Sherlock Holmes Baffled
"Sherlock Holmes Baffled" marks the first in an observable trend of early film-makers to show the character as a figure of fun; in this case the somewhat louchely dressed Holmes is left "baffled" by a burglar, in contrast with the detective prowess displayed by his literary namesake. William K. Everson in his book "The Detective in Film" noted that "Sherlock Holmes Baffled", in common with all other silent detective films "labored under the difficulty of not being able to conduct prolonged interrogations or oral deductions ... the stress was on mystery or physical action rather than on literary-derived sleuthings." It was only in 1916 that William Gillette's "Sherlock Holmes" attempted a serious adaptation of Conan Doyle's character. Michael Pointer has suggested that the appearance and costume of the anonymous actor in "Sherlock Holmes Baffled" is an imitation of Gillette's stage portrayal of Holmes. Gillette's play "Sherlock Holmes" had made its Broadway debut at the Garrick Theater on November 6, 1899.
Sherlock Holmes
"Guinness World Records" has listed Holmes as the "most portrayed movie character", with more than 70 actors playing the part in over 200 films. His first screen appearance was in the 1900 Mutoscope film, "Sherlock Holmes Baffled". The detective has appeared in many foreign-language versions, including a Russian miniseries broadcast in November 2013. With 24 episodes per season, by the end of season two of "Elementary" Jonny Lee Miller became the actor who had portrayed Sherlock Holmes the most in television and/or film beating Jeremy Brett with forty-one television episodes and Eille Norwood with forty-seven silent films.