The Sherlock Holmes Collection |  | Actors: Peter Cushing, Nigel Stock, Douglas Wilmer, Peter Madden, Grace Arnold
Studio: A&E HOME VIDEO
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $7.97
as of 9/4/2010 13:50 MDT details
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New (51) Used (14) from $7.86
Seller: TimTomThumb
Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 6,096
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Discs: 3
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Running Time: 296 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.3 x 0.7
MPN: 733961155280
UPC: 733961155280
EAN: 0733961155280
ASIN: B001TE6P78
Release Date: December 15, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Collection of the only five remaining episodes of the BBC's 1960's series.
Amazon.com
There will certainly be some car-door slamming on Baker Street with the release of this essential collection of the long-thought-lost 1960s BBC TV series. The set contains five surviving episodes starring the venerable Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes, whose deerstalker he first tried on for size in the 1959 Hammer production of The Hound of the Baskervilles. That classic mystery gets the two-part treatment here and is easily the highlight of the set. The other stories--"A Study in Scarlet," "The Sign of Four," "The Blue Carbuncle," and "The Boscombe Valley Mystery," each clocking in at less than an hour--are a little worse for the abridgment, but watching Cushing's cool and collected Holmes is good to while away an hour or two. To paraphrase Paul Simon, every generation throws a Sherlock Holmes up the pop charts, and Cushing ranks with the best of them (Basil Rathbone, Jeremy Brett). "I am no policeman," he proclaims at one point. "I am the last and highest court of appeal in detection. When the official police are out of their depth, the matter is laid before me." His partner Watson (Nigel Stock) is wrong when he states that "anticipation is the worst part of any adventure." On the contrary, one eagerly anticipates Holmes's arrival on the scene, where he will meticulously examine the clues and use his "remarkable powers of observation" to solve cases the police consider closed. Each baffling mystery is but "child's play" or "commonplace" to him. As Watson gasps after Holmes makes another brilliant deduction, "You amaze me." And so will this collection, no doubt. --Donald Liebenson
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 13
 Almost Unbearably Bad - alas poor Peter Cushing July 12, 2010
Sidewalk Sam (Pizen Bluff, USA)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I had never seen the original BBC series, but as a big fan of both Sherlock Holmes and Peter Cushing, this looked like a natural hit. What a shock as the first episode opened.
I could not believe it. It was worse than bad - it was terrible.
Some of the other reviewers have delicately hinted that costs were minimized, corners were cut.
They are exercising the famous art of understatement. These are the worst productions I have even seen coming from a major (BBC??????) production house. I have seen much better produced student films.
It was not quite at the level of "Plan 9 from Outer Space" but it came frightfully close.
The problem is not just the lack of richness in the sets or the costumes (although you can see they went the cheap route). It is the technical aspects of film making that were almost totally botched.
You know - the nuts and bolts that if done right are not even noticed by the audience. Things like; What camera angle was chosen, how the sceen is lit, what exact movement directions are given to the actors, that sort of thing.
I'll grant that the sound is decent, but the lighting and camera work are unbelievably bad. If you have any appreciation for the basic elements of good cinematography - you will find most of them missing here. The camera work is just plain bad. Poor angles, bad framing and rough movement following - the entire gambit.
The Directing was terrible, in every aspect. Peter Cushing does a decent job with the role, somehow, but one get's the feeling he's not happy. Niegel Stock does a worksman-like job as Dr. Watson but most of the rest of the acting makes you cringe. Now England produces a wonderful crop of good actors each year - the country is overflowing with good actors. Most of the blame on these pitiful acting performances must lie with the director,who is telling the cast what he wants them to do. I don't think there are that many bad actors in England.
Now some have commented on the play like appearence of the produciton (and that feeling comes through quite strongly). But it is a badly produced, badly directed, badly acted play. And it's transition to film (video) horribly botched.
I almost gave it two stars because I really enjoy Peter Cushing's work - and boy did he have his work cut out for him here. But I must strongly counteract the suggestions that this is in any way good stuff. I am amazed at the
generous ratings given.
In sharp contrast, and to properly illustrate the depth of the shortfall - watch the well produced, well directed, brilliant acting in a British production like a Jeeves & Wooster episode or any episode of Unstairs/Downstairs. See how a well directed cast performs -even the supporting actors do splendidly. See how seemlessly the camera moves and handles the action. You get the picture. It's not so hard to make a good show - it's almost elementary.
The Sherlock Holmes Collection March 5, 2010
TV Western Lover (Seattle, WA)
3 out of 9 found this review helpful
I wasn't able to watch the disc as it is the worse transfer I have ever seen on a $20.00 DVD. Full of artifacting and block noise. A tenth generation VHS looks better then this awful release. It's to bad as I was really looking forward to seeing these episodes. I can record better DVDs than this crap and day of the week without any effort.
 Peter Cushing is Sherlock Holmes! February 20, 2010
Bruce Joyner
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Let me start by saying that the episodes are all wonderful...the acting is superb and Peter Cushing shines like the star he was...I could tell you all about the different elements of mystery and drama on these discs but you already know that if you know who Peter Cushing is..if you do not then buy this collection from Amazon..it is worth every penny..I am a Peter Cushing fan and have watched probably every movie he has graced with his presence..he is at his best here as Sherlock Holmes.If you want to see more movies with Peter Cushing in them check out Hammer Films...he's in quite a few of them...
Finally! Some of the Cushing Holmes stories in DVD February 17, 2010
Doug Murray
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
For many years, fans of Sherlock Holmes have been aware of the BBC series starring the great Peter Cushing as HOlmes.
However, due to the BBC policy of erasing tapes for reuse, episodes of this show have seldom been available for those living in the US--and those that were available (through gray-market sellers) were not very watchable.
Therefore, this collection of episodes, each in nice clear and clean prints, is a joy to receive. As expected, Cushing makes a very fine HOlmes and Nigel Stock makes an equally fine Watson.
One can only hope that BBC can locate more of these episodes--as well as some of the Douglas Wilmer shows that followed.
Peter Cushing IS Sherlock Holmes February 11, 2010
L. Tauber
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is the closest you'll ever get to see the late Peter Cushing in a "stage play." Watching him portray Sherlock Holmes is watching him become the character. No matter how many of his movies you have seen (and I've seen many, many of them), you must see him in these Sherlock Holmes stories.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 13
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