as a very professional actor with an incredible ability with make-up and disguise. There is a story that when Elvey asked Norwood to do an impromptu screen test, Norwood excused himself to the dressing room and appeared a few minutes later "an entirely new person".〔 The initial series of fifteen shorts entitled ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' was so successful, that Stoll moved to film a feature length adaptation of ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' also in 1921. Unlike ''Adventures'', ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' was less faithful to the original story. While film critics such as ''The New York Times'' were less than enthused with the adaptation, Doyle enjoyed it claiming "On seeing him (Norwood ) in ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' I thought I had never seen anything more masterly."〔 Critical success returned with the second instalment of fifteen short films entitled ''The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' in 1922. Elvey was replaced as director by George Ridgwell. A final collection of fifteen shorts was released in 1923 entitled ''The Last Adventures of Sherlock Holmes''. The series was successful enough to spawn one last feature length film, ''The Sign of Four'' released later in 1923. ''The Sign of Four'' featured a return of Elvey to the helm and the replacement of Hubert Willis with Arthur Cullin as Watson. Elvey considered Willis too old to play a romantic interest for Mary Morstan. Cullin had earlier assayed the role in 1916's ''The Valley of Fear'' opposite H. A. Sainstbury's Holmes. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sherlock Holmes (Stoll film series)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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