It is December 1936 and Broadway star William Gillette, admired the world over for his leading role in the play Sherlock Holmes, has invited his fellow cast-members to his Connecticut castle for a weekend of revelry. But when one of the guests is stabbed to death, the festivities in this isolated house of tricks and mirrors quickly turn dangerous. Then it's up to Gillette himself, as he assumes the persona of his beloved Holmes, to track down the killer before the next victim appears. The danger and hilarity are non-stop in this glittering whodunit set during the Christmas holidays.
For seven years, beginning in 1939, Basil Rathbone was Sherlock Holmes, not just in a successful series of fourteen films, but in almost 220 half hour radio shows as well. Sadly, many of those radio shows no longer exist and for much of the 1944-45 season not even the scripts could be found. Until now. Here are twelve of the scripts for those missing radio shows. Twelve adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, unheard of and unread for over seventy years, written by Leslie Charteris, creator of Simon Templar The Saint, and Denis Green. Come with us now, for we have a Doctor's appointment. Let's go and listen to what Doctor Watson has to say...
Get your deerstalker cap on-the play's afoot! Comedic genius Ken Ludwig (Lend Me a Tenor, Moon Over Buffalo) transforms Arthur Conan Doyle's classic The Hound of the Baskervilles into a murderously funny adventure. Sherlock Holmes is on the case. The male heirs of the Baskerville line are being dispatched one by one. To find their ingenious killer, Holmes and Watson must brave the desolate moors before a family curse dooms its newest heir. Watch as our intrepid investigators try to escape a dizzying web of clues, silly accents, disguises, and deceit as five actors deftly portray more than 40 characters. Does a wild hellhound prowl the moors of Devonshire? Can our heroes discover the truth in time? Join the fun and see how far from elementary the truth can be.
Unpack your deerstalker cap, your calabash pipe and your pocket magnifying glass––the great detective is back! It seems that, among the effects of the renowned Dr. John Watson, was found a memoir which begins:
"The dreadful case of the blood crucifer occurred in London in 1887 and formed one of the most painful and alarming episodes in my long association with Mr. Sherlock Holmes. We were young, and most of our career lay before us. If some other hand be tempted to present it to the public in narrative form, it will, I hope, become apparent why I considered it best to leave unrendered, the heart of this appalling story.
It begun, some thirty years before, in India, during the Great Mutiny of the Red Fort of Agra..."
Thus, playwright Paul Giovanni has stepped into the illustrious shoes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and presented an ever-increasing audience of Holmesian admirers with a new spine-chiller.
From The Red Fort's hundred gates to an opium den in London's Limshouse district, Holmes' astounding deductive powers unravel the mystery of a bloody curse. Nefarious actions and delicious thrills abound.
Based upon the stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, William Gillette's play in a book edition, illustrated by Frederic Dorr Steel–with his Reminiscent Notes–and the Introduction by Vincent Starrett, was first published by Doubleday Doran in 1935, and although differing somewhat from the Samuel French Play Edition, 1922, which gives both William Gillette and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as authors, subsequently became a coveted and scare book. The present edition is printed from the original Doubleday Doran plates, including illustrations and dust jacket.
