Sir Arthur Conan Doyle at the Cinema: A Critical Study of the Film Adaptations

In February 1903, a 30-second film titled Sherlock Holmes Baffled was released by American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, the first known adaptation of the work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Over the years hundreds of adaptation and parodies of Conan Doyle’s works have been released. Though he is most closely associated with Sherlock Holmes, other Conan Doyle works have found their way to the silver screen, including the science fiction classic The Lost World (1925). The major adaptations of all of Conan Doyle’s literary works are fully covered here, plus a 1927 one-reel documentary in which the author talks about his work and his psychic beliefs. The focus is on how faithful the adaptations are to the author’s own work and the overall effectiveness of the film.