Granada Discussion Post: Silver Blaze

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

Let's talk telly in the discussion post for Granada's adaptation of Silver Lodge. If you haven't seen this episode yet, you can find it at YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Video, and DVD. Follow me behind the jump for my random thoughts and impressions. Please add your own in the comments!

Canon discussion for Silver Blaze is available in the canon discussion post.


- Ah, this is the good stuff! It's a fun episode for a great story. The interaction in the story between Holmes and Watson is sublime, and that translates beautifully here too. I particularly love the little looks of pride and small gestures of praise Holmes gives when Watson makes astute points of inquiry -- and he makes several!

- Holmes and Watson are both detectives, finding clues and conjuring important questions at the right moments, something Watson was doing in medicine before he joined Holmes doing it in crime. Watching Holmes work to develop Watson's innate detective skills is something I love in all adaptations of the Sherlock Holmes canon. It works so well here in Granada, and it's the point that really won me over for Elementary, the new American adaptation, too. "A long shot, Watson. A very long shot," Holmes says in this Granada episode as he takes a guess with the sheep. It reminded me of the last episode of Elementary, when Watson tries and fails to guess the location of the missing woman's body. "If it had been you," she says to Holmes, "she would have been in that trunk." Watson doesn't give up, though, despite her challenges. No Watson ever does, and her Holmes, as Granada's, continues to offer his encouragement and his tutelage. (Apologies for the Elementary tangent. I just love comparing the different adaptations of Sherlock Holmes over time and space, contrasting them also with the canon text. It's fascinating to see what remains the same with the characters in every version, and what changes.)

- Jeremy Brett is on his game in this episode and it is fabulous. I just adore the way he inhabits the authentic dialogue and the character himself. What makes his characterization are the wonderful little moments. Did you catch him tasting the dust from the window? Ah, so perfect. Perfect also are the neat little display with the cataract knife and the apple, and showing that Sherlock Holmes is capable of kindness and empathy too, when he pats the hand of the distraught maid to soothe her after she recounts the hideous discovery of Straker's body. Having said that... the "baaaa" sheep noise he makes at the end of the episode at dinner with Ross and Watson made me cringe a bit. I found it more embarrassing than humorous. That may just be me.

- A few random thoughts:
Losing the stupid and pointless gypsy misdirection from the canon story is a good thing.
This is the second time we've seen a good soapy wash and scrub delivered by Sherlock Holmes be the climax of the episode.
The scenes at the racetrack are terrific in their detail, particularly the elaborate weighing chair for the jockeys, and the wonderful advertising signs for the bookies, complete with little slogans like "Lucan never owes" or "Civility and prompt payment".

Comments

I

[jcporter1.livejournal.com]

Iam with you on Elementary. I have watched woith great disappointment every week until this last episode. Now she is not his nursemaid, we can get on with it.
And, Yes, I love this story as well. And shall be looking up the Granada version.

Re: I

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

Elementary took time to grow on me. But the instant Holmes began suggesting Watson join him as a partner and an apprentice, I started warming up to it. Beginning their relationship as one of business rather than friendship was something difficult for me to reconcile, because their natural friendship is so integral to these characters, but they have earned that friendship by now.

If you haven't seen Granada, do check it out! It's all available on YouTube for free, and Jeremy Brett is an incredible Holmes. Try to catch some of the earlier episodes in the series before he was sick. It's some genius acting.

[tripleransom.livejournal.com]

Oh, I do love this episode!
Jeremy Brett has his game back and it's such a relief after seeing him so listless in Wisteria Lodge. From that first indignant "HA" in Response to Colonel Ross's dismissive remark about amateurs, to flinging himself on the ground to check out the crime scene, he's all nervous energy, almost like the earliest episodes.
However did he manage to keep the grey coat clean after lying down on the mat like that to look over the muddy patch, BTW? Anyway, Holmes is brilliant, the story is interesting, and Granada certainly didn't spare the expense in making this episode.
This time, the changes they made to the story work for the best, fixing ACD's racing slip ups and making Silver Blazes's victory an honest one.
A couple of points that amused me:
First off, tracking a horse is not generally so hard. When they stand around for any length of time, especially when they are nervous, there are usually - ahem - traces plain for all to see. But nevermind that, it wouldn't have been mentioned in polite society.
I was very impressed by the lengths to which Granada went to make the horsey parts of the episode authentic. The gallops over the downs were real and Silver Blaze was certainly a real Thoroughbred, as were all the others; recruited, no doubt from a local training stable. (Contrast Silver Blaze with Shoscombe Prince later on, when they didn't care so much.)
Of course, making the reveal come before the race, makes it legal, thank goodness. The racecourse scenes are absolutely authentic except for the very modern safety railing (oops!) which had probably just been installed at that track, which I believe was somewhere in Wales, in 1988. It's offset like that to prevent any chance of catching a horses hoof or jockey's leg and was probably not even in use here in the US at that time in hunt race settings such as this.
I also loved the crowd scenes and the bookies. They very much resembled the races I used to go to in my youth, except that the standard of dress here is a lot higher; there were very few top hats in evidence at the races I remember! I used to bet with bookies whose slogans were very similar.
If you look closely, you will note that the horse whose face Holmes washes is not the same horse who plays Silver Blaze. As a young Thoroughbred, he probably wouldn't hold still for the scene, so they used a double.
It's also cool to see how well Jeremy Brett handles the horses. Note how gives SB a pat and a soothing word and how close he stands after the race. That horse had just run, or galloped anyway - 'SB' is all foamy. Brett was, of course, a horseman himself, and it shows. Actors who don't ride generally stand as far away as they can and minimize contact. It's easy to see how uncomfortable they are, but Brett/Holmes is totally at ease. I also like his little smile of satisfaction as he tucks the wad of notes away that he won from the bookie.
Of course, the dog in the night time is enough to make the episode all by itself. All in all, one of my favorites!

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

Brett has the air of a horseman, doesn't he? Of course, that man would look marvelous doing just about anything, so it goes without saying he would be brilliant atop a horse too. :)