Basil Rathbone and Sherlock Holmes
It seems almost inconceivable that there could be any connection between Sherlock Holmes and Shakespearean stage actor Basil Rathbone. Basil (born Philip St. John Basil Rathbone in 1892) was well known in the 1930s as a swashbuckler appearing, usually as a villain, in films such as "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938) and "Romeo and Juliet" (1939) and “The Mark of Zorro” (1940). This last one was a film made for television in which Rathbone played the evil governor's henchman; Captain Esteban Pasquale. The denouement of the film gave Rathbone ample opportunity to show off his swordsmanship in a rapier duel with the heroic Zorro, played by Frank Langella. Zorro, like Holmes, is a hero who has featured in many productions.
Nine years after Langella's portrayal Republic Movies made a movie serial; “Ghost of Zorro” in which Clayton Moore played Zorro. This was the same year that Moore would start his most famous role; that of TV's Lone Ranger, a role he would continue in for 8 seasons until 1957. “The Lone Ranger” was the North American answer to Zorro; a masked crusader for justice who, like Zorro, would be portrayed by many actors.
Indeed, the Lone Ranger was back in the saddle as late as 2013 when Johnny Depp was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for his role of Tonto in a movie version of “The Lone Ranger”. This is a rarity for the usually acclaimed actor. For example, in 1994 Depp was among the nominees for a best actor Golden Globe for his role in Tim Burton's biopic "Ed Wood". This film saw Depp play the titular filmmaker of such dreadful movies as his master/disasterpiece "Plan 9 From Outer Space". Despite starring the wonderful Bela Lugosi the film is truly unwatchable. It has, for instance, been awarded two of Medveds' Golden Turkey Awards, for the Worst Director Ever and Worst Film.
Bela Lugosi is better remembered for his seminal role as Dracula in the 1931 Universal Studios film of the same name. The film is a loose interpretation of the 1897 gothic horror novel by Bram Stoker. Stoker wrote Dracula while working for Henry Irving. Indeed, he based the look and mannerisms of Dracula on Irving and hoped if it were ever to become a play Irving might consider the role. Henry Irving (born John Henry Brodribb) was a Victorian actor-manager of such importance that in 1895 he became the first actor to be knighted.
Much can be learnt of Irving's interesting life in the 1939 book "We Saw Him Act: a symposium on the art of Sir Henry Irving". This is a collection of writings about Sir Henry by many of his contemporaries and is compiled and edited by a former colleague Harry Arthur Saintsbury. Saintsbury was considered by many to be an authority on Irving and his works. However, it should not be forgotten that H. A. Saintsbury was an established actor in his own right and he played Sherlock Holmes in several productions; in 1903 he took on the role in the London version of William Gillette's play, in 1910 he played him in Conan Doyle's stage version of The Speckled Band and in 1916 he played him again in a movie version of The Valley of Fear.
As we can see then, there is an almost direct link between Basil Rathbone and Sherlock Holmes.
(Oh, and apparently Rathbone might have played Sherlock himself at some point or something.)