Garden Cinemas in Greenfield to screen lost ‘Sherlock Holmes’ film

The Garden Cinemas on Main Street in Greenfield.

The Garden Cinemas on Main Street in Greenfield. Staff File Photo/Paul Franz

By DOMENIC POLI

Staff Writer

Published: 10-02-2024 12:29 PM

GREENFIELD — Instead of 221B Baker St. in London, next week you can expect to find the world’s most famous consulting detective at 361 Main St. here in town.

The Garden Cinemas plans to show the first movie adaptation of “Sherlock Holmes,” a 1916 silent film starring stage actor William Gillette and rediscovered nearly a century later, at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 7. The screening will feature live accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis, a composer who specializes in creating music for silent films.

“We’re going to see if [Gillette] outdoes Robert Downey Jr.,” Garden Cinemas owner Isaac Mass said about the movie.

Mass said he learned about the lost film while researching movies to feature as a part of Talking Talkies, a monthly series of movies from the 1930s. He also said his wife, Angela, is a huge fan of the fictional investigator.

Rapsis, who lives in Bedford, New Hampshire, has worked with Mass on other screenings and handles about 100 jobs across the country each year. He dabbles primarily in improvisation, as most theaters did a century ago.

“It’s kind of a high-wire act, but it creates a certain energy. It’s very different from a recorded or planned score. I don’t use any sheet music,” he said. “I kind of keep that approach alive. There’s a few of us that do this.”

Rapsis, who has accompanied this film previously, said he uses his own digital synthesizer that recreates the sound of a full orchestra.

“This is my therapy,” he said. “And I say that as a kind of funny line, but it’s true. This is something that allows me to use music to commune with the big emotions that we all feel and that these big films sometimes bring out.”

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The 1916 film was considered lost until a nearly complete copy was discovered in the vaults of La Cinémathèque Française, the Paris-based archive that houses one of the world’s biggest film collections, in 2014. The roughly 90-minute movie has since been restored.

It stars Gillette, who made no other known film appearances. He originated the role in a popular stage adaptation of writer Arthur Conan Doyle’s tales. Gillette performed as Sherlock Holmes more than 1,300 times, touring the nation over three decades. Gillette’s appearance and demeanor in the film is responsible for the image most think of today when they picture the brilliant detective.

Admission is $10.50 adults and $8.50 for children, senior citizens and students. Tickets are available online at gardencinemas.net or at the door.

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.