#the red-headed league

[teaspoonnebula]

When Holmes and Watson go to a concert, this is what's happening in Watson's mind the whole time.

[allallestodo]

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

2.05 The Red-Headed League

[holmesxwatson]

“I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum routine of everyday life.”

[anneangel]

The way Watson in Victorian-era canon says "oh, god, yes! Take me to one of your dangerous cases!" goes like this:

“Well, I don’t like it, but I suppose it must be,” said I. “When do we start?”

“You are not coming.” (Said Sherlock).

“Then you are not going,” said I. “I give you my word of honour, and I never broke it in my life, that I will take a cab straight to the police-station and give you away, unless you let me share this adventure with you".

The way Sherlock in Victorian era canon says "I need a partner!" and like this:

"I think that I had better go, Holmes." Said Watson.

"Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity to miss it."

"But your client --"

"Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best attention." (...)

"If not, I should much prefer to communicate with you alone." Said the client.

I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say before this gentleman anything which you may say to me."

And other:

With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door behind me.

"You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear Watson," he said cordially.

"I was afraid that you were busy."

"So I am. Very much so."

"Then I can wait in the next room."

"Not at all. This gentleman has been my partner and helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." [explains Holmes to the client].

The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his eyes.

"Try the settee," said Holmes to Watson, relapsing into his armchair and putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in judicial moods. "I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own little adventures."

[o-uncle-newt]

Considering either starting to Sherlock Holmespost on here or starting a sideblog...

I'd say a mix of canon, the Game, and mostly-Granada adaptation stuff- but I feel like I already have two main topics for this one and that's probably enough. Will think about this.

I will say that the fact that I don't already have a Holmes blog is crazy to me- I've been such a fan as long as I can remember, I did a tenth grade music class presentation on Sarasate because he was the one who played the concert that Holmes and Watson go to in The Red-Headed League. (It made it especially fun when Granada not only showed them going to that concert in the adaptation but literally cast someone as Sarasate!)

[flammentanz]

Erich Schellow as Sherlock Holmes and Paul Edwin Roth as Dr. Watson in "Die Liga der Rothaarigen" ("The Red-Headed League")

[principiumindividuationis777]

[worst-sherlockholmes-story]

vote for the WORSE story!

The Red-Headed League: Holmes is contacted by a pawn shop owner who worked a mundane clerical job for eight weeks before finding his workplace mysteriously dissolved. Holmes deduces that his assistant at the pawn shop wanted him out of the shop for several hours a day so that he could dig a tunnel into a nearby bank in order to rob it.

The Adventure of Black Peter: Holmes is contacted by Hopkins about a harpoon murder. Holmes later catches a would-be robber who explains that he suspects his father was killed by "Black" Peter, the victim. Holmes deduces that Black Peter's murderer must have been a seaman and places an advertisement to catch him. The murderer explains that he blackmailed Black Peter by threatening to expose Peter's murder, then killed Peter after Peter threatened him during a meeting.

[litandlifequotes]

My life is spent in one long effort to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little problems help me to do so.

The Red-Headed League by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

[mariana-oconnor]

The Red-Headed League Pt 2

until the comical side of the affair so completely overtopped every other consideration that we both burst out into a roar of laughter.

Professional people being professional. Mmhm. You'd think a doctor would be better at keeping a straight face, I'm pretty sure humans have been sticking inappropriate things in inappropriate places since time immemorial. But these two are giggling like school boys. A lovely image, but I'd be a bit mad if they did it to me. I can't blame Mr Wilson for being mad at them.

Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr Duncan Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him.

Surprising no one at all. I said it in my comments about the first part, but I love how this whole scam has been echoed in heist shows/films right up to modern day. Acquire offices under false pretences, create hype around fake business, use office to make business look legit, pack up shop and leave an empty office behind and no one with any clue what the mark is talking about.

"I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say that if I waited I should hear by post.

I mean, honestly, for someone who is supposedly unassociated with the league in question, that's more than he should be able to say. A more normal response would be 'That's fucking weird, boss. I think it might be a scam.' But clearly Victor is entirely trustworthy, so I shouldn't question him. Totally trustworthy.

On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have gained on every subject which comes under the letter A.

I expect that pub quizzes weren't around in 1890, but if they were, Mr Wilson would be an excellent addition to your team.

The internet tells me pub quizzes only date back to the 70s. Which seems late, as I swear my Mum's dad and brothers used to go religiously to their local league when she was young, but maybe I got the timeline on that wrong.

Further investigation has found me to be correct as the very league my family used to frequent is apparently referenced in an article from the early 60s. In fact it quotes someone who absolutely must have known my grandad and might even be in the picture of the quiz team on top of our bookcase.

This tangent has been brought to you by my love of trivia... Pun intended.

Back to the 1890s

"Why did you pick him?"

"Because he was handy and would come cheap."

"At half-wages, in fact."

"Yes."

A lesson that stands to this day: if something seems impossibly good value, it probably is. And if someone is willing to work for less than they're worth, one of you is the bad guy.

"As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this matter."

This reads like a contradiction, but I'm pretty sure it's true. It's the weird things that make crimes stand out and lead to the people committing them. The crimes that are completely run of the mill, like house burglaries, are one of a thousand almost identical crimes. But if a juggling clown robbed a shoe shop and rode off on a unicycle, that would cut down the suspects drastically.

"To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes."

Infamous line is infamous. All problems may be measured by how many pipes it takes to solve them. The standard SI unit of mysteriousness, I believe.

"Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare you for a few hours?"

"I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very absorbing."

Let's hope no one has stuck a candlestick anywhere unmentionable... But seriously, you can just ditch your patients for the day? And I complain about waiting times for the NHS!

Watson is just: 'My bff asked me to play hooky. Lol. Byeee!' and these people are paying him.

"Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, in my judgment. the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known something of him before."

Holmes, the man is a terrible con artist. He's the most suspicious and he was so obvious it was embarrassing. And you're putting him right behind you in the list? (I assume Mycroft is number 1)

I guess that being intelligent doesn't mean you have to be good at conning people, but really, he's terrible at it. He couldn't have been more obviously involved if he had a sandwich board on saying 'The red-headed league is a con. Ask me how!'

I know Mr Wilson didn't work it out, but literally everyone else did. I bet that 14 year old child labour maid Mr Wilson hires knows he's a con man and just doesn't care because she's not paid enough to.

"Not him."

"What then?"

"The knees of his trousers."

I have been on this website too long, because my mind absolutely went into the gutter here. Which, incidentally, was also one of the places I thought of his knees being.

"Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it."

Is it a bank? Please be a bank. I honestly can't remember. But I want it to be a bank. Just for that good, old-fashioned bank robbery shenanigans. Although I will accept jewellery shop.

"There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building depot."

Oh yeah. Got to love a bank robbery. Classic.

This has been copied so many times in media it's difficult to tell whether contemporary audiences would have been as able to work it out as modern readers. But it's a classic for a reason.

Also worth noticing that there's a Vegetarian restaurant in London in 1890. You'd have been hard pressed to find a vegetarian restaurant in most parts of England in 1990, so that's ahead of its time.

My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes were as unlike those of Holmes, the sleuth-hound, Holmes the relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was possible to conceive.

Watson's crush is showing again. 😆

This description keeps going in a further totally heterosexual way. Look, I'm not saying straight guys can't appreciate their bff's 'languid, dreamy eyes', but when directly compared to his descriptions of other characters... This is exceptionally effusive is all I'm saying.

And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket.

Must. Not. Make. Joke.

[quill-of-thoth]

Letters from Watson: The Red-Headed League

Crimes in Context I don't have a lot to say about the actual bank heist. Mostly because digging into and out of secure locations is a known literary trope, and London has a history long enough that I'm willing to accept tunneling through cellars into other building vacuae towards a bank as plausible. London is, after all, mostly built on London. This is however a good time to talk about the types of cases Watson seems to prefer to record. We've covered half of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, a quarter of Memoirs, and a smattering of the cases published post-1900 by now, and the majority of Watson's recollections seem to fall into a few distinct types: the rescue of a young woman in danger (usually with a side of her financial abuse: see The Speckled Band and The Sign of the Four), the unexplained disappearance of people or important documents (See The Noble Bachelor, The Second Stain), the client who seeks Holmes' help slightly too late to save the situation (The Resident Patient, The Five Orange Pips) and the weird or absurd coincidence that unravels into evidence of a crime: The Musgrave Ritual, The Man with the Twisted Lip, The Red-Headed League. The coincidences are usually the cases that involve the most deduction and the more systematic examination of the crime. Holmes examines the premises of the incident, reasons out potential motives (for example: that it is VERY WEIRD in this time period for a man in his thirties to take up a clerk position at half pay... and have such a comparatively expensive hobby as photography, so clearly he has something else going on) and often uses his background knowledge of the high profile criminals of London to draw conclusions. There are also some bonuses in this particular case that I'm not sure are intended.

Although "Spaulding" professes to be using Wilson's basement as a dark room, Wilson does not complain about the smell - and developing photographs is a smelly business, even though the chemicals used in modern film are different than the processes common in the 1890's.

Wilson works industriously to copy the Encyclopedia Brittanica, to the point that he buys his own ink and paper. Presumably if the aim of the Red-Headed League was to provide a living to red-headed men for the minimum of work, paper and ink would be provided (Although the extra money might be remuneration for the equipment.)

[allallestodo]

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

2.05 The Red-Headed League

[bloodurged]

“all the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect happiness, while his gently smiling face and his languid dreamy eyes were as unlike holmes, the sleuth-hound as it was possible to conceive. when I saw him so wrapped in music, I felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set himself to hunt down.”

[bakerstreetbabble]

Granada TV Series Review: "The Red-Headed League" (S02, E05)

This week, I come to what is surely one of the most delightful episodes of the entire series of adaptations from Granada TV! "The Red-Headed League" has long been a favorite story of most Sherlockians, and was on a list of Arthur Conan Doyle's favorite Holmes stories as well. The Granada adaptation shows Jeremy Brett at the absolute top of his game, and is a real treat for any viewer. Fans of British comedy will certainly recognize the actors playing John Clay (Tim McInnerny from the popular Black Adder series), and Duncan Ross (Richard Wilson from One Foot in the Grave).

This episode really has it all: humor, adventure, and as always, the rapport between Holmes and Watson, played to such great effect by Jeremy Brett and David Burke. The episode give Sherlockians so much to enjoy, including Holmes's reference to the famous "three pipe problem" and the great shot of Jeremy Brett, knees up and smoking, a picture perfect reference to a Sidney Paget illustration from the original story.

There are so many entertaining moments from this episode, but a couple stood out for me, one of which was Jeremy Brett's leap over the settee as Watson enters towards the beginning of the episode, accompanied by a shout of "You couldn't have come at a better time!" (Fans of the I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere podcast will recognize the clip immediately from their intro sequence.) And then there's the reaction from Holmes and Watson as Mr. Jabez Wilson concludes his tale. Brett and Burke burst into laughter, which can hardly be helped, as Mr. Wilson tells them all the words he learned, transcribing the first volume of the Encyclopaedia Brittanica. Little moments of humor, some from the original story and others not, make the episode tremendously entertaining.

The episode also serves as a setup for the next week's conclusion to the first series, "The Final Problem." We get several scenes with Professor Moriarty, as well as fairly lengthy sequence in the bank vault, wherein Holmes and Inspector Jones discuss Moriarty's role in London crime. All this material, of course, is not from the source material, as "The Red-Headed League" was only the second Holmes adventure published in The Strand magazine, and "The Final Problem" came much later. But in the continuity of this first series from Granada, it works quite well to prepare the viewer for the big series finale.

As I prepare myself to watch "The Final Problem" next week, it's a bit of a bittersweet moment, as I know that episode also represents the final episode for David Burke as Dr. Watson. I enjoy Burke's Watson portrayal immensely. I don't know that Edward Hardwicke, who ended up playing the good doctor for much longer than Burke did, ever quite matched up to Burke's version. Harwicke was no slouch, of course, and he brought plenty of good moments to the role himself, but I suspect Burke will always occupy a special place in my heart.

As I continue this project of watching and reviewing all of the Granada Sherlock Holmes adaptations, I know that the quality of the series will have its ups and downs. As Jeremy Brett's health grew worse and worse over time, the overall quality tends to decline...or so I've always read. (And, having seen some of the later episodes, particularly the adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles, I'm inclined to agree with that appraisal.) Meanwhile, it's a marvelous experience to watch all of the episodes in order, and to be able to enjoy the performances when they were at the excellent level of "The Red-Headed League." It was truly a real gift to legions of Holmes fans. Please enjoy watching the episode below...

[chasinkookioe]

I think it’s funny to think that whenever Jason shows up to ANYTHING with a duffle bag the batfamily and co think there could be decapitated heads inside:

Dick: whatcha got there Jason?

Jason: my luggage for the mission??

Dick:

Jason:

Dick:

Jason: HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU GUYS THERE AREN’T HEADS IN HERE

Dick: THERES ALWAYS THE POSSIBILITY

Jason: I HAVEN’T KILLED ANYONE IN MONTHS

Dick: THAT WE KNOW OF

I imagine that then the Justice League becomes weary of Jason with duffle bags due to the bats. So the outlaws could be helping with a mission and:

Superman: Hood if it’s alright we’d like to search your bag?

Red Hood: there’s just my gear inside

Superman: we just want to double check it is your gear…

Red Hood:

Red Hood: not you guys too

Red Hood: THERE AREN’T ANY DECAPITATED HEADS INSIDE

Arsenal: at this point you should just put heads in there.

Red Hood: I’m not trying to get back on the Justice Leagues Wanted list Roy

[flammentanz]

“Die Liga der Rothaarigen” (“The Red-Headed League”)

Erich Schellow: Sherlock Holmes Paul Edwin Roth: Dr. John H. Watson

(the sleeping gentleman is Helmut Peine as Jabez Wilson)

Watson: “Holmes, may I remind you, that we wanted to go to the concert tonight.” Holmes: “We’ll have to cancel the tickets.” Watson: “By "we" you are probarbly refering to me.” Holmes: “You guessed it. And please inform Mr. Merryweather. How I judge him, you will find him at St. James’s Hall. He shall be at the bank at ten o'clock in the evening.” Watson: “Shall I escort him hither or shall I come back?” Holmes: “Neither. I think your pleasing zeal is enough for another task.” Watson:” Well, for a hundred, if I can fulfil them self-reliant.” Holmes: “Then go and see Inspector Jones. I don’t want to withheld the arrest of John Clay from him.” Watson: “You can rely on me.” Holmes: “As always, my dear Watson."