Charlie, wearing his tree costume from Shoulder Arms
Oh boy. I’m going to be jumping all around his timeline!
Well, maybe 1918. Right when he starting rolling with his studio and around the time when he was working on creating United Artists. Watching the making of Shoulder Arms. That would be cool 🙂
Second would be the filming of Limelight.
Charlie as Billy the Pageboy in “Sherlock Holmes” play
And in 1894, to sit in the audience when he took the stage at the first time at 5 years old to save his mom when she had a breakdown on stage and people were booing her. To divert their wrath, he started to sing and everyone loved him.
And, as a Sherlockian, an absolute must would be to watch one of his performances as Billy the pageboy in the Sherlock Holmes play, with either William Gillette or H. A. Saintsbury as Holmes.
Just now I released how I started this article, and is somewhat fitting. “Oh boy” was the signature line said in one of my favorite TV shows, “Quantum Leap“, about a guy who time travels by leaping into people’s bodies.
Now we get into the controversial opinion (as with a few other challenges). I have many that I really like. From the classic era there’s Robert Holmes, Douglas Adams, Terrance Dicks, Malcolm Hulke. And new ones like Mark Gatiss, Russell T Davies, Jamie Mathieson. But there is my favorite, and a lot of people said he is the worst writer Who has ever had and he has ruined it… blah, blah. But I think he was great!
The Moff himself, Steven Moffat.
He has been a fan just about his whole life, written stories, a skit, before being hired to write for the show, then writing some of the most beloved episodes, and then becoming showrunner beginning in 2010 (and at the same time co-creating and write for Sherlock with Mark Gatiss). He also wrote the 11th, 12th Doctors and created the War Doctor, created River Song, and turned the Master into a woman (Love Missy!). As well as the Weeping Angels, the Silence, and Ohila of the Sisterhood of Karn.
Episodes that I loved are in chronological (or would that be timey-wimey?) order below:
There were others that I loved, but the above ones were off the top of my head.
And the wonderful Doctor Who The Fan Show had a three part interview with him earlier this year. And yesterday they finally uploaded the 3rd part after 7 months! Hooray! (and what the freak took so gosh darn long?)
I think, as time passes and some fans will start bashing on Chris Chibnall once series 11 starts, the ire will turn from Moffat, as what happened with Russell T Davies. That’s the mixed blessing of having a long running tv show. People start watching with one showrunner and get used to that sort of setup. Then someone else takes over with a different setup, and the new person is the worst person ever. Similar with who plays the Doctor.
Ah, the year 1986. A big year that became very influential in my life. I hope to write an entry for each one (I already wrote about how I got introduced to Sherlock Holmes), but here’s a summary (in no real order):
Disney’s Dreamers and Doers
The Disney company here in Florida (for a few years) picked someone from each county in the state from elementary, junior high, and high school as someone showing the “4 Cs” – curiosity, confidence, constancy, and courage. And somehow I was picked for the junior high level for Volusia county! It was one of the most exciting days of my life! And I still have my medal, hangs in my living room. May 2 is the anniversary 🙂
Sherlock Holmes
Thanks to reading the classic Hound of the Baskervilles story in my 8th grade English class, I got hooked on the adventures of Sir Author Conan Doyle’s famous detective. Not because of the mystery genre, but in the characters of Holmes and Watson and how the stories were written. I found, and still find, that endlessly fascinating! And for the last few years I have basked in the glow of it being a big thing with the help of the Robert Downey Jr movies, and BBC’s Sherlock and CBS’s Elementary tv shows.
The Smothers Brothers
Fate has a wicked sense of humor, and so it introduced me to these guys, by accident. And, boy, I had no idea what I landed myself into. My poor family somehow put up with me either listening to or watching this harmless looking comedic brother duo – a lot. I also got really interested in classic comedy due to these guys (Thanks Tom and Dick!), along with history (particularly the 1960s), folk music, and being politically involved.
Doctor Who
A guy that traveled in time and space in a spaceship disguised as a British Police Box. And he’s not always able to control where or when his ship ends up.
That’s how the show was described to me by a couple classmates in school. And I was curious. And the first episode I watched was the very first episode from 1963, An Unearthly Child. And I have stayed curious for the last 30 years. And I still haven’t used to the idea that Doctor Who is a big thing now. I love it, it’s just weird.
Highway to Heaven
The Summer of ’86 introduced me to this show. I have had a long interest in the nature of God and religions in general, it did not really take off until I happened upon this show by accident. Starred the late Michael Landon as an angel, and Victor French as a former Oakland cop (hence the Oakland A’s baseball cap), driving around the country on assignments from “The Boss”. Had a lot of heart and some laughs.
Okay, maybe not, but it’s my first vlog. I did something a little different than most. I just shot some of my books (yes, it’s just a part of my book collection), along with some of my DVD/Blu ray box sets, and a Smothers Brothers record album.
What’s shown ranges from childhood (Snoopy!) to recent loves (Warehouse 13! The Fault in Our Stars!), and some are childhood loves that I recently acquired (Dick Van Dyke Show! Mork and Mindy! Doctor Who!)
I also used this video to experiment with a few things. Some of my goals that I met are:
muting the sound of the video
having music not start at the beginning, but a few seconds in
just basic editing of the video clips and putting them together in the right order
just making the thing and uploading it and not letting fear from keeping me from doing so
Those may seem like small things, but it’s all a learning curve. And a good healthy dose of confidence.
What I liked about it:
the accidental recording that I ended up using at the beginning. When I loaded all the bits into the editor, I saw that and thought “I could use that!”
that I did the thing! YAY!
It’s not the greatest thing ever, but I’m glad I did it, and looking forward to all the things I will learn from it :).
The future…
So what have I got for the future? Taking on the Doctor Who Tag started by YouTuber Luke Spillane. That was one of the things that got me going on finally making a vlog. And I also plan on talking about Sherlock Holmes, having been born with a cleft lip and palate and all that it entails, and whatever else I come up with.
Oh, and I have another channel as well. A gaming channel where I have begun to play Assassin’s Creed (the first one). I love the series and thought why not start off with the first one?
So it’s Christmas time once again, and I thought I would share some of the things I like to watch around this time of year. In no real order. Except Charlie Brown. Charlie Brown always comes in first!
A Charlie Brown Christmas
What is there not to like in this classic 1965 cartoon? Everything is so perfect that I can’t imagine it any other way. The characters, the wonderful, upbeat music, how just about every line is quotable.
Added bonus – If you are as old as I am, you might remember the special being preceded by this CBS intro
The Blue Carbuncle
The beautiful Granada series that starred Jeremy Brett and David Burke as Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson in this wonderful story set at Christmastime. Ah, a Victorian Christmas! This is one of my favorite episodes of the show. Back when VHS reigned supreme this was the only episode I bought (they cost $15-20 each back then!)
This is based off the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story of the same name (text from Wikisource; audio part 1 and part 2 from Project Gutenburg, a fantastic reading!)
Mork’s First Christmas
From the Mork and Mindy tv series, this one has recently been added (though I have seen it at least a dozen times since August). Mork finds out what the true meaning of Christmas is (not a horrible plague…watch to find out his telling of his first encounter with Christmas) And what a sweet ending!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leOMutMen_k
The Greatest Gift
From one of my favorite scifi shows, Warehouse 13 (I miss that show! 🙁 ), this is their Christmas episode from season 3. Something happens to Pete where he wakes up as if he never was born. The story and title comes from the short story written by Philip Van Doren Stern that led to the film classic “It’s a Wonderful Life”.
Unfortunately, I am not able to find the full episode, so here is a clip from near the beginning:
If you have Netflix, it’s on there. Amazon also has it. Or you can buy it from Google
(Another tv episode that was inspired by It’s a Wonderful Life was also from Mork and Mindy, “It’s a Wonderful Mork“, but it’s not a Christmas episode so I don’t really include it in this list. But it’s really good, and a bit of a tearjerker due to recent events).
It’s a Wonderful Life
There was a time when I was growing up that this movie would be on a bunch of channels, sometimes at the same time. You turn to one channel and it would be at one scene, and go to another channel and it would be at another scene. And it remains and endearing movie, full of heart and makes you realize how much you can make a difference to someone else, even if it’s a small one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PlYcT6DmJY
A true classic starring Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, and Henry Travers.
The Gold Rush
Not exactly a Chistimasy type of movie, but it takes place over Thanksgiving and Christmas. This 1925 silent film by Charlie Chaplin is considered to be his best. Charlie, as the Little Tramp, goes to the mountains in hopes of finding gold. He encounters a friend. and enemy, boils and eats a shoe, does a dance with rolls, and falls in love.
The below version is the 1942 (tweaked) re-release with Chaplin’s own narration (in place of the typical silent film title cards) and musical score. While I like this one better overall, I like the story of the original better (mostly the same version, just a couple important cuts that Chaplin took out)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8a83CI1B1o
A Christmas Carol
Take a classic Charles Dickens story, and the 11th Doctor, and you get Doctor Who’s 2010 Christmas episode (my favorite Who Christmas episode so far, though I didn’t quite understand the whole thing about the fish and shark). And there is the absolutely beautiful, operatic song, “Silence is All You Know”
As with Warehouse 13, the full episode is not online for free (that I can find), so below is a trailer and a clip.
This episode is on Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon, and a few other places.
Chaplin as Billy, age 14 (though he looks 12 to me.
When I became a Charlie Chaplin fan in 1991, one of the *very first things* I learned about him was his role in the 1901 Sherlock Holmes play written by William Gillette and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I had been a Sherlockian for 5 years by then and was thrilled that my new “obsession” had a connection, one of many (and growing!) I would later discover.
William Gillette, in his Holmes garb
Chaplin was born on April 16,1889, in Lambeth, London, England, at the beginning of the Sherlock Holmes publishing era. the year before the publishing of the second Holmes story, “The Sign of Four”. After living for some time in poverty, he gradually got work as a child actor (both his parents were stage performers). He wrote in his My Autobiography (1964) how he lied about his age to get a part in a H A Saintsbury play, A Romance of Cocknaye, saying he was 14, when he was actually 12 1/2. The manager of the production and cast liked him so much they offered him the Billy the Pageboy role. So from July 1903 to February 1906 he traveled the country performing the part. (Holmes trivia: The pageboy in the original stories did not have a name until after the play was made. It would have been interesting if Doyle named him Charlie!)
The argument over “Who’s the best Sherlock Holmes?” is nothing new, though the names change over time. Back in his day, Chaplin worked under two of the starring Holmes’: William Gillette and H A Saintsbury. He wrote in his “My Autobiography” that while he liked both, he felt Saintsbury was closer to the “real” Holmes.
List of the cast (including Chaplin as Billy), as they performed at Duke of York’s Theatre, circa 1905
Want to see the play? Here it is, performed in 1981 for HBO. Frank Langella plays Holmes (very well, I must say!) My favorite scene (Act 3, pt 2), which includes some great interactions with Billy, is embedded below:
(side note – the boy playing Billy in the above performance is a young Christian Slater)
The Great Dictator (1940) – Chaplin as Hynkel (center), Reginald Gardiner (left) as Schultz, and Henry Daniell as Garbitsch (right)
While he had other roles in his early childhood showbiz career, none seemed to have stuck with him later in his life than the Billy role. Decades later in 1939 when he was shooting his Hitler satire, “The Great Dictator”, he would re-enact scenes from the Holmes play in-between scenes for the movie to entertain the cast and crew.
One of the actors in Dictator was Henry Daniell, who later who appear in three of the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes films: Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942), Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943), and The Woman in Green (1945, playing Professor Moriarty, the role I best remember him for.)
Which also brings us to Nigel Bruce. Chaplin hired Bruce for his 1952 film, Limelight. Bruce was hired not only because of his talent but mainly because of his strong connection with the Holmes franchise having famously played Dr. Watson.
Basil Rathbone (left) as Holmes, Nigel Bruce (back, center) as Watson and Henry Daniell (right) from Voice of Terror (1943)
In the film Limelight, Bruce plays Mr Postant, an homage to the real life who was William Gillette’s stage manager, and who had played an important role of keeping an eye out for the young Chaplin during the Holmesian days.
I have often felt that if he played Watson like he later played Postant, Watson would have been considered less bumbling. Below is a clip from Limelight which not only includes Bruce, but also Claire Bloom (many years later she would costar with David Tennant in Doctor Who, “The End of Time”), and Buster Keaton who plays Calvero’s partner (Keaton’s Holmes connection is making the brilliant 1924 silent film Sherlock Jr.)
One of the reasons why I picked using the name Calvero on the internet, and have kept it for almost 20 years, is the Holmes connection (along with Keaton, and the later Doctor Who connection,
To Modern Times
In 1992 came Robert Downey Jr playing the title role in Sir Richard Attenborough’s “Chaplin”. Absolutely brilliant! And he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor (he was ROBBED! ROBBED, I tell you!). Downey did such a great job, that most of the time I forgot I was watching someone else playing Charlie.
Fast-forward 17 years and he was picked by Guy Ritchie to play the lead in Sherlock Holmes, which, honestly, sounded a little weird. For Chaplin, he played someone who was about 5’4″. And years later he plays someone who is described by Watson as being at least 6 feet tall. Either way, I did (and still do) enjoy his take on the Great Detective. He did win a Golden Globe for “Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy” for his portrayal of Holmes (a category I still don’t understand how he won, but he won it. So, YAY!)
Chaplin and Holmes meet once again
On season 2, episode 1 of BBC’s excellent show Sherlock, “A Scandal in Bohemia”, John Watson’s girlfriend Jeanette is played play by Charlie’s granddaughter (Geraldine’s daughter), Oona Chaplin. When I was first watching the episode, I didn’t know who the actress was but there was something about her… I couldn’t put my finger on it. She seemed familiar, and at the same time not familiar. When I immediately re-watched the episode for the second time (because it was so mind blowingly awesome), I paid more attention to the ending credits, and the name “Oona Chaplin” jumped out at me. I threw my arms up in the air and shouted “WOOOOOOOHOOOO!!!” and did a happy dance. And so a new Chaplin comes face to face with the great detective.
Close encounter of a Sherlockian/Chaplinesque kind: Aidan Quinn
Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller), Joan Watson (Lucy Liu), and Captain Gregson (Aidan Quinn) from Elementary
Another recent connection (though not as strong as the above ones, but still there) is CBS’s newest take of the Holmes and Watson interpretations in Elementary starring Jonny Lee Miller as Holmes, and Lisa Liu as Joan Watson (that’s right, a female Watson…a very good one), which premiered during Holmes’ 125th anniversary (2012). Co-starring is Aidan Quinn who plays Captain Thomas Gregson of the NYPD.
Joon (Mary Stuart Masterson), Sam (Johnny Depp), and Benny (Aidan Quinn)
Almost 20 years earlier (1993), Quinn played in an adorable movie that also starring Johnny Depp and Mary Stuart Matherson, Benny and Joon (released just a few months after Downey’s Chaplin.). Quinn plays the older, and pretty protective brother, Benny to Matherson’s Joon who slowly falls in love with Depp’s Sam who is a eccentric person who is obsessed with Chaplin and Buster Keaton.
What kind of connections will show up later? Who knows. What I do know is that they keep popping up from time to time. And if I notice them, I’ll create a “Part 2”.
Currently I am writing a review for the most recent episode of Elementary, Paint It Black (yeah, I accidentally hit Publish earlier when I was still putting it together. But thanks to the people on Tumblr who liked and reblogged it anyway :). Wow!) . [Edit – It’s done! Read the review here!)
Until then, here is a possibly theory of what inspired the intro to the show. Below is one of the best scenes from Disney’s “Sherlock Holmes set in the mouse world” The Great Mouse Detective . The scene opens after Ratigan (the mouse “Never call me a rat!” Moriarty of the story) has captured both Basil and Dawson and has them tied down with various types of weapons aimed at them to all go off when the record player reaches the end of Ratigan singing “Good Bye!”. Basil’s depressed, and Dawson’s ticked that Basil has given up hope….
http://youtu.be/oOQNQTrq3tc
And below is Elementary’s intro:
Just something fun to think about! And I highly recommend GMD. If you have Netflix streaming, it’s currently on there. Loads of fun!
You mess with Watson, you face Sherlock Holmes’ wrath.
“By the Lord, it is as well for you. If you had killed Watson, you would not have got out of this room alive.” – Sherlock Holmes, from 3GAR
There are things about this show that have slowly improved over time. This episode, for me, is a high point. Such a high point that it’s my favorite episode of not only this season, but for the whole series (so far. Still 2 to go.)
There’s the type of episode that is intense, with a great ending, but after you find out who did what, you have little or no interest to rewatch it. And that’s how most (not all) of Elementary episodes are for me. This is not that kind of episode. So far I have watched this episode 3 times (original airing, later on CBS’s site, and again right after with commentary by Lucy Liu and director of photography Ron Fortunato). Not counting replaying bits and pieces.
And, dare I say it, I enjoy this episode *as much* as BBC Sherlock? Series 3 at the least? Okay, preparing to facing backlash but it’s has taken this long for the show to grow to that point.
It starts, picking up right where it left us hanging at the end of The Man with the Twisted Lip with Watson getting kidnapped. I had only watched the first few minutes of that episode and caught only the last minute and I somehow assumed that Mycroft was directly responsible for Joan’s kidnapping.
The warehouse scene where Joan is being kept and the kidnapper talking to her. Then cutting to Sherlock’s rage, flipping over furniture and grabbing Mycroft by the collar demanding to know why he put Joan in such a dangerous position.
The much talked about camera shot through the staircase railing showing the metaphoring separation of Mycroft and Sherlock. Awesome and powerful.
The ending was wonderful with it being revealed that, no, Mycroft wasn’t a restaurant owner, with mediocre skills at observation who was a coward and willing to make shady deals without being aware of possible consequences like we had been led to believe all this season. He was actually involved in some way with British secret intelligence, possibly higher in government (we don’t know for sure right now). But it was such relief for me to see that, because I wasn’t keen on him staying in that earlier presnce that far away from the canon.
Clues to Mycroft’s true nature
Mycroft telling Sherlock that he sees how important Watson is to him:
Mycroft: “You’re not sure you can do what needs to be done without her. This is more than just a case. Without her to keep you focused, to keep you settled…”
Sherlock: “Is that what you think she is? Hmm? A simple counterbalance?”
Mycroft: “I think she’s the person you love most in this world.”
Meeting with the bank under the false pretense of investing some of their father’s fortune, and Sherlock threatens them with exposing them, and demonstrates just a few strong deductions, Mycroft takes a couple steps towards them and quietly says
As you can see, my brother’s a deductive genius. His prowess is not to be underestimated. He can be the instrument of your salvation, or your demise.
I love how Mycroft follows Sherlock into the different rooms, and stands behind him, hands in his pockets, but his eyes casually yet carefully looking around, partly looking for clues, as well as looking out for his little brother (at least, I hope Mycroft turns out to be a good guy like in the canon).
Meeting the NSA, Agent McNally gets up:
McNally: “Mycroft, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I get a night off, I swear I”m gonna finally try out Diogenes.”
Mycroft: “How do you know I have a restaurant?”
McNally:”Everyone knows about Diogenes. Amazing food. Interesting clientele”
Going to interview Legolas5 (seriously? Sherlock didn’t recognize the name? Pronouncing it Lego-Lass Five?), Sherlock asks a question and then Mycroft comes out with excellent probing questions. Sherlock gives him a befuddled look.
Mycroft: “What? Joan asks questions when you’re out and about. I’ve seen it.”
Sherlock: “Yes, but she is a trained detective. You’re a buffoon.”
Then turns and repeats one of Mycroft’s questions.
Going (breaking and entering) into Norman’s house, Sherlock challenges Mycroft to really look around him. Mycroft walks through the hall way without showing much effort for looking, but then points behind him
“This cushion has been disturbed. There’s scratches on the floor. Dry blood? There may have been some kind of scuffle.
Yoder pleading with Mycroft to stop his younger brother from torturing him was interesting, and Mycroft telling him he better answer the question. After the end reveal makes me wonder if he (Yoder) knew who Mycroft really was.
Random musings (or My favorite scenes)
Other than the scnes that clued in to who Mycroft really was, there were a number of other great scenes. Every scene that Miller and Ifans are together are just simply wonderful, such as this one right after meeting the NSA:
Sherlock smashes and stomps on his phone into the pavement.
Sherlock: “My phone doesn’t seem to be working, may I borrow yours?
Mycroft, dumbfounded, hands him his phone. Sherlock then smashes Mycroft’s phone and stomps on that as well.
Mycroft: “Was that really necessary?”
Sherlock:”That was the NSA. Hands.”
Mycroft holds out his arms and Sherlock takes his watch. Sherlock: “Exquisite time piece; shame it has to go.”
He stomps the watch into the ground.
Mycroft:”They didn’t touch my watch.”
Sherlock:”Better safe than sorry.”
This is the only time in this episode Mycroft is surprised about something Sherlock does.
Sherlock displaying the same finesse of waking Mycroft up as he has Joan… minus breakfast.
Mycroft’s collar was down in the scenes with just Sherlock, but when they were out and investigating, it was up.
Mycroft stunning Sherlock was a “what? WHAT?!?” moment. My daughter yelled out “Traitor! Mycroft, you are a traitor!” at the tv, over and over.
Again, marvelous episode. Lucy Liu did a fantastic job at directing (Can she be cloned so she can direct and act? Please?) And Robert Hewitt Wolfe should just write the rest of the episodes. Yup.
So looking forward to the next 2 episodes!
“You are right in thinking that he is under the British government. You would also be right in a sense if you said that occasionally he IS the British government.” – Sherlock to Watson about Mycroft, BRUC
Since the posts I made about what was cut out of the first two seasons of BBC’s Sherlock have been the most popular, I have been working on and *just* finished putting up all the pictures for those posts.
(I have been asked a few times about my story about how I got my deerstalker. I finally put fingers to keys and tell the tale.)
It was the Christmas season back in 1994 (almost 20 years ago… I feel sooo ooolllldddd!). My family (parents, 2 sisters, and brother) had a chance to visit the UK. We went through England, Wales, and Scotland… all areas that my family is descended from (had a wonderful Christmas popping in on my Welsh cousins by surprise… but that’s another story).
When we were in London, I really wanted to visit the infamous 221b Baker Street, the famed (fictional) home of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. I had been a Sherlockian for about 7 years by that point, and with the aid of my mom (Dad and siblings split and went to Madame Tussauds) we waited in the line (or as the British say, queue). I had a lovely chat with a father and his young son who stood behind us. They had visited the set of the Granada’s Sherlock Holmes set and said how wonderful it was.
So we waited in line, paid the fee ( £5 I think it was, or £8), and entered. We went through the rooms, up all 17 steps (I counted, and yes there really were 17 steps). There were rooms that had dummies recreating some scenes from the stories, such as the King of Bohemia from “A Scandal in Bohemia”. We entered the revered study where Holmes and Watson would sit, talk to each other or to clients. Everything was a bit cramped, because, as our guide said, that was about how it would have looked in the late Victorian era. The reason why the rooms are bigger on tv is so they have room for the cameras and crew and other equipment.
The whole time I would remind myself that this place, this residence turned into a museum, was for fictional characters. They never existed. Sure they were partly based on real people, but those people did not live here. All the beautiful detail in books, dagger on the mantelpiece, the hanging Persian slipper, everything that was from the right period of history but yet still fictional. But I fell back into “playing the game” as I sat down carefully onto Holmes chair, picked up the deerstalker and put it on my head and carefully picked up the calabash pipe from the table by the chair. My mom took a picture (which has since been lost, drat!). and we went into Holmes’ bedroom, then upstairs to Watson’s room.
The last room was the gift shop where there were so many things to buy. I wanted one of everything, but my funds said otherwise. I had a wonderful conversation with the woman running the register, excitedly telling her how I was a fan from America and how I had wanted to visited Baker Street ever since becoming a fan. I did manage to buy a few things (all which I still have, amazingly after several moves), and we went downstairs and across the street to another Sherlock Holmes memorabilia store directly across the street from 221b (From what I understand, it is no longer there).
So I’m wandering around this second store but not seeing anything near as good as what I got at 221b. Then my eye catches a hat rack of deerstalkers of all different colors and patterns. I never knew there were so many different looking ones, but there they sat. But none of them were what I would want to get. I wanted a traditional looking one, not crazy colored or weirdly patterned. I remembered seeing a hat rack over at 221b, and only remember seeing one hat there that I liked. I talked to mom about it and she said I should see about trying to go back over there. I still had the receipt from entering, and who knows if I would ever be in London again, so why not go for it?
So I crossed Baker Street once more (it seems so weird to type that, and that it actually happened!). Outside there was still a line, and also a middle aged man dressed up as a Victorian Bobby. I showed him my receipt and asked if I could enter again.
“Go ahead!” he said with a slight bow and a smile, lifting one arm towards the door. I excitedly thanked him and went up the steps (1, 2, 3,….17) to the shop. The same woman was still there, and seeing me she let out a laugh. I asked about the deerstalkers and she pointed to the hat rack. I quickly looked over them and spotted the one I had remembered seeing out of the corner of my eye.
And there it was. I picked it up, bought it and headed downstairs (17,16,15…1).
And there it is, sitting on my head a couple years ago. It’s one of my favorite Sherlockian possessions. And yes, I know that he was not explicitly described as wearing one, but it’s fun to wear (Sidney Paget illustrated Holmes as wearing one, and that’s good enough for me). When I went to see both Sherlock Holmes movies starring Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law, I wore it to the theater. No one had to ask what movie I was going to see. The answer was elementary.
[I had posted this earlier this year, but when rebuilding the blog in the last few days, I had somehow lost the backup. Thank goodness for Google’s cache!]
He has been a fan just about his whole life, 
Fast-forward 17 years and he was picked by Guy Ritchie to play the lead in Sherlock Holmes, which, honestly, sounded a little weird. For Chaplin, he played someone who was about 5’4″. And years later he plays someone who is described by Watson as being at least 6 feet tall. Either way, I did (and still do) enjoy his take on the Great Detective. He did win a Golden Globe for “Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy” for his portrayal of Holmes (a category I still don’t understand how he won, but he won it. So, YAY!)
On season 2, episode 1 of BBC’s excellent show Sherlock, “A Scandal in Bohemia”, John Watson’s girlfriend Jeanette is played play by Charlie’s granddaughter (Geraldine’s daughter), Oona Chaplin. When I was first watching the episode, I didn’t know who the actress was but there was something about her… I couldn’t put my finger on it. She seemed familiar, and at the same time not familiar. When I immediately re-watched the episode for the second time (because it was so mind blowingly awesome), I paid more attention to the ending credits, and the name “Oona Chaplin” jumped out at me. I threw my arms up in the air and shouted “WOOOOOOOHOOOO!!!” and did a happy dance. And so a new Chaplin comes face to face with the great detective.
(I have been asked a few times about my story about how I got my deerstalker. I finally put fingers to keys and tell the tale.)