Who is more iconic: Sherlock Holmes, or Batman?

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Nobody ever will. I recall that when I was a kid, my mother took me to see a play, with Charlton Heston as Holmes, Jeremy Brett as Watson (!), and Dwight Schultz. It was "The Sign of Four", and it was magical. I remember we were in the front row, Brett's mustache came off and he just soldiered on like a trooper, the fog for the river chase scene flowed over into the audience and we all briefly choked, and Heston was so tall he fell off a sofa. Fun times. Later, in London as an adult, I got to see Tom Baker (the 4th Doctor Who), play Holmes in "A Study in Scarlet".

Yeah, that does sound magical. By the by, Baker also played Holmes in a TV version of The Hound of the Baskervilles.

[Riv86672]

Yeah, that does sound magical. By the by, Baker also played Holmes in a TV version of The Hound of the Baskervilles.

I image searched Baker as Holmes after reading achilles’ post. Baker filled out the deerstalker hat quite admirably!

[foxley]

Nobody ever will. I recall that when I was a kid, my mother took me to see a play, with Charlton Heston as Holmes, Jeremy Brett as Watson (!), and Dwight Schultz. It was "The Sign of Four", and it was magical. I remember we were in the front row, Brett's mustache came off and he just soldiered on like a trooper, the fog for the river chase scene flowed over into the audience and we all briefly choked, and Heston was so tall he fell off a sofa. Fun times. Later, in London as an adult, I got to see Tom Baker (the 4th Doctor Who), play Holmes in "A Study in Scarlet".

I saw the film version of that Heston play--The Crucifer of Blood--although it had Richard Johnson as Watson rather than Jeremy Brett. It also had Edward Fox as Major Ross and Simon Callow as Lestrade. (And checking Wikipedia I see Glenn Close played Irene St. Clair in the original Broadway production.) Heston would certainly never be my favourite Holmes, but he was certainly far from the worst (a horribly miscast Edward Woodward springs to mind for one).

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I saw the film version of that Heston play--The Crucifer of Blood--although it had Richard Johnson as Watson rather than Jeremy Brett. It also had Edward Fox as Major Ross and Simon Callow as Lestrade. (And checking Wikipedia I see Glenn Close played Irene St. Clair in the original Broadway production.) Heston would certainly never be my favourite Holmes, but he was certainly far from the worst (a horribly miscast Edward Woodward springs to mind for one).

The original Equalizer played Holmes? I didn’t know that. Well, he certainly couldn’t be any worse than RDJ.

[Riv86672]

RDJ was great.

[achilles]

I saw the film version of that Heston play--The Crucifer of Blood--although it had Richard Johnson as Watson rather than Jeremy Brett. It also had Edward Fox as Major Ross and Simon Callow as Lestrade. (And checking Wikipedia I see Glenn Close played Irene St. Clair in the original Broadway production.) Heston would certainly never be my favourite Holmes, but he was certainly far from the worst (a horribly miscast Edward Woodward springs to mind for one).

Ah, yes, that was the name of the play. Watching "Howling Mad Murdoch" play the Edward Fox role was fun. Heston...was surprisingly not bad at all. Not even close to my ideal version of Holmes, (Brett), but still not bad. For a guy who wisely didn't even attempt the accent. Baker was wonderful as Holmes, it was my first time in London, and I had to rush across the city to get to the theatre, which I did with the help of directions from friendly hotel doormen. A high point getting to see The Doctor play Sherlock Holmes live, one row away.

Never saw Rathbone play the role, but he had the look at least, and IIRC the voice. Downey Jr. was fun. But to the OP, IMO it's Holmes IMO.

[Riv86672]

Never saw Rathbone play the role, but he had the look at least, and IIRC the voice.

Basil Rathbone was great as Holmes, and what made it better was that he was otherwise adept at playing villains, so for me his Holmes had an undercurrent of I dunno, we're lucky he’s on our side.

[JackDaw]

I saw the film version of that Heston play--The Crucifer of Blood--although it had Richard Johnson as Watson rather than Jeremy Brett. It also had Edward Fox as Major Ross and Simon Callow as Lestrade. (And checking Wikipedia I see Glenn Close played Irene St. Clair in the original Broadway production.) Heston would certainly never be my favourite Holmes, but he was certainly far from the worst (a horribly miscast Edward Woodward springs to mind for one).

I’m surprised Edward Woodward made a complete mess of it. (I used to love the Callan series he led in...one of those shows I’d be afraid to view again in case it spoilt my memory of it.)

[JackDaw]

Basil Rathbone was great as Holmes, and what made it better was that he was otherwise adept at playing villains, so for me his Holmes had an undercurrent of I dunno, we're lucky he’s on our side.

A fair number of my friends still regard the Rathbone/ Bruce take on Watson/ Holmes as the definitive take on the two characters.

[Kirby101]

Basil Rathbone was great as Holmes, and what made it better was that he was otherwise adept at playing villains, so for me his Holmes had an undercurrent of I dunno, we're lucky he’s on our side.

Moriarty is the "Mirror, Mirror" version of Holmes.

[Jim Kelly]

Referring back to a book about Edgar Rice Burroughs by Dick Lupoff that I read many many years ago, I'd say it's harder for Superman or Batman to be in the same league as a Sherlock Holmes or a Tarzan, because with someone like Holmes you have a core text that defines the character and his life. There is no core text for Batman or Superman. Or if you want to say there is then it must be the text created by his creators--yet you can't find many people who want their Superman or Batman to be defined by those seminal stories.

The love affair everyone is having right now with Batman started around in 1989 with the first Keaton movie. There were certainly Batman fans before that (holding my hand up here), but that movie began the process of Batman being popular with a mass of people (many never read a comic book) year in and year out. So for some thirty years, Batman has been a pop culture icon. But there's no saying how long that's going to last.

I'm not even sure Tarzan is going to remain someone that the masses enjoy and recognize. Now Sherlock Holmes was massively popular in the late 1800s and has continued to be a touchstone for over a century. And the core Holmes books by Arthur Conan Doyle are read and enjoyed the world over.

[Riv86672]

A fair number of my friends still regard the Rathbone/ Bruce take on Watson/ Holmes as the definitive take on the two characters.

It was the Holmes I grew up w. so I was that way too, for the longest time.
Other versions were okay but not as memorable. Roundabout ten years ago Holmes enjoyed a resurgence w. two series and a couple of movies, and I got to share Holmes w. my spouse and kids. Luckily, all three Holmes/Watson duos were excellent in different ways, so that was a really good time for me!

I only just learned of Tom Baker as Holmes but I was instantly taken w. the idea so I’ll be looking to find the Baskerville serial.

[achilles]

The one Holmes movie I just couldn't get into was The Seven Percent Solution. I don't even know the reason, I just didn't like it. RDJ, sure. Dr. Strange, sure. Just not that one.

[foxley]

I’m surprised Edward Woodward made a complete mess of it. (I used to love the Callan series he led in...one of those shows I’d be afraid to view again in case it spoilt my memory of it.)

Woodward played Holmes in a made-for-TV movie called Hands of a Murderer, with John Hillerman (a.k.a. Higgins from Magnum, P.I.) as Watson. And, generally speaking, I am a big Woodward fan, having grown up watching Callan and The Equalizer (the swinging lightbulb opening to Callan is forever branded into my memory). It's hard to explain why Woodward feels miscast, but his Holmes is very blunt, with none of Holmes' puckish sense of humour, and he never really conveys the intellectual side of Holmes well.

(Oh, and IMO, Callan holds really well, provided you remember the political context of when it was made.)

[WestPhillyPunisher]

My introduction to Holmes on the small screen came from watching Jeremy Brett episodes on A&E back in the early 2000’s and I was quickly hooked. I later found the series on DVD at Barnes & Noble and watched the heck out of those discs because it never got old for me. I’m a recent subscriber to Britbox which has a huge library of shows from the BBC and ITV, and the Brett series is there, and I’ve watched it all over again.