On the eve of October 31, fans of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson had good reason to indulge in oatmeal, discover the violin, can and smoke a pipe: on this day 130 years ago, in 1892, “A Study in Scarlet “was released – the first short story in Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective series.
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Conan Doyle hated the character he created. He called stories about him reading read and considered himself a master of the historical novel. But his hero was destined for a long life: the last collection was published in 1927. And how many films and telefilms, serials, animated films have been made about him! But, without a doubt, the best work of all time and of all peoples is The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson (1979 – 1986) directed by Igor Maslennikov.
Oatmeal, lady!
Julius Dunsky and Valery Frid wrote the screenplay for a series of films about Holmes on their own initiative. They wanted to have fun in the unprincipled expanses of the Victorian era, as Igor Maslennikov explained at this time. When the first photo was finished, there was a gag. In the original version, Sherlock, meeting Watson, asked, “Have you come from Afghanistan for a long time?” But in 1979, Soviet troops entered this country and were asked to repeat the reply. Now Holmes, prone to detail, says a ridiculous phrase: “How long has it been since the East?”
The actors for the main roles have not been approved for a long time. Officials said, “Who is this Holmes ?! We know Livanov: he is boisterous, unpredictable … And Solomin-Watson?! He has a snub-nosed Russian face!
“Yes, they didn’t want to approve of me and Rina Zelenaya,” complained Maslennikov. – They said that she was already of such an age that she could not bear her burdens.
The actress began acting at the age of 77. She spent ten hours on her feet. I couldn’t sit and rest: the plates of the corset sank painfully into my hips. By the way, Canadian film actress Rachel McAdams, who played Irene Adler in Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes (2009), solved the difficulties of wearing a corset like this: she ate a mountain of oatmeal every morning. On a padded stomach, the corset sat with a margin. After a few hours, the food was digested, her stomach deflated, and Rachel felt better. True, after some time the corset began to shift.
Once Livanov performed at the KGB club. A general approached him and asked him to unravel the complicated case.
– If an actor played Karl Marx, that doesn’t mean he’s writing a sequel to “Capital”, – the actor laughed.
The protagonist smokes a pipe: there were three of them in the series. The first was made by the famous craftsman Fedorov, nicknamed the grandfather, who made pipes for Stalin and Simenon. Soon the craftsman died under the wheels of a trolley bus and the pipe was stolen.
The second pipe was sculpted by the master’s students. She emigrated to the Lenfilm Museum. The third for 50 rubles. made the cameraman Vladimir Samarin. Livanov was supposed to give it to the Prince of Monaco so that the film was well received on the Monte Carlo TV market. As a result, he didn’t give it away, he smoked it himself. The pipe was so big that it could barely be held between the teeth – a third of the package fit inside.
Part of the series was shot in Pitsunda. The film crew lived in the House of Creativity of Writers. Vasily Livanov arrived with his mother-in-law and the Georgian taxi driver pleaded with him: “Vasiko, can I tell the boys? With the mother-in-law – to the sea! They will not believe, genatsvale! “
Speaking of which
- The filmmakers claim that there are many inconsistencies in Doyle’s stories. For example, the snake in the “Colored Ribbon” crawls along the cord. But reptiles can only move on a solid object, as they have to rely on something.
Photo source: Legion-Media
