In the mood

The Hound of the Baskervilles first appeared on stage 100 years ago in Berlin, presented by Ferdinand Bonn. Herr Bonn was dead keen on realism and decided that his wife’s huge, beloved black dog would be the star of the show. Every night she would wait in the wings ready to produce a lump of German sausage, the idea being that, as Stapleton lured Sir Henry Baskerville on to the moor, the dog would belt across the stage and leap at the dangled bratwurst. For a spectral effect, the brute had lamps attached to its head; its savage howling was produced by a man backstage yodelling into a gramophone horn.

What became of the dog’s showbiz career remains a mystery. But even as Arthur Conan Doyle was writing the stories, Holmes was appearing on stage and silent film. In 1899 the American actor William Gillette perfected the role in a play called Sherlock Holmes (a couple of stories bolted together with other bits invented) and he even managed to get permission from the author for the detective to fall in love — a shocking notion for a man who, to quote Dr Watson, ‘never spoke of the softer emotions save with a gibe and a sneer’. Audiences adored him and Gillette built himself a large castle and retained an Oriental butler on the proceeds. However, the stage tradition never quite kept up with the cinema as films starring Basil Rathbone, Peter Cushing, etc. grew in popularity.

The trouble with doing a full-scale Sherlock Holmes on stage today is that you’d need a large cast (including very expensive urchins) and three sets. No producer wants to know. There’s probably a feeling, too, that Holmes is hopelessly dated and that the telly has already done all the stories extensively and very well.