An Autumnal Sunshine Blogger Award

Cecilia at Craft, Coffee, and Cake has tagged me with a Sunshine Blogger Award!  Thank you, Cecilia!

Rules:

1. Display the award’s official logo somewhere on your blog. 
2. Thank the person who nominated you. (Thank you again, Liz.) 
3. Provide a link to your nominator’s blog. 
4. Answer your nominator’s questions. 
5. Nominate up to 11 bloggers. 
6. Ask your nominees 11 questions. 
7. Notify your nominees by commenting on at least one of their blog post

Cecilia's Questions:

1. If you had to live out the events in a book as the main character, which book would you choose? 

I'd like to be Miss Mary Russell in The Beekeeper's Apprentice for a run through the book, and get to be mentored and befriended by Sherlock Holmes.

2. Favourite weird combination of flavours that everyone else hates? 

Hmm.  I don't make them often, but I do enjoy peanut butter and onion sandwiches.

3. Whom are your favourite actor and actress? 

John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara!  How lucky I am -- they made five movies together!

4. If you had all the money in the world to buy an outfit for a ball, what would you wear? (The sky's the limit for this one - you can wear any dress, shoes, bag, hairstyle you like!) 

I'd wear anything from White Christmas that would look nice on me -- probably any of Rosemary Clooney's outfits.  These are two of my favorites:

5. Quote from a film that makes you smile/laugh? 

So many!  Basically every single line from Support Your Local Sheriff (1969), which we quote alllll the time.  "I don't really have much to say about old Millard, as he only arrove amongst us a few days ago and was promptly struck down by whatever deadly disease it was that struck him down" tends to be a big favorite, oddly enough.

6. Social situation from a book/film to which you completely relate? 

Again, so many!  How to choose one?  Maybe, let's go with the exchange in The Avengers (2012) where Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is confused by Nick Fury's (Samuel L. Jackson) casual mention of "flying monkeys," and Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is all pleased with himself for understanding the reference.  I have been all three of those characters in various situations like that, at different times.

7. Most inspiring quote from a non-religious book? 

I mean, choosing just one is almost impossible.  I do find this line from The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery to be very inspiring, though:

She brushed the old years and habits and inhibitions away from her like dead leaves. She would not be littered with them.

(From my Instagram)

8. What personal quality do you think, if everyone possessed it, would make the biggest difference to the world? 

Cheerfulness.

9. You have to have one antagonist from a novel tag along with you for the next six months. Who would it be? 

Oh my.  How about Severus Snape from the Harry Potter books?  He's a dear favorite of mine, but Harry certainly considers him an antagonist in every single book.  And, odd as this might seem, I don't think I would mind having him living in my house for half a year.  If he got sarcastic about my cooking, I would get sarcastic back.  If he ridiculed my coffee, I'd have an excuse to buy an espresso machine and teach him how to use it.  I'd introduce him to chocolate-chip pancakes and peppermint mocha and sitting outside on the swing reading a book.  Maybe I'd even manage to make him smile once or twice.

10. Can you speak another language? If so, which one? If not, which one would you like to learn? 

I can speak a little bit of German.

11. Would you rather be an amazing homemaker and housekeeper, or be able to write beautiful poetry?

I can write poetry already, and I enjoy doing homemaker things like cooking and baking and arranging nice flowers for the dining room table and switching out some decorations with the seasons... so I pick some kind of magical spell that will turn me into a better housekeeper!  Because I am not good at keeping my house clean and tidy like I ought to be.

Now, it's my turn :-D

My Questions:

1. Thanksgiving or Halloween?

2. Candy apples or caramel apples?

3. Hot apple cider or cold apple cider?

4. Walnuts or almonds?

5. Pecan pie or pumpkin pie?

6. Caramel corn or Chex mix?

7. Bonfire or a fire in a fireplace?

8. Hiking or camping?

9. Canoeing or kayaking?

10. Sweaters or hoodies?

11. Gloves or mittens?

I Nominate:

Anyone who wants to answer these!  I haven't had much time for blogging lately, as you might have noticed, so I'm not going to pick anyone for this.  If it looks fun to you, consider yourself tagged!

"The Hound of the Baskervilles" (1959)

This will never be my favorite adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles by A. Conan Doyle (so, fear not, Jeremy Brett!), but it also will never be my least-favorite (sorry, Basil Rathbone).  I enjoy this one pretty well, enough to own a copy of it and have watched it more than once.  

The Hound of the Baskervilles is one of my top five favorite books of all time.  I reread it this October for the umpteenth time, and it was an absolute delight, as usual.  So, I will freely admit that rewatching this 1959 version so soon after having read the book may have made me a little less enthusiastic about this version than I was in the past.  But it also made me really appreciate some aspects of this version, particularly the casting for Sir Henry Baskerville.

The story in a nutshell is this: Sherlock Holmes (Peter Cushing) is consulted about whether or not Sir Henry Baskerville (Christopher Lee) should move to Baskerville Hall, which he just inherited when a relative died under mysterious circumstances.  Holmes delegates the job to Dr. Watson (Andre Morell), who heads out to Baskerville Hall with Sir Henry, determined to figure out if the last Baskerville's death was as mysterious as it seems.

I don't particularly like Peter Cushing's portrayal of Holmes, as he spends an awful lot of time berating Watson and making shrill proclamations.  And Andre Morell's portrayal of Watson is adequate, but kind of bores me.  The real highlight of this movie, for me is Sir Christopher Lee.  He plays Sir Henry as intelligent, shrewd, curious, and secretly passionate.  Sir Henry in the book is fairly brash and bold, which is A. Conan Doyle's assumption about anyone who has lived in North America, but Lee doesn't take the "make lots of loud announcements about your own courage" route that could feel like the obvious choice.  Instead, he gives us a Sir Henry who has a lot of strong feelings and opinions, but is self-controlled and keeps a firm hold on himself... most of the time.

The first time we really see this come to the fore is when a deadly tarantula crawls all over Sir Henry and he must keep absolutely still to keep from startling it and making it bite him.  Now, if you have ever read the book this is based on, you will know that there are ZERO tarantulas in the book.  This movie is a Hammer Films production, and that means it needs to be scary and creepy and thrilling and weird, and the filmmakers seem to have decided that a giant, glowing, spectral hound was not scary, creepy, thrilling, or weird enough, so they tossed in all this nonsense with deadly tarantulas.  I happen to loathe spiders and be a total arachnophobe, so I have to close my eyes for most of this scene, but I have watched enough of it between my fingers to know that Christopher Lee plays Sir Henry as being terrified, but also having the supreme self-control needed to not scream like a two-year-old girl and flail madly about, which is certainly what I would have done in his position.  That's really great character development, because we are eventually going to see Sir Henry confronted by events that he can't quite control himself so well about, and that will make us see how deeply he's moved by them.

By the way, that will not be his encounter with the spectral hound that haunts his family and scares them into dying, or rips out their throats, etc.  No, no, what causes Sir Henry to lose his composure is an alluring girl (Marla Landi).  She is a real piece of work, half the time coming on to Sir Henry in the most obvious ways possible, and half the time behaving like the sight of him makes her want to puke.  No wonder he eventually is so frustrated by her hot-and-cold nonsense that he can barely restrain himself from just grabbing her and holding her still so he can kiss her back after she unexpectedly kisses him and then switches moods and slinks away from him.  The look on his face that says "I am sick and tired of constantly having to lock away what I think and feel" hits me hard.  

If you like somewhat lurid horror movies from the 1950s, with lots of "oh no!" vibes and jump scares, and you aren't too picky about your adaptations of classic books (for instance, this one wanders off in the last act and has this huge section that takes place in an abandoned mine and involves a cave-in, and then totally changes up who the villain actually is), this version of this classic story is pretty fun.

This has been my contribution to the Hammer-Amicus Blogathon IV hosted by Cinematic Catharsis and Realweegiemidget Reviews.

If you like blogathons, check back tomorrow for an announcement about one I'll be co-hosting soon!

My Ten Favorite Non-Scary Movies for Fall

I don't like scary movies.  At all.  But I do like a good, broody, atmospheric, gothic-type movie, especially in October.  Something with dark vibes and dark shadows and dark characters, and maybe a little supernatural or psychological eeriness tossed in, but not actually a scary movie, you know?  Perfect for curling up on the couch with a mug of hot cider and a cozy blanket while the wind howls outside and the rain taps gently against the window...

Well, if you like those sorts of movies too, here's a list of ten I love and recommend!  Just in case you're craving some dark, moody, shadowy goodness yourself right now.  Links go to my own reviews so you can learn more about those titles if you'd like.

1. The Hound of the Baskervilles (1988)  Sherlock Holmes (Jeremy Brett) and Dr. Watson (Edward Hardwicke) help Sir Henry Baskerville (Kristoffer Tabori) uncover the dark truth behind his forbear's death out on the wild and gloomy moors.  I crave this every October, really.  Some years, I make myself watch a different version, just to make this more fresh the next year, but this is my favorite fall watch.  I often reread the book in October too.

2. Jane Eyre (1983)  Lonely governess Jane Eyre (Zelah Clarke) finds understanding, companionship, and love with Mr. Rochester (Timothy Dalton) in this pitch-perfect BBC miniseries that absolutely kickstarted my devotion to the book it's based on.  (If you don't have time for all four hours, the 2011 version is my other favorite, and it's half as long.  If you want to go really classic, the 1943 version is shrouded in shadows and mystery.)

3. Hamlet (2011) Hamlet (Bruce Ramsay) suspects his uncle Claudius (Peter Winfield) killed Hamlet's father before marrying his mother (Gillian Barber), and he spends the night after their wedding trying to find out.  They trim all of Hamlet down to 1 hour and 27 minutes, give it a neo-noir feel, and it is spectacular.  However, please note that it is rated R for some easy-to-skip adult scenes.  (If you can't get your hands on this version, or don't want to deal with the adult content, the 1948 Olivier and the 2009 Tennant versions both have excellent shadowy vibes and are tamer.)

4. Laura (1944) Detective Mark MacPherson (Dana Andrews) tries to solve the murder of a beautiful woman named Laura (Gene Tierney).  Her family and friends all insist she was lovable, intelligent, talented, and altogether wonderful... so why did someone want to kill her?  This is my favorite noir film, and it has one of the best twists in any movie I've ever seen.  Go into it not knowing much more than this and prepare to fall in love with Laura yourself.

5. The Phantom of the Opera (2004)  A beautiful young singer (Emmy Rossum) reunites with her childhood sweetheart (Patrick Wilson), but her mysterious singing mentor (Gerard Butler) turns out to be an obsessive, possessive killer who wants her for himself.  The whole production is over-the-top lavish, dripping with candlelight and shadows and emotions.  

6. Dead Again (1991)  An amnesiac woman (Emma Thompson) keeps having nightmares about scissors.  A kind P.I. (Kenneth Branagh) tries to help her recover her memory.  And then they discover they may be the reincarnations of two doomed lovers who lived back during the Roaring Twenties, and solving that long-ago murder may be the only way to secure their own peace and happiness.  This one is also rated R because Robin Williams cusses a LOT in his few scenes, and there's some violence.  It would clean up easily with a filtering service, though.

7. Rebecca (1940)  A young bride (Joan Fontaine) is haunted by the suspicion that her new husband (Laurence Olivier) still loves his dead first wife, Rebecca.  Such a fascinating look at doubt, obsession, misconceptions, and consequences.  It's one of Hitchcock's best.

8. Shadow of a Doubt (1943)  A teen girl (Theresa Wright) adores her visiting uncle (Joseph Cotten) until she begins to wonder if he's connected to a recent string of murders.  Another masterpiece about doubt and fear from Alfred Hitchcock.

9. Cry Wolf (1947)  A widow (Barbara Stanwyck) thinks her late husband's uncle (Errol Flynn) is hiding a terrible secret.  It turns out he is, but it's not the secret she's expecting.  There's murder and madness and a gloomy old manor house dripping with shadows -- and also combative romance, just to keep things peppy.

 

10. Meet Joe Black (1998)  Death (Brad Pitt) takes on a human body to experience life, manipulating an aging man (Anthony Hopkins) into helping him.  Death romances the man's daughter (Claire Forlani), tastes peanut butter for the first time, and learns what it means to be both human and kind.  This one is PG-13 mostly for a short and easy-to-skip love scene.

Have you seen any of these?  What are some of your favorite non-scary movies to watch in the fall?

The Fandom Favorites Tag

Eva at The Caffeinated Fangirl has created a new tag AND tagged me with it!  Which is perfect timing, because I was just hunting through my post drafts to see if I had any unfinished tags to share, and I didn't... but now that doesn't matter, because I have this one to fill out and share :-)

The rules for this are simple:

• Compile a list of up to ten of your favorite fandoms. Books, movies, TV shows—you name it! 
• Tell us about your favorite character in each of those fandoms, along with an explanation of why that character is your favorite. (Your reasoning can be however long or short you’d like it to be.) 
• Tag however many (or few) friends you’d like to participate. 
• Feel free to use the tag graphic I created (but you don’t have to). 
• That’s it. Short and sweet!

This is just the perfect sort of open-ended tag, isn't it?

Okay, so... let's dive into my favorite fandoms, shall we?  I've narrowed down my picks to eleven, though that was really hard because I am in and love a LOT of fandoms.  But these are all things where I interact with other fans based on our mutual fan-ness, as opposed to being shows/movies/series/authors that I simply am a big fan of.  It's the only way I could think of to whittle my list down.  (I know the tag says to do ten, but I could not leave any of these off the list and still be happy with myself.  Sorry, not sorry.)

I decided to talk about them in alphabetical order by fandom because putting them in order of how much I love them would be kind of emotionally hard, and I don't have the energy today.  Now you know.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) and Angel (1999-2004)

favorite character: Angel (David Boreanaz)

I love Angel because he has chosen to focus the rest of his existence on helping others.  Yes, he feels he needs to atone for several lifetimes of hurting, maiming, and terrorizing as a soulless vampire, but that's not really what drives him.  He has a genuine love for helping the hopeless.  And, since the two things I absolutely require in a character to like them, much less love them, are helpfulness and kindness, well, it's not surprising I love Angel.  (Doesn't hurt that David Boreanaz is the handsomest man I have ever seen, of course.)

Combat! (1962-67)

favorite character: Sergeant Saunders (Vic Morrow)

In fact, Sergeant Saunders is my absolute favorite character of all time.  In any storytelling medium.  Ever.  He's tops.  Why?  Because of his unswerving commitment to doing what's right instead of what's easy, his dedication to preserving life and humanity, and his willingness to put himself in the line of fire to protect others.  I wrote this whole post a couple years ago on why he's my favorite, so if you want to know more, check that out ;-)

Jane Austen

favorite character: Anne Elliot from Persuasion

Of all the characters in this post, Anne Elliot is the one I identify the most with.  She's steady, calm, quiet, reserved, helpful, kind, stubborn in her own soft way, and tends to be shy and retiring around those she doesn't know or those she isn't fond of.  I love that she gets a second chance at happiness, but on her own terms.

 

Leverage (2008-2012)

favorite character: Eliot Spencer (Christian Kane)

Eliot, Eliot, Eliot.  He sings, he cooks, he rides horses, he quotes cowboy movies, he punches people really hard, and he will leap into absolutely any dangerous situation in order to protect or rescue a child.  In fact, it's probably his protective attitude toward kids that draws me to him the most.  Also, he has really good hair.

Fun Fact: Christian Kane also played a regular character on Angel for a few seasons, and he and David Boreanaz are good buddies in real life.

L. M. Montgomery

favorite character: Anne Shirley

I mean, my middle child's middle name is Anne, so that might give you some idea how much I love this girl.  Anne Shirley grows up an orphan in a world where orphans are valued a little more than stray animals.  Maybe.  She is verbally, emotionally, and physically abused by family after family who only take her in so they can have free labor to work in their houses and care for their kids.  And yet, Anne does not lose her capacity to love, to wonder, to enjoy the world around her, to learn, to grow.  She should be stunted emotionally forever, but her inner resilience never wavers.  And, when she finally finds her own family to love and be loved by, she blooms and transforms in the most beautifully ways -- and so do they.

The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien

favorite character: Boromir

Honorable, valiant, trustworthy, loyal, kind, courageous, helpful, protective... I can go on a long time coming up with adjectives to describe Boromir.  He's got so much responsibility, carrying around the weight of rescuing his people.  And yet, he's always looking out for smaller and weaker people -- in the book in particular, he's always making sure the hobbits are taken care of, watched out for, considered.  Is he proud?  Yes.  Is he human?  Yes.  Does he make mistakes?  Yes.  But he doesn't hesitate to admit his mistakes, repent of them, ask for forgiveness, and make what atonement he can.  My goodness, I love him.  I wrote a post on my book blog about him a few years ago if you want to know more about why I love him so much.

Lost (2004-2010)

favorite character: James "Sawyer" Ford

I think I started to love Sawyer because Sawyer did not love himself.  In fact, Sawyer spent a big chunk of Lost insisting that he was unlovable, and trying to prove it to everyone around him.  Which only made me grab him harder and hold him closer.  His transformation from a sweet, traumatized Southern boy who became his own worst nightmare, then gradually discovered he could become a better man after all -- that's absolutely my favorite thing about Lost.

Sherlock Holmes canon by A. Conan Doyle

favorite character: Sherlock Holmes

Whenever the "book boyfriend" question comes up, I always say mine is Sherlock Holmes.  He's just so darned awesome at everything!  He solves crimes, he catches bad guys, he plays the violin, he infuriates everyone around him, he has the weirdest habits and hobbies, and he just... fascinates me endlessly.  I do like several portrayals of him by actors, especially Jeremy Brett (who is practically perfect in the role) and Benedict Cumberbatch, but it's the Sherlock Holmes in my head that is my favorite, the one I see and hear when I read the Canon.

Star Trek: The Original Series (1966-69)

favorite character: Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner)

Captain Kirk is so many of the things I wanted to be when I was a teen: confident, bold, strong, good-tempered, charming, and did I mention confident?  Oh, how I longed for his level of confidence.  I still love him now, though not so much because of all the things he is that I'm not, but because I see behind his confidence now, to the guy inside who bears so much responsibility and cares so much for the people he leads.  The episodes where he lets his inner worries and fears show a little often become my favorites.

This is the only character on here that I have kind of, sort of met.  He's the only one I've been able to personally say "thank you" to someone involving his creation, which is very, very special to me.  You can read that story here.

Star Wars

favorite character: Han Solo (Harrison Ford and Alden Ehrenreich)

I've been a Han Solo fan longer than I've been a Harrison Ford fan, if that makes any sense.  He's another guy who swaggers around insisting he's a scoundrel, but you know he's actually a super nice guy inside.  I love his character arc in the original trilogy, from opportunistic loner to loyal leader.  Doesn't hurt that he gets loads and loads of quotable lines, too.  I wrote a blog post about why I love Han Solo not long ago, where I expounded on his delightfulness more.

X-Men

favorite character: Wolverine

Yes, I love Hugh Jackman in the role for the movies. But I loved Wolverine for quite a few years before they even started talking about making the first X-Men movie.  He made guest appearances in several issues of the Spider-Man Magazine, and I could not get enough of this cigar-chomping, ornery, mean, bossy, lonely sweetheart of a superhero.  I do love him in the movies a LOT, but I also love to read the Essential Wolverine comic book compilations (I have the first 5 and need the last 2 yet).  He's endlessly wonderful.  Because, underneath that extremely unlikable exterior is the kindest and most helpful superhero I have ever found.  I even wrote a sonnet about him once.

Things we have learned from this list:  Hamlette has a type, and that type is protective warriors.  Also, every single person on this list is resilient.  They go through sometimes unimaginable and awful things and come through stronger than ever.  I'm not sure I ever noticed that second thing before, regarding favorite characters of mine.  Interesting!

So, now I get to tag some friends.  Hmm.  How about Movies Meet Their Match and Phyllis Loves Classic Movies -- and if anyone else wants to do this too, go right ahead!

My Answers to the We Love Detectives Week Blog Tag

Quick reminder -- today is the LAST day you can enter my giveaway!  There haven't been a lot of people entering yet, so you might have a really good chance at winning something.  Go enter, if you haven't yet!

Today, I've finally got a few minutes to answer the official party tag :-)  So, here we go!

What's your favorite mystery with... 

1. ...a historical setting? 

The Hound of the Baskervilles by A. Conan Doyle.  That's one of my top ten favorite books of all time, and my favorite mystery.  While its setting was contemporary at the time it was written, it's now a historical one for us!

My favorite filmed adaptation is the 1988 version starring Jeremy Brett, which is practically perfect in every way :-D

2. ...a modern setting? 

This is a toss-up between Bones (2005-2017) and Castle (2009-2016).  I absolutely love both shows, for my usual reason that I really enjoy hanging out with the characters.  If I had to pick a favorite episode for each of them... I probably couldn't.  Too many fun ones!

3. ...a lone detective? 

The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler is my favorite book by my favorite author, and it is completely splendid.  Private investigator Philip Marlowe may be on his shiniest white knight behavior in this one.

4. ...a pair of sleuths? 

The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King.  Sherlock Holmes takes on an apprentice?  Who's an obstinate, headstrong teen girl?  My only regret about this book is that I never read it when I was an actual teen girl myself.  I would have loved it.  I do love it, anyway, but I could have loved it for longer than I have, you know?

5. ...a professional/police detective? 

Definitely Laura (1944).  Detective Mark MacPherson (Dana Andrews) is simply marvelous.  I really just never get tired of that movie!

6. ...an amateur detective? 

Probably The Blue Dahlia (1946).  Johnny Morrison (Alan Ladd) doesn't set out to be a detective, but the only way he can figure out how to clear himself of his wife's murder is to find who actually did kill her, so off he goes.

7. ...a young sleuth? 

I'm going with The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin.  Yes, I love Trixie Belden and Frank and Joe Hardy a whole lot.  But Turtle Wexler is in a special league all her own, folks.

8. ...an aging detective? 

Hmm.  Maybe Hell on Frisco Bay (1955).  Former policeman Steve Rollins (Alan Ladd) is released from prison after serving time for a crime he didn't commit, and he sets about tracking down those who really did it.  He's not some young, tough, snarky guy, but a tired man who got middle-aged while in prison and has to lean more on his brains than his physical strength than he might have years ago.

9. ...a cozy feel? 

I'm not hugely into cozy mysteries, but the Drew Farthering mysteries by Julianna Deering are pretty cozy and comfy, except for all the dead bodies that keep turning up. They're set in England in the 1920s and are probably the best Christian historical fiction mysteries I've ever read.

(From my Instagram account)

10. ...a shocking reveal?

A Family Affair by Rex Stout shocked me so much the first time I read it!  Don't read it if you aren't familiar with the characters already, as it won't be nearly as shocking if you aren't.  But if you are, well, it's pretty darn intense.  I really love the Nero Wolfe mysteries by Stout, and if you like snappy dialog, mid-1900s settings, and complicated plots, definitely try them out.

This is my last entry for my We Love Detectives Week party!  Don't forget to enter the giveaway and play the games -- I'll be drawing winners for the giveaway and posting answers and scores for the matching game tomorrow.

Movie Music: Patrick Gowers's "Sherlock Holmes" (1984-1994)

I've reviewed several episodes of the delightful Granada television productions of Sherlock Holmes cases starring the masterful Jeremy Brett, but I haven't really talked about the music much in any of those reviews.  So I'm here to rectify that today.

A recording of music used in Sherlock Holmes (1984-1994) was released on CD a decade or so ago.  (Granada did two TV movies and four miniseries, all under different names, over ten years.  They're now all just lumped together and called the Granada Sherlock Holmes.  Because Granada insists upon being DiFfErEnT about everything, I guess?)  ANYWAY, the soundtrack is lots of fun to listen to if you're a fan of the show, but I've pulled out a few tracks that I think you'll enjoy even if you haven't watched it.

By the way, if you're a BBC Sherlock fan, the opener for The Abominable Bride (2016) mimics the opener of the Granada Sherlock Holmes series.  Which I find absolutely endearing.  Anyway!  Here's the main theme for the series, all energetic and mysterious and ready for adventure:

Since we're entering the Christmas season now, I thought it would be fun to share "Mr. Henry Baker's Christmas," which is from the episode "The Blue Carbuncle."  I like how it brings in traditional Christmas carols like "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" and "Silent Night," but winds them around its own sprightly themes as well.

And I really like "Irene Adler" from "A Scandal in Bohemia" because it's wistful and yearning, but not maudlin.  It's elegant, even, but with a sprinkling of humor, and builds through some very minor parts to a satisfying, quiet conclusion.

The score uses a LOT of violins and other strings, for obvious reasons, since Holmes himself is a violin devotee.  You can listen to the score here on YouTube, and it's not terribly hard to track down a reasonably priced copy on CD either.

I'm contributing this post to the Celebrate Jeremy Brett Month event hosted all through November by Carissa at Musings of an Introvert.  Check out her post here to see the other entries.

"The Red Headed League" (1985)

I've always had an affection for the Sherlock Holmes short story "The Red Headed League."  It's one of the first canon Holmes stories I remember reading, and I think still it's one of the best.  (Reportedly, it was a favorite of A. Conan Doyle as well...)

Cowboy and I are watching our way through the Granada television Sherlock Holmes series once again, those absolutely delicious adaptations starring Jeremy Brett as Holmes and first David Burke, then Edward Hardwicke as Dr. Watson.  They are a joy and treasure!  We watch one every month or two, making the series stretch out over a couple of years so that we can just start right over again when we finish it, and the episodes will remain fresh and delightful.  

Since Carissa is hosting Celebrate Jeremy Brett Month at her blog Musings of an Introvert all through November, I wanted to contribute a review of some episode of this series, and this seemed like the perfect choice.  So, here we go!

Red-haired pawnbroker Jabez Wilson (Roger Hammond) comes to ask Sherlock Holmes (Jeremy Brett) his advice on a very peculiar problem.  He was offered a place in the Red-Headed League, which he'd never heard of, but which seemed like a legitimate -- if eccentric -- group.  

Membership required him to spend several hours every day at the League's office, copying out the encyclopedia!  For that, he received a rather nice bit of money every week.

But then, the League is dissolved with no warning at all, and Wilson can't help but feel he's had an enormous trick played on him somehow.  It's up to Sherlock Holmes to figure out what on earth was actually going on, with a bit of assistance from Dr. Watson (David Burke).  

If you haven't read the story, look it up on Project Gutenberg or something (it's in the public domain) and spend a happy few minutes reading it to find out how everything winds up.  I am not going to spoil it here.

"The Red-Headed League" was part of the earliest series of Sherlock Holmes episodes with this cast, called The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.  Jeremy Brett is in his absolute prime here as Holmes, energetic, oozing intelligence, and so charismatic you just can't take your eyes off him.  

While the complete set of Jeremy Brett outings as Holmes has become pretty expensive, you can get The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes on DVD new for less than $20, or used for a lot less.  If you enjoy period dramas, mysteries, or are just a Holmes fan, do yourself a favor and try them!

Is this episode, and the show as a whole, family friendly?  Basically, yes.  Once in a while there's a mild cuss word, and sometimes criminals get violent, but it's overall quite respectable.

As I said at the beginning of this post, it's a contribution to Celebrate Jeremy Brett Month hosted here at Musings of an Introvert throughout November.  If you're not familiar with Brett's acting, or if you're already a fan, definitely check out her event to see what other people are posting to celebrate this iconic British actor!

The Fandom Tag

Eva tagged me with this on Coffee, Classics, and Craziness this week.  Thanks, Eva!  I was rather wishing for a good tag to do, as a matter of fact.

RULES:

1.  Include the graphic somewhere in your post!
2.  Answer the questions!
3.  Tag two fellow fandom fanatics!

Okay, that's all fun times, so let's go.

(Source)

What’s the first fandom you remember becoming a part of? 

Does Robin Hood count?  Because I've loved him since I was like three or four.  If he doesn't, then the Lone Ranger, as I've loved him since I was seven or eight.

My first really major fandom, though, was Star Trek.  I got into Star Trek: The Original Series in my very early teens, and it was the first fandom I was into that I could buy merch for, which was such a thrill.  I had Star Trek action figures, t-shirts, model kits to put together, books... and a few favorite episodes on VHS.  It was a lovely way to spend my teen years.

Cut from 1993 to 2016 when I got to attend the 50th anniversary Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas with my bff, which was a dream come true :-)

(I'm on the right here.)

Yes, we had costumes.  Yes, we had a lot of fun doing action shots!  Oh, and our tricorders were actually purses!

(I'm on the left here.)

What’s the newest fandom you’ve come to enjoy? 

The Mandalorian, I think.  Which is technically part of the Star Wars fandom.  Newest one that's entirely new to me?  Hmm.  Haven't picked up any brand-new fandoms lately.  I guess before Mando, it would have been the '90s TV version of The Magnificent Seven, but even there, it's based on a movie I've loved since my teens.

So the newest-to-me fandom that is TOTALLY new to me that I've gotten into recently (by which I mean like 4 years ago) would be Leverage (2008-2012), which is a supremely fun show about a group of criminals who work together to help people who've been hurt by other criminals.  It definitely has a Robin Hood aspect to it, but also that "found family" thing going on that I pretty much always fall for.  And it's got all kinds of con artist stuff going on, which always fascinates me.  Plus, yeah, Christian Kane and Timothy Hutton definitely were what first drew me to the show.

What’s a fandom guaranteed to give you feels? 

Um, if it doesn't give me all the feels, I'm not into it.  For real.  I demand many feels.  No feels?  No fandom for me.

Okay, fine, so one that gives me instant feels, no matter what, and all you have to do is say the show's name for me to be reduced to a puddle of sappy and lovesick nonsense is... Lost.  Which is all his fault:

My darling Sawyer, about whom I have waxed eloquent many times.  So today, instead of talking about how much I love James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway), I'll tell you a little story that will show how well my brother's wife knows me.  We went to visit them once, years and years ago when we both lived somewhere other than where we are now.  And they were big fans of Lost, so they wanted to show us the first few eps to see if we'd like it too.  My s-i-l suggested it to my brother because she thought I'd like the characters a lot.  My brother said, "Yeah, but I just can't see Rachel liking Jack."  My s-i-l said, "No, no, not Jack.  Sawyer."  

Um, yeah, she called it.  The first couple of eps, I was like, "Why is he so horrible?" and then when I got to ep 8, "Confidence Man," I just gave up and fell for him.  Very hard, very fast, very deeply.  I've got a weird fondness for con artists anyway, and if you combine that with an authentic Southern accent and a redemption arc, there's no way I won't swoon.

What’s a guilty pleasure fandom of yours?

Ummmmmm... ummmmmmmmmm... I don't have one?  I don't feel guilty about loving any of my fandoms!  If they made me feel guilty, I would not be their fan.

 

What’s the weirdest fandom you’ve heard of/are a part of? 

Yeah, see, but you say 'weird' and I say 'whatever.'  I never know what people will consider weird.  Is it weird that my favorite TV show ever is a 1960s drama about WWII soldiers?  Is it weird that I've written fanfic that crossed that show with one about vampires?  I suppose the Buffy/Angel fandom is my weirdest, or maybe it's Lost instead?  They're both kind of unusual, maybe?

I do deeply love Angel: The Series.  It's my second-favorite TV show ever, and since it's about a vampire who basically becomes a detective and then a crime-fighter and assembles a crew with otherworldly skills to help the hopeless... I guess it counts as weird?

Favorite popular/widely-known fandom? 

Either the MCU or Star Wars -- I don't know which one is bigger, or which one I love most.  Okay, I probably love Star Wars a little more, simply because I've loved Han Solo for a looooooooong time.  And so deeply.  Yes, I think I do love him more than Thor.  Sorry, Thor.  I do love you, honest.  Just... I love Han more.  Can't help it.

Favorite bookish fandom? 

Sherlock Holmes.  No question.  Sherlock Holmes is my "book boyfriend" and I am not sorry.

(Mine from my Instagram account.)

What do you consider your ‘homebase,’ a fandom you can always come back to? 

Combat! (1962-67) always feels like home.  No matter how long it's been since I watched an ep.  I just watched several last month and it was so wonderful to be back with my best WWII buddies.  I've spent so much of my life in that world, writing reams of fanfic and even co-running a fansite for the show called Fruit Salad with my best friend.

No matter how long I've been away, Saunders and the guys will always welcome me back.  I love that.

What’s a fandom you know all about…but aren’t actually into it? 

Why would I know all about it if I wasn't in the fandom?  I don't bother learning all about things if I'm not into them.  Who has that kind of time?

I do know a lot more about The Hunger Games than I want to, so I guess that counts?  It was so unavoidable for so long, but I'm just not into it.  At all.

Which fandom has the best characters?

Probably The Lord of the Rings.  Just no end of fantastically nuanced, deep, rich characters.

 

Name your all-time favorite ship. 

Valancy Stirling and Barney Snaith from The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery.  I have read it over and over, and their story never fails to absolutely delight me.

(Also from my Instagram)

What’s a fandom you’re curious about joining?

Hmm.  Does Errol Flynn count?  Because I'm a little bit flirting with the idea of having a spring fling with him, as evidenced by me buying like four or five of his westerns recently.  But at the same time, I've already seen half a dozen of his movies, so he's not truly new to me either.  I'm considering reading Caraval by Stephanie Garber -- does that count?

That was super fun, and it took me days and days to answer these to my satisfaction :-)  Now I'm supposed to tag two people, so I'm tagging Movie Critic at Movies Meet Their Match and Katherine + Grace at Maidens of Green Gables.  But if you want to do this tag too, go right ahead!  Here are the questions, for your easy copying:

What’s the first fandom you remember becoming a part of? 

What’s the newest fandom you’ve come to enjoy? 

What’s a fandom guaranteed to give you feels? 

What’s a guilty pleasure fandom of yours? 

What’s the weirdest fandom you’ve heard of/are a part of? 

Favorite popular/widely-known fandom? 

Favorite bookish fandom? 

What do you consider your ‘homebase,’ a fandom you can always come back to? 

What’s a fandom you know all about…but aren’t actually into it? 

Which fandom has the best characters? 

Name your all-time favorite ship. 

What’s a fandom you’re curious about joining?