Literary adaptation
Works of literature have been adapted for film from the dawn of the industry. Some of the earliest examples come from the work of Georges Méliès, who pioneered many film techniques. In 1899, he released two adaptations — "Cinderella" based on the Brothers Grimm story of the same name and "King John", the first known film to be based on the works of Shakespeare. The 1900 film "Sherlock Holmes Baffled", directed by Arthur Marvin featured Arthur Conan Doyle's detective character Sherlock Holmes intruding upon a pseudo-supernatural burglary. The film, considered the first detective movie, ran for only 30 seconds and was originally intended to be shown in hand-cranked Mutoscope machines.
The Final Problem
William Gillette's 1899 stage play "Sherlock Holmes" is based on several stories, among them "The Final Problem." Films released in 1916 (starring Gillette as Holmes) and 1922 (starring John Barrymore), both titled "Sherlock Holmes", were based on the play, as well as a 1938 "Mercury Theatre on the Air" radio adaptation titled "The Immortal Sherlock Holmes", starring Orson Welles as Holmes, although in none of these retellings does Holmes die (and indeed in the two film versions he marries).