The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes Collection

Jeremy Brett's "Sherlock Holmes" is probably best intertretation of the fictional sleuth.

Jeremy Brett absorbed the character of Sherlock Holmes by osmosis. Holmes with his quirkiness, his twitchiness, his sudden barking laughter, his smile that vanishes before it reaches his eyes, and of course his brilliance. It could certainly be said that if any man was Sherlock Holmes it was Jeremy Brett. But with Holmes we must have Watson. In a couple episodes in the "Memoir" series, in which Holmes is absent Mycroft stands in for his brother ( "The Golden Pince-nez" and "The Mazarin Stone"). Mycroft is a curious personality in his own right. The six episodes in the Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes series are the following:The Three GablesThe Dying DetectiveThe Golden Pince-nezThe Red CircleThe Mazarin StoneThe Cardboard BoxWe watched Jeremy Brett as he waxed more haggard over the series. He had a heart condition that would kill him in 1995 at age 61. Looking at the series, now, Jeremy's physical decline is very painful to watch and yet he never lets Holmes go, he is the great detective to the end. We love him!My greatest pleasure in the Granada films is the magic of the cameramen in all the Holmes films and these cameramen love nuances. The camera constantly zeroes in on a person's eyes until they fill the screen. Holmes is not spared, he gets the closeups, too, the great eyes ringed with shadow. Granada brings Victorian England to life like no other producer. Aspen branches so heavy with rain they droop to the ground; a magnificent garden viewed through a filigreed gate; geraniums spilling over from huge jardinieres; the wonderful high-stepping coach horses' clopping hooves echoing on the cobblestones, the camera at fetlock level; tapestries and carpets glowing like jewels in the homes of the wealthy; Holmes and Watson stepping out in top hats, in fact the costuming throughout for all the players is wonderful; gaslights eerie in the fog; reflections of the players in mirrors, or perhaps the glass of paintings, even eyeglasses,so that you see both the actor himself in the foreground, and his reflection in the background...well, I could burble on forever.My favorite of the six stories is "The Cardboard Box" which takes place during the Christmas season. A Victorian Christmas is a wonderful thing and Holmes adds to the festive arrangements by fitting various Christmas baubles to his array of bubbling glass beakers, crucibles, flasks and tubes. But the overall tone of this fine episode is an almost weary resignation towards the follies of mankind- the hate, the treachery, the jealous love which leads to murder. "When will it ever end?" says Holmes to Watson.If you haven't tried any of the Amazon Instant Downloads, do take the plunge! The SD or "Standard Definition" selection I can find no fault with even though it's a dollar cheaper than the HD or "High Definition". At the bottom of the screen will be a slider bar showing the advance of the film. You can toggle the bar with your mouse so that you may repeat any particularly delicious scene.(You can hide the bar if you wish).

"The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" is Grenada Television's final installment of one-hour Sherlock Holmes episodes, starring the superb Jeremy Brett as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's master sleuth and Edward Hardwicke as the loyal Dr.Watson. Jeremy Brett was undoubtedly the finest Sherlock Holmes actor of his time; this series marks his last participation in his signature role.According to the production notes, Grenada's decision to film six last episodes was made in haste and made more difficult by the unavailability of some of the series actors. Edward Hardwicke had other committments and was not present for "The Golden Pince-Nez". Charles Gray, reprising his role as Mycroft Holmes, fills in for Watson. Colin Jeavon (Inspector Lestrade) was unavailable for this series; his place is taken by an Inspector Hawkins. Jeremy Brett was seriously ill with the ailments that would eventually take his life. He appears visibly unhealthy, and his screen time in, for example, "The Mazarin Stone" is limited to very brief appearences at the beginning and end of the story. His normally energetic performance as Holmes is visible in only some of the episodes of this series. Conversly, Rosalie Williams as Holmes' landlady Mrs. Hudson get increased screen time, especially in "The Dying Detective" and "The Red Circle.""The Marazin Stone" is actually a clever melding of two different stories, the one of the title and "The Three Garridebs." Mycroft Holmes pursues a suspected jewel on one story arc while Dr. Watson deals with a suspected deception of an old teacher on the other. The two story arcs eventually mesh; Mycroft Holmes' confrontation with the villain on the London Docks smacks of borrowings from a martial arts movie but nicely wraps all the loose ends.The last episode in the series is especially poignant. Holmes and Watson pursue a missing woman who was part of an unfortunate love triangle in "The Cardboard Box." The story has been slightly rewritten from the Conan Doyle original but fans are likely to enjoy the improvements. Jeremy Brett summons his old fire for his final turn as Holmes, surrounded by a solid cast. Ciaran Hinds (Persuasion) has an excellent turn as the sailor at the apex of the triangle.Period authenticity was a hallmark of production through this and the other series. Noteworthy also is the effort to add in such items as telephones and motorcars as they would have appeared over Holmes' fictional working lifetime."The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" is a very worthwhile dramatization of the Sherlock Holmes stories by a veteran cast and production team. They are very highly recommended to fans of the series and of Jeremy Brett's matchless characterization of Sherlock Holmes, here in his last bow.

Excellent quality product.

One of 5 DVD compilations of the Granada TV series featuring Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes. Being an ardent fan of the Sherlock Holmes cannon, I've seen all the old classics, Basil Rathbone, etc. In my opinion, Jeremy Brett is THE Sherlock Holmes.The entire set is available on DVD, however, I could find only two sources that offer transcriptions to Blue Ray. There is a Japanese site that offers the complete set in one series but it is very expensive. The only other Blue Ray offering I could find is this Spanish Amazon.com site. All of Jeremy Brett's episodes are captured in 5 Blue Ray disks. I do not have anything to compare this Blue Ray series against, i.e. the previously mentioned DVD offering, however, generally speaking, the quality of the transcription is very good. Menus are in Spanish and even after selecting "Ingles" (English) as the preferred language, the titles of the episodes remain in Spanish. If your Spanish isn't very good, and mine is not, you may be confused as to which episode you're watching. In my view, this is a minor quibble because I'm overjoyed to have the series on Blue Ray - at a very affordable prices.

Leider hat man im ersten Filmfall "The Marzarin Stone" zwei Holmes-Fälle (Mazarin Stein/Die drei Garribeds) miteinander vermixt, was einfach zu viel des Guten war. Und dies, obwohl jeder der beiden Fälle für sich allein einiges zu bieten gehabt hätte. So wurde zum Beispiels Homes genialer Geniestreich mit der Wachspuppe, die im Mazarin-Fall eine interessante Rolle spielt, einfach weggelassen. Dass außerdem entgegen Doyles Aufzeichnungen Sherlock Holmes einfach gegen seinen Bruder Microft ausgetauscht wurde, ist unverständlich und nimmt dem Fall zusätzlich Atmosphäre.

Una edición muy buena para una serie estupenda. Es la ultima entrega de esta serie y como en las anteriores, la calidad del Blu Ray es estupenda

Once again Jeremy Brett comes up trumps as the best actor to have ever played the part, it was a pity there were only 6 episodes in this the last series.