The Five Best Portrayals of Dr. Watson

It's never easy to play the part of the trusted sidekick. So today, we show our appreciation for one of the most famous sidekicks in English literature: Sherlock Holme's associate, confident, and biographer Dr. John H. Watson. Below are our five picks for the best portrayals of Dr. Watson in film and television.

David Burke.

1. David Burke - His intelligent, analytical Watson appeared opposite Jeremy Brett's Baker Street sleuth in 13 episodes of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes TV series in the 1980s. This Watson often demonstrated his own powers of deduction--and was clearly pleased when Holmes confirmed his conclusions (and equally disappointed when that didn't occur). He also had an eye for the ladies, though his attentions were subtle and always gentlemanly. Burke's Watson may not have been Holmes' equal partner, but he was a highly valued associate worthy of Holmes' trust and reliance. It's a shame that Burke left the series to resume his stage career, but the actor wanted to spend more time with his family.

Andre Morell.

2. Andre Morell - Alas, Morell only portrayed John Watson once, alongside Peter Cushing's Holmes in Hammer's The Hound of the Baskervilles. Following in the footsteps of Nigel Bruce, Morell presented a very different Watson--an articulate man of action with a bright mind. Due to Conan Doyle's plotting in Hound, Watson occupied much of the screen time and Morell carried the load effortlessly. Interestingly, Morell's wife, the delightful Joan Greenwood, appeared in the Peter Cook-Dudley Moore parody version of The Hound of the Baskervilles in 1978.

Nigel Bruce.

3. Nigel Bruce - While this interpretation has little to do with the literary Dr. Watson, I've always enjoyed it very much. Nigel Bruce makes Watson a bumbler and provides the films' de facto comedy relief, but he's a charming, sincere character. It's essentially a variation on the same character that Bruce played in many films. Still, he and Rathbone made a marvelous pair--though one wonders why Holmes kept this Watson around.

Edward Hardwicke.

4. Edward Hardwicke - When David Burke left the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes TV series, he suggested that Edward Hardwicke (Cedric's son) replace him as Watson. Only two years Burke's senior, Hardwicke's Watson seemed much older in the role. He appeared less tolerant of Holmes' excesses, but also showed greater concern for his friend. In the episode "The Final Problem," we see the disappointment on Watson's face when he learns that Holmes confided only in his brother Mycroft after his apparent death at Reichenbach Falls. More than any other Holmes and Watson, this pair come across as genuine friends (which Brett and Hardwicke became in real life).

James Mason.

5. James Mason - There was some stiff competition for the final spot on our list and I seriously considered Donald Houston from A Study in Terror and Ben Kingsley as a very different Watson in the amusing Without a Clue. In the end, I opted for James Mason's steadfast Watson who appeared opposite Christopher Plummer's flamboyant Holmes in Murder By Decree. Mason was a spry 70 when he appeared as Watson. He imbued the role with a quiet intelligence and dignity.

Hammer Halloween Blogathon: The Plague of the Zombies

The villain appears in a pre-title
sequence--but he's masked.

Dr. Peter Tompson's medical practice in a small Cornish village has not gone well--that will happen when 13 patients die suddenly within a year of one's arrival. The baffled physician writes a letter to his former medical professor, Sir James Forbes, stating: "Our village has been beset by a number of mysterious and fatal maladies...the victims have no will to live." Sir James' daughter Sylvia, a friend of Peter's wife, suggests an impromptu visit.

A frightened Alice.

Following their arrival, Sir James learns that things are worse than described. A group of aristocratic young men, affiliated with the local squire, run roughshod over the town. The frightened villagers distrust the new visitors. And, worst of all, Peter's wife Alice looks pale, displays a loss of appetite, and acts very defensive about the unusual cut on her hand. She also seems to have an obsessive interest in the handsome and wealthy Squire Hamilton.

Released in 1966, The Plague of the Zombies exhibits all the traits that made Hammer Films synonymous with horror cinema: a strong cast; an atmospheric setting; an interesting plot; and production values that disguise the modest budget.

Andre Morell as Sir James.

The cast in Plague is anchored by Andre Morell, a classically trained actor who worked on the British stage with the likes of John Gielgud, Alec Guinness, and Robert Donat. Morell made his Hammer debut in 1959 as one of the screen's finest Dr. Watsons opposite Peter Cushing's Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles. Morell brings his authoritative presence to the role of Sir James--a perfect counterpart to the charming villain played by John Carson. The best supporting performance belongs to Jacqueline Pearce as the vulnerable Alice.

Director John Gilling filmed The Plague of the Zombies back-to-back with The Reptile. The films also share the same crew, the same setting, and some of the same performers (the most prominent of which is Pearce, who plays a more significant role in The Reptile). A journeyman director, Gilling brings surprising visual flair to The Plague of the Zombies. He employs an effective blue color scheme--from the deep-blue night sky to the blue-tinted zombies. The first zombie appearance is played for chills as the creature--almost silhouetted again the sky--tosses a woman's corpse toward Sylvia. Another effective scene has hands rising up out of the earth.

The only thing that keeps Plague from ranking with Hammer's best is the derivative nature of the plot. Although Hammer attempts to mask it with a different setting and better acting, a key element of the plot--why the squire wants to turn people into zombies--appears to have been lifted from the 1932 Bela Lugosi film White Zombie.

Hammer released The Plague of the Zombies on a double-bill with Dracula: Prince of Darkness, a fair entry in its usually entertaining Dracula series with Christopher Lee. The poster promised vampire fangs for the young male movie theatre patrons--so they could "bite back." The girls in the audience got "zombie glasses" to defend themselves. I'm still pondering the zombie glasses...it's pretty easy to recognize a zombie (especially if they're tinted blue and move in a lumbering fashion). So, I'm not sure if those glasses really provide much in the way of zombie protection.

This post is part of the Hammer Halloween Blogathon hosted by the Classic Film & TV Café. Click here view the complete blogathon schedule.

Quatermass and the Pit: Nigel Kneale's Original BBC Serial

As regular readers of this blog know, Hammer's 1967 science fiction classic Quatermass and the Pit (aka Five Million Years to Earth) ranks among my favorite films. Its ingenious premise captured my imagination as a youth and has held my interest through repeated viewings over the last four decades. So, it was with excitement--and a little trepidation--that I approached the original 1958 BBC serial that inspired the movie adaptation.

Andre Morell as Professor Quatermass.

The serial opens with the discovery of a human-like skull during construction in the Hobbs Lane area of London. An American paleontologist, Dr. Matthew Roney, find more skeletal remains and proclaims that these "ape men" hail from five million years ago. When further excavation reveals a large cylinder made of an unknown material, Roney contacts his friend, Professor Bernard Quatermass of the British Experimental Rocket Group.

Meanwhile, Barbara Judd, Roney's assistant, learns that local residents consider Hobbs Lane to be haunted. She uncovers tales of "dwarfs that disappear into walls" that surface after any physical disturbance in the area. Barbara's findings, revealed only to Quatermass and Roney, become more terrifying when a soldier working inside the cylinder claims to have seen the "dwarfs."

The situation becomes significantly more perplexing when Quatermass discovers a hidden chamber in the cylinder--filled with the remains of large insect-like creatures. Is the cylinder a spaceship? Were the dead creatures from another planet? Are the "ape-men" genetically-altered mutations that evolved into the human race? Are we Martians?

Writer Nigel Kneale integrates a host of a fascinating ideas in his thematrically complex plot. Not only does he expand on his basic premise--that the human race may be a result of alien colonization--but he also offers scientifically-inspired explanations for the supernatural.

If this all sounds familiar to admirers of the 1967 film version, then I will confirm what you've probably guessed: the film was an extremely faithful adapation of the serial. Kneale wrote the film's screenplay and did a marvelous job in condensing his 210-minute serial into a crisp 97-minute movie. Indeed, the serial seems quite slow compared to the film and the serial's longer running time doesn't result in any additional insights.

Quatermass helps a soldier who
"saw" a Martian.

In terms of lead performances, both Andre Morell (serial) and Andrew Keir (film) are marvelous as the passionate, inquisitive Quatermass. Originally, Morell was asked to reprise his performance for the film adaptation, but he turned it down. A fine actor, Morell appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s through the 1970s, including The Bridge on the River Kwai and Ben-Hur. He made possibly the screen's best Dr. John Watson opposite Peter Cushing's Sherlock Holmes in 1959's The Hound of the Baskervilles. He had another plum role opposite Cushing in the underrated suspense film Cash on Demand.

Unfortunately, although Morell is excellent in the Quatermass and the Pit serial, Anthony Bushell delivers a one-note performance as his adversary, Colonel Breen. Shouting dialogue in a stern voice, Bushnell's Breen comes across as a stereotype instead of an intelligent officer unwilling to accept the compelling evidence before him. Furthermore, Bushnell's portrayal dilutes Kneale's examination of the popular theme of military vs. science (explored, albeit briefly, in 1951's The Thing from Another World).

The 1958 Quatermass and the Pit was the third of four Quatermass television serials written by the prolific Nigel Kneale. After studying acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, Kneale turned to writing full time after winning the prestigious Somerset Maugham Award in 1950 for Tomato Cain & Other Stories. After penning a radio play for the BBC, Kneale joined the television staff at the British network. He introduced TV audiences to Professor Bernard Quatermass with The Quatermass Experiment, a 1953 serial consisting of six 30-minute episodes. It was a landmark event in early British television. Film historian and critic Leslie Halliwell noted in his Halliwell's Television Companion that The Quatermass Experiment "became the first TV serial to have the whole country (or such parts as could receive television) agog."

In the four original TV serials: Reginald Tate played Quatermass in The Quatermass Experiment; John Robinson starred in Quatermass II (1955); Morell followed in Quatermass and the Pit; and finally John Mills in 1979's Quatermass (aka The Quatermass Conclusion). Although Morell's performance is widely praised, I'm also fond of Mills' interpretation of an older Quatermass. In 2005, the BBC mounted a live remake of The Quatermass Experiment starring Jason Flemyng as a much younger scientist than his predecessors. On the silver screen, Brian Donlevy was woefully miscast as the lead in adaptations of The Quatermass Experiement and Quatermass II.

As for my final summation of the Quatermass and the Pit serial: Had I never seen the film version, I suspect the 1958 original would have had a stronger impact. It's well-written, generally well-acted, and I'm excited that I finally had an opportunity to see it. However, it lacks the energy of the 1967 film, which grips the viewer tightly and never lets up for 97 enthralling minutes.