Search - Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Series on DVD

Jill L. from MILLSBORO, DE
Reviewed on 4/13/2024...

I liked these episodes and Ronald Howard as Sherlock.
But BEWARE:
I have had two copies of this set.
Both have had multiple stoppages on multiple discs- and they are different on the two sets.
No scratches or dirt; perhaps manufacturing problems or kept in a hot warehouse.

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Petra O. from FAYETTEVILLE, NC
Reviewed on 12/14/2012...

Digitally remastered version. old classical movies, well done, fun to watch. 39 Episodes.

2 of 3 member(s) found this review helpful.

An extremely rare find, worth owning :-)

Eric Pregosin | New Carrollton, Maryland United States | 01/21/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Since Amazon did not have a picture of this item at the time this review was originally written, and the "marketplace client" who was selling it for next to nothing did not respond to my email for 2 weeks where I requested to know if this set is what I NOW know it is, being the "Sherlockian" I am, I did some "reason by deduction" and bought this set new from BBC America on January 14th, they shipped it on the 17th from near Philly, and it was handed to me by a UPS man as I walked into my building coming home from work on the 18th (despite their claim it would take 10-14 days to get to me). So now I can review it for y'all. This is a 5 dvd set of a 39 half hour b/w series syndicated during the 1954-1955 tv season. It stars Ronald Howard (son of Leslie NOT Ron "Happy Days" Howard) as Holmes and Howard (billed by his first initial "H" so not to be confused with his costar's last name) Marion Crawford as Watson. Some of the stories are based on actual Doyle stories, but most are not. They are still very entertaining. I called this "a rare find" because to the best of my knowledge this is the only dvd set of the FULL series. The only other time I saw a complete copy was a 10 VHS set many moons ago (thank God now I didn't buy it). A number of inexpensive DVD manufacturers offer it installments, the best being Alpha Video's 4 episode per disc copies that (as of my last birthday in 2005) have only released 7 discs for a total of 28 episodes, and another set of 5 discs I saw at Best Buy for the same 20 bucks I bought this for with only 20. (Update: there's yet another incomplete set coming out now (November 2006: 27 episodes for 10 bucks). So this could very well be the only complete version out there. Now for you technical geniuses out there here's the ups and downs.



The good side: 1) As I said all 39 episodes of this rare series are in here at 8 episodes a disc except disc 5 which has 7. 2)On the disc labels and the back of the jacket is a list of all the names of the episodes and their original air date (that's US air date not England).



The bad side: 1)There are no "chapter stops" during individual episodes. If you go from 1 segment (chapter) to another on these discs, you start another episode (as MPI does with Classic Dark Shadows, not that I mind since they are only half hour shows). 2) The "Red Headed League" episode has a hiccup in it where you hear Holmes read a line of Jabez Wilson's ad twice. So therefore they are not PERFECTLY remastered. My guess is they made this set from a set of par for the course tapes made from kinescope which (again like Dark Shadows) could not be repaired without cutting the episode (you'd think Mill Creek would be nice like MPI and put a mesage about this on screen, so you are "warned" in advance". 3) The "intros" by Christopher Lee mentioned on the cover are not what you would expect. Rather than 39 intros dedicated to each episode, it is 1 intro of him saying how much he thought it was one of the best roles he played, and then proceeds with a general description of Holmes as written by Doyle (in the first person as Watson in the books). This same intro appears at the beginning of ALL 5 discs. Personally, with all due respect to the I hope someday "Sir Christopher", once is enough for this set.



All in all, it is still a good set. Not quite what one expect if you grew up watching the Rathbone/Bruce movies from the 40s (I have all of them on MPI discs) or the Granada/PBS series from the mid 80s to the 90s with Brett and Burke (and later Hardwicke) (I have those too), but still a nice series and hard to get all at one time for a great price."

Elementary, my dear Watson . . . this is the DVD set to get

Robert Huggins | Suburban Philadelphia, PA United States | 03/08/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

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After numerous DVD releases of random episodes from this delightful 1954-55 series, Mill Creek Entertainment finally brings us all 39 episodes in a single collection. The episodes are not restored, i.e., the prints have scratches and blemishes from time-to-time, and there is noticeable audio hiss. However, they're still very watchable and enjoyable and I found them to be of somewhat better quality than the Madacy volumes that are also sold at Amazon (10 and 20 episode collections). Because of their comparatively short running times (the shows were produced for a 30 minute time slot), the mysteries really never get too complex . . . I like to call this series Sherlock Holmes "lite." It's the great period flavor (the production design is superior for a television show from the mid-1950s), and the interaction of the three lead actors, Ronald Howard as Sherlock Holmes, H. Marion Crawford as Dr. Watson and Archie Duncan as Inspector Lestrade that make this show an entertaining view. The only bonus item on this DVD set is the "generic" Christopher Lee introduction that's seen at the beginning of each disc and has previously appeared on the Madacy collections (they're not "all new introductions" as the cover art suggests).



Bottom line: While one wishes that this series would get the full restoration treatment, that's unlikely to happen, and this release certainly isn't for the "high definition" crowd. But this attempt to collect all of the series' episodes in a single DVD set, in correct broadcast order, is praiseworthy, and the "icing on the cake" is Amazon's comparatively bargain price for 39 episodes of an entertaining, early television series. Recommended.

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The master sleuth as seen on TV, 1954-55

Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 04/27/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The SHERLOCK HOLMES TV series was an American-made program, filmed in France. The show originally aired from October 18, 1954 to October 17, 1955. Regular cast members were Ronald Howard (son of Leslie) as Holmes, Howard Marion-Crawford played Dr. Watson, and Archie Duncan was Inspector LeStrade. Additionally, a company of regulars made frequent appearances, each time as different characters. There were occasional guest stars as well, like Paulette Goddard and Natalie Schafer.



This MILL CREEK ENTERTAINMENT box set of 5 DVDs runs 19.5 hours, and includes all 39 original installments. The following in-order program list provides original airdates and supporting actors for each episode.



(_#1) The Case of the Cunningham Heritage (10/18/54) - Ursula Howells/Roland Bartrop

(_#2) The Case of Lady Beryl (10/25/54) - Paulette Goddard/Peter Copley

(_#3) The Case of the Pennsylvania Gun (11/1/54) - Maurice Teynac/Frank Dexter

(_#4) The Case of the Texas Cowgirl (11/8/54) - Richard Larke/Lucille Vines

(_#5) The Case of the Belligerent Ghost (11/15/54) - Lou Van Burg/Gertrude Flynn

(_#6) The Case of the Shy Ballerina (11/22/54) - Natalie Schafer/Eugene Deckers

(_#7) The Case of the Winthrop Legend (11/29/54) - Ivan Desny/Peter Copley

(_#8) The Case of the Blind Man's Bluff (12/6/54) - Eugene Deckers/Grégoire Aslan

(_#9) The Case of Harry Crocker (12/6/54) - Eugene Deckers/Harry Towb

(#10) The Mother Hubbard Case (12/20/54) - Amy Dalby/Delphine Seyrig

(#11) The Case of the Red-Headed League (12/27/54) - Alexander Gauge/Colin Drake

(#12) The Case of the Shoeless Engineer (1/3/55) - June Shelley/David Oxley

(#13) The Case of the Split Ticket (1/10/54) - Harry Towb/Margaret Russell

(#14) The Case of the French Interpreter (1/17/55) - Charles Brodie/Bob Cunningham

(#15) The Case of the Singing Violin (1/24/55) - Arnold Bell/Delphine Seyring

(#16) The Case of the Greystone Inscription (1/31/55) - Eric Micklewood/Martina Mayne

(#17) The Case of the Laughing Mummy (2/7/55) - Barry Mackay/June Shelley

(#18) The Case of the Thistle Killer (2/14/55) - Richard Larke/Richard Watson

(#19) The Case of the Vanished Detective (2/21/55) - Richard Larke/Cecil Brock

(#20) The Case of the Careless Suffragette (2/28/55) - Richard Larke/Dawn Addams

(#21) The Case of the Reluctant Carpenter (3/7/55) - Pierre Gay/Roland Bartrop

(#22) The Case of the Deadly Prophecy (3/14/55) - Nicole Courcel/Jacques François

(#23) The Christmas Pudding (4/4/55) - Eugene Deckers/June Rodney

(#24) The Night Train Riddle (4/11/55) - Roberta Haynes/James Doran

(#25) The Case of the Violent Suitor (4/18/55) - Eric Micklewood/Brookes Kyle

(#26) The Case of the Baker Street Nursemaids (4/25/55) - Roger Tréville/Yves Brainville

(#27) The Case of the Perfect Husband (3/2/55) - Michael Gough/Richard Larke

(#28) The Case of the Jolly Hangman (5/9/55) - Alvys Maben/Philip Leaver

(#29) The Case of the Imposter Mystery (5/16/55) - Richard Larke/Basil Dignam

(#30) The Case of the Eiffel Tower (5/23/55) - Martine Alexis/Sacha Pitoëff

(#31) The Case of the Exhumed Client (5/30/55) - Alvys Maben/Alan Adair

(#32) The Case of the Impromtu Performance (6/6/55) - Richard Larke/Patrick Shelley

(#33) The Case of the Baker Street Bachelors (6/20/55) - Alvys Maben/Pénélope Portrait

(#34) The Case of the Royal Murder (6/27/55) - Lise Bourdin/Jacques Dacqmine

(#35) The Case of the Haunted Gainsborough (7/4/55) - Cleo Rose/John Buckmaster

(#36) The Case of the Neurotic Detective (7/11/55) - Richard Larke/Russ Caprio

(#37) The Case of the Unlucky Gambler (7/18/55) - Richard Larke/Richard O'Sullivan

(#38) The Case of the Diamond Tooth (9/19/55) - Roland Bartrop/Charles Brodie

(#39) The Case of the Tyrant's Daughter (10/17/55) - Basil Dignam/Zach Matalon



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