This film screened 19th October 2016.

Introduction by preservationist and film-restorer, Robert Byrne, President of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival.

Presenting an exquisite restoration of an early screen adaptation of the ever-popular Sherlock Holmes story. Arthur Conan Doyle created the character of the great detective, but it was William Gillette, an actor who played the role more than 1,300 times, who brought him to life. This 1916 film provides a unique opportunity to witness the archetypal Holmes and the actor who defined him. Here Holmes comes to the rescue of Alice Faulkner, a young woman held against her will by scoundrels trying to find scandalous love letters with which to blackmail the royal family. The film disappeared soon after its release until elements were discovered and restored by the Cinémathèque Française and the San Francisco Silent Film Festival in time for centenary screenings in 2016. (Notes by Sunniva O’Flynn.)

Silent with recorded music by The Neil Brand Trio.