Every Sherlock Holmes Film Worth Watching in the Public Domain

Sherlock Holmes has been adapted to film and television over 250 times since the 1900 silent shorts that started his cinematic life. A substantial portion of the early-and-mid-20th-century Holmes filmography fell into the public domain through copyright-renewal lapses and the bankruptcy of various distributors. The result is a deep library of free-to-watch Holmes pictures spanning four decades of detective cinema.

The Basil Rathbone era (1939-1946)

Basil Rathbone's Holmes — opposite Nigel Bruce's Watson — is the definitive 20th-century screen Holmes. Rathbone played the role in 14 features between 1939 and 1946. The first two (The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes) were 20th Century-Fox productions set in the Victorian era. The subsequent 12 were Universal productions updated to contemporary 1940s settings with Holmes fighting Nazis. Several of the Universal pictures fell into the public domain.

The Universal wartime adaptations

Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942) launched the Universal series. Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1942) pitted Holmes against Professor Moriarty (Lionel Atwill) over a stolen bomb-sight. Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943) sent Holmes to America. Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943) returned to a more traditional country-house mystery setting. The Spider Woman (1944) and The Pearl of Death (1944) are among the strongest entries. Terror by Night (1946) was Rathbone's final Holmes performance.

The Arthur Wontner pictures (1931-1937)

Arthur Wontner played Holmes in five British-produced features through the 1930s, predating Rathbone by eight years. The Sleeping Cardinal (1931), The Sign of Four (1932), The Missing Rembrandt (1932), The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes (1935), and Silver Blaze (1937 — also released as Murder at the Baskervilles). Wontner is widely considered the best pre-Rathbone screen Holmes. The character work is more academic and less theatrical than Rathbone's. All five Wontner pictures are now public domain.

The Ronald Howard television Holmes

Ronald Howard — son of Leslie Howard — played Holmes in a 1954-55 syndicated television series produced in France. 39 half-hour episodes were produced. The series isn't on the same level as the Rathbone features but provides substantial additional Holmes material for completists. The full series is in the public domain.

The silent-era curiosities

Various silent-era Holmes adaptations exist in the public domain. The most-cited is Sherlock Holmes (1916) starring William Gillette — the legendary stage Holmes who originated several of the character's now-iconic mannerisms. Most silent Holmes pictures are watchable historical artifacts rather than viable entertainment.

The Christopher Lee Holmes

Christopher Lee played Holmes in Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace (1962), a German-produced adaptation. The picture isn't widely considered one of the great Holmes adaptations but is interesting as a Lee performance. He also played Mycroft Holmes in the Billy Wilder picture The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970) and played Sherlock again in two 1990s television productions.

Where to start

For new Holmes-cinema viewers: start with the Universal Rathbone-Bruce pictures. Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon and The Spider Woman are the best-paced of the public-domain entries. Then graduate to the Wontner pictures for the more cerebral pre-Rathbone alternative.