historically interesting example of UK silent Sherlock Holmes shorts

Evidently, more than 40 two-reel silent Sherlock Holmes films were made between 1920-23 in the UK by "Stoll Picture Productions" and starring stage actor Eille Norwood as Sherlock Holmes. I own three of them and this adaptation of THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP is a good example of these short films. Dr. Watson is summoned to an opium den in a seedy London neighborhood to find a man who was reported lost. While there, he meets Sherlock Holmes in disguise, who reveals himself, takes the Doctor back to Baker Street, and explains the case to him. The man's wife, who initially summoned Dr. Watson, also appears. Basically, the short takes sequences from the story and strings them together as part of the tale told by Holmes through inter-titles. The seedy atmosphere is convincing, and suspense is created well when the wife sees her husband in the opium den window and when the "man with the twisted lip" is confronted at different times. It's also interesting to see how the Baker Street flat is depicted and to see the relationship between Holmes and Watson. As a Sherlock Holmes fan, I found this silent short quite interesting. I saw a rumor on the internet that these shorts are being restored by a company owned by Andrew Lloyd Webber (!!!). I'm not sure how many survive, but I for one would enjoy seeing all the surviving short films from this series. These Holmes films starring Eille Norwood were quite popular in England and in the USA, and they are a fascinating curio.

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Holmes finds that the disappearance of respectable middle class Neville St. Clair may be linked to a filthy beggar living above an opium den.

Eille Norwood in The Man with the Twisted Lip (1921)

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The Man with the Twisted Lip

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