Since the first "Sherlock Holmes" novel was translated and introduced into China in 1896, a large number of "Sherlock" "fan fiction" has been widely disseminated in the Chinese Internet world since 2010. Sherlock Holmes and detective novels have a century-old cultural history in China It is constantly “developing” in the development process.
On the one hand, this column mainly focuses on some important and interesting phenomena in the process of the spread and acceptance of Sherlock Holmes in China. For example, the characters in "Lao Can's Travels" actually mentioned "Sherlock Holmes"; Chinese authors in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China They were keen on writing funny stories about "Sherlock Holmes coming to China"; Holmes was not only a literary figure at that time, but also entered the media and commercial fields, becoming the name of tabloids and a cigarette brand; at the beginning of reform and opening up, Ye Yonglie combined detectives with science fiction, Created the "Scientific Sherlock Holmes" series of novels; even in 2020, Hong Kong writer Morris is still continuing to write the legend of "Hong Kong Sherlock Holmes"...
On the other hand, unlike my previous monographs or columns that focused more on text ——Literary forms and textual content such as translation, creation, and criticism are certainly the basis for our “reading” of Sherlock Holmes. This column pays more attention to image text and form, trying to learn from book covers, magazine layouts, novel illustrations, movie posters, and film and television stills. We start with image materials from different historical periods, such as advertising art, comic strips, children's picture books, and fan comics, to retell the complex relationship between Sherlock Holmes and a century-old China. Therefore, this column is called "China's Sherlock Holmes Serial 'Words'". It actually starts from the "painting", traces the historical time clues (the so-called "serial"), and uses the "painting" to tell the "speech".
Advertisements and stills from the release of the movie "Carriage Robbery", "News", May 2, 1946.
Produced by Tianyi Company, directed and starring Li Pingqian, movie poster of "Sherlock Holmes" (1931).
Movie poster of " Sherlock Holmes and the Chinese Heroine " (1994) produced by Beijing Film Studio and directed by Liu Yunzhou and Wang Chi.
Conan Doyle's "Sherlock Holmes" series of novels, as one of the most popular literary works in the world, has long been favored by the film industry. As early as 1900, the first Sherlock Holmes-themed short film "Sherlock Holmes Baffled" appeared. Now it seems that this short video of only 58 seconds is more of a fantasy film than a detective film. The thief in the film instantly disappears and appears repeatedly. It is not intended to show the showdown between the detective and the criminal. , but a dazzling display of early Méliès-style film magic and editing. Since then, the craze for making Sherlock Holmes movies in various European and American countries has been out of control. Britain, France, the United States, Denmark, and Germany (even Germany during the Nazi period) have all shot a large number of Sherlock Holmes-themed movies. By the 1940s, the total number exceeded 100. The film spans different historical development stages of film, from silent films to sound films, from black and white films to color films. There was even Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr. (1924) Sherlock Jr. comedy classic, in which Buster Keaton played As a hopeless fan of detective novels, the projectionist had the "daydream" of becoming a detective, and this "daydream" is obviously deeply consistent with the film's own dream-making mechanism, forming a A complex space for textual interpretation. If we regard the emergence of "Don Quixote" as a backlash to the development of chivalric literature to a certain extent, and regard "Madame Bovary" as an anti-genre work that is overly mature in romance novel creation, then "Sherlock Holmes II" It also means the product of Sherlock Holmes novels and movies after they have developed to a certain stage.
Sherlock Holmes movies entered China relatively early. At least in the 1930s, a large number of advertisements, discussions and film reviews about Sherlock Holmes movies could already be seen in mainstream domestic newspapers and media. The earliest Sherlock Holmes movie actor familiar to Chinese movie audiences is Clive Brook.In the Tianjin "Ta Kung Pao" on October 15, 1930, it appeared that the movie "The Return of Sherlock Holmes" (now commonly translated as "The Return of Sherlock Holmes", 1929) starring him was about to "rise in the sky". Movie information introduction for "Meet the Public in Cinemas". Three years later, the movie "Sherlock Holmes" (now generally translated as "Sherlock Holmes", 1932) aroused greater repercussions in the country. The film was adapted from William Gillette's four-act play "Sherlock Holmes" and was well received at the time. In the article "Review of Sherlock Holmes" (published in "Diansheng Daily", February 21, 1933), the author signed by "Yuxian" praised this movie as "a relatively interesting picture. "Detective film" with "very good acting, competent direction, wonderful cinematography, and too much dialogue." In his article "Review of Sherlock Holmes" (published in Shenbao, February 20, 1933), Ling He praised Clive Brook as "quite competent in playing Sherlock Holmes"; the villain Ernest · Ernest Torrence's "acting is also very good, and his terrifying face certainly helps a lot"; but apart from these two actors, "everyone else is insignificant".
The image of Sherlock Holmes that truly left a deep impression on the hearts of Chinese movie audiences during the Republic of China must be Basil Rathbone (now generally translated as "Basil Rathbone"). Many Sherlock Holmes movies in which he played Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce played Watson were successively introduced to the country during the Republic of China. For example, the 1939 "The Hound of the Baskervilles" (the hound of the baskervilles, now commonly translated as "The Hound of the Baskervilles"), and "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" (now commonly translated as "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes") ), 1943's "Sherlock Holmes in Washington" (now commonly translated as "Holmes in Washington"), 1944's "The Pearl of Death" (now commonly translated as "The Pearl of Death"), "Red Iron" "The Scarlet Claw" (the scarlet claw, now generally translated as "Red Claw") and so on. The first image selected for this article is the advertisement and stills from the release of the movie "The Carriage" published by "The News" on May 2, 1946. The two characters in the photo are played by Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes (right) and Watson (left) played by Nigel Bruce.
Many Sherlock Holmes movies starring Bessie Rathbone (Basil Rathbone) are not completely based on the original novels by Conan Doyle, but have a considerable degree of adaptation or even original stories. For example, "The Carriage Robbery" is a spy story that took place on an American train under the background of World War II. It is basically an original new plot; although "The Orb Murder" is based on the original story of "Six Busts of Napoleon", the adaptation The scope can be described as drastic; although the inspiration for " Red Claws " can be vaguely seen in "The Hound of the Baskervilles", the story of Sherlock Holmes traveling to Quebec, Canada can be called a "new story". They were both based on the classic Sherlock Holmes story and were adapted in a more contemporary and international way. This may be one of the reasons why these films were so popular with Chinese audiences at that time. Roy William Neill (roy william neill), as the director of several Sherlock Holmes-themed movies in the 1940s (mainly "The Carriage", "The Orb Murder" and "Red Claws"), together with Bessie Rispone (Barbara) The combination of Holmes and Watson played by Zil Rathbone) and Nigel Bruce, and the relatively fixed director and starring pairing also ensure the continuity and unity of the film's style to a certain extent. In particular, Bessie Raspoon, who played Sherlock Holmes, was praised at the time as "no matter the appearance, figure, actions, voice, etc., the performance is just right" (Fans: "Holmes Arrives in Shanghai!", "Shanghai Lights", 1946, no. 5 issues), which is very popular among Chinese movie fans. Even in Sun Liaohong's "The Strange Case of Lu Ping" series, the story begins with a group of young waitresses in a company's underground catering department questioning whether Lu Ping looks like Bessie Rispone. And start a debate.In the novel, they compared Lu Ping, the most popular and popular Hollywood youngster at the time, and they often flirted with Lu Ping through their eyes and words. Lu Ping also often made the "blowing kiss" gesture common on movie screens to them, seeming to Modeled after the Sherlock Holmes on screen - Bessie Rispone. The interesting interaction between detective novels and movies is evident here.
And in 1931, the Sherlock Holmes movie directed, produced and starred by the Chinese was also successfully released. This is the film "Sherlock Holmes" produced by Tianyi Company, directed by Li Pingqian and starring the male lead Sherlock Holmes. This is a copy of the film Currently unseen, the second image selected for this article is a promotional poster for the film. From the poster, we can see some information related to the film. For example, the film is directed by Li Pingqian, written by Shaocun native, and stars Li Pingqian, Chen Yumei, and Tao Yayun. Except for the detective Sherlock Holmes played by Li Pingqian, the other characters in the film are all Chinese. For example, the film also specially designed a Chinese girlfriend Shen Liyun (played by Chen Yumei) for Sherlock Holmes, who replaced the role of assistant Watson. However, the evaluation of this Chinese Sherlock Holmes film was not very high at the time. A film review article signed by "George" was very critical of "The Detective Case of Sherlock Holmes" (published in "Electronic Sound Weekly (Shanghai)", Issue 28, 1934). ) made relatively severe criticism:
This is a film produced by Tianyi Company three years ago. The director is Li Pingqian, who played the role of Detective Sherlock Holmes himself. He used makeup to play four or five different characters, including an old man with a long beard and a hunchback, a black-faced beggar, an old country man, and a middle-aged gentleman. There are also Chen Yumei and Sun Min from the past. Their performances are so childish, and their directing and acting skills are very outdated. There are also those moving scenes, etc. Modern movie audiences have long stopped watching them.
More than half a century after "Sherlock Holmes" directed and starring Li Pingqian, another Sherlock Holmes film produced in China, "Sherlock Holmes and the Chinese Heroine", was released in 1994. This movie is directed by Liu Yunzhou and Wang Chi and produced by Beijing Film Studio. It tells the story of Holmes and Watson visiting China in the late Qing Dynasty and staying at the Xianlai Inn. They did not want to interact with the Qing soldiers, the Boxers, and the female innkeeper Bai Furong. A series of inexplicable battles took place. Among them, Sherlock Holmes seems out of place in the Chinese martial arts film tradition represented by the chivalrous heroine Bai Furong (one of the film's directors, Wang Chi, and one of the screenwriters, Li Changfu, both came from martial arts films, so the whole film has a strong sense of traditional martial arts films. Genre mode), the various rough character designs and absurd story trends in the film make people laugh and cry while watching it. I once compiled a book "Sherlock Holmes' Adventures in China", which contains various funny stories about Sherlock Holmes coming to China during the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. However, in terms of the nonsensical plot, none of them can compare with this movie.
Regardless of the success or failure of China's local Sherlock Holmes movie shooting. With the help of the emerging media form of film, Chinese audiences can more intuitively see the character and detective process of Sherlock Holmes, which is crucial for early Chinese novel readers and movie audiences. Even now, with the release of successive generations of film and television dramas, the image of Sherlock Holmes in the minds of audiences is constantly changing. From Jeremy Brett to "Curly Fu", audiences of different generations have different imaginations of Sherlock Holmes. Gathering special viewing memories of one’s own era.
