A Study in Scarlet - The Greatest Sherlock Holmes Story Waiting to be Adapted into a Classic Movie

There are all sorts of rumors in the air about the possible plotline of the upcoming Sherlock Holmes 3 movie succeeding the highly entertaining 'Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows'. While there is still a lot of uncertainty about the exact plotline for the Sherlock Holmes 3 (let's hope time travel doesn't play a role in it as was "brilliantly" suggested by Jude Law quite recently), I was wondering that going back to the source material for story for the Sherlock Holmes 3 is a 'no-brainer'. However, as we have observed with the previous two installments, the story was very loosely inspired from some of the short stories.

Irrespective of the actual plotline of Sherlock Holmes 3, I would love to see a movie adaptation of 'A Study in Scarlet', the first of the four novels written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, introducing us to the character of Sherlock Holmes through the eyes of Dr. Watson. 

Beeton's Christmas Annual, December 1887, with "A Study in Scarlet"

So, why do I think 'A Study in Scarlet' will make an excellent movie?

The Beginning of a Great Friendship

This is where we are first introduced to the rather uninspiring personal life of war veteran, Dr. Watson who had just returned to London from the disastrous Afghan Front and continued to struggle to come to grips with the new urban environment surrounding him. 'A Study in Scarlet' marks the beginning of one of the most enduring and endearing friendships in the history of fictional literature, as an acquaintance of Dr. Watson first introduces him to the eccentric amateur sleuth whose chronicler he was destined to become.

The Powers of Deduction

'A Study in Scarlet' is a great read and offers excellent material for a movie storyline, since not only does it introduce us to two of the most famous Londoners in fictional history, it also first introduces an average reader to the powers of deduction which are so incredibly put to use by Holmes as in many cases he ends up solving seemingly complex criminal plots without having to leave the comforts of his Baker Street residence. The deductive method allows Holmes to assemble a chain of events by working backwards from the very last piece of this chain, which is the crime itself. While, Dr. Watson is highly skeptical of these powers at first, but when Holmes puts his deductive powers to test by predicting great details about a Navy sailor walking across the street who they both glance upon from their apartment window, Watson is completely sold on his powers and even wonders why more people aren't aware of them. (Well, they certainly are now, Dr. Watson!)

What a Crime Scene!

Both Holmes and Dr. Watson come across a harrowing crime scene in 'A Study in Scarlet'. A dead body in an empty house in the suburbs of London, that horrifying expression of hatred and terror depicted by the dead body, no apparent cause of death, the appearance of the word 'RACHE' written in human blood on the side of a wall and two petty Scotland Yard detectives (Gregson and Lestrade) bickering like an old married couple on this crime scene trading unpleasant remarks all the while having no real idea as to who the murder is. This incredible scenario offers the chance to put on screen moments of both sheer terror and snippets of cold humor that will dazzle audiences. 

Good Old Detective Work

As both Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson arrive on an incredible crime scene, Holmes immediately delves into some good old detective work, asking the carriage driver to drop them off a little before their destination so that he can inspect the carriage track. Much to Dr. Watson's confusion, Holmes continues slowly along the track for quite some time to study the grounds and sure enough he does come up with rather amazing revelations about what he finds. Once inside the empty house, after having an initial exchange with Detective Gregson, Holmes asks his colleague to excuse him so that he can study the room for clues with that grand old detective's tool, a magnifying glass, and after almost half an house he surprises everyone by briefing them with intricate details of the events that unfolded in that place on the previous night. 

With such detailed detective work, Sir Conan Doyle very early on establishes in the mind of Dr. Watson and consequently in the minds of million of readers, that this amateur sleuth not only humors himself with some fantastic and rather unusual theories on how to solve a crime, but when the time comes his skills of deduction hold up strongly even out in the field.

A Great Revenge Story

'A Study in Scarlet' is distributed in present day events and a flashback to precursors to the terrible events that unfolded in Salt Lake City some years ago. At its heart, this story offers a great revenge storyline and accurately depicts at what great lengths of trouble a person may be willing to go to take revenge on his enemies for the murder of his beloved family. 

It Offers a Great Discussion About Crime & Mystery

One of my favorite passages in all of literature produced by Sir Arthur Conan about Sherlock Holmes comes about in 'A Study in Scarlet' in which the two friends have an insightful exchange about the nature of crime. The passage is reproduced as follows: 

"It is a mistake to confound strangeness with mystery. The most commonplace crime is often the most mysterious because it presents no new or special features from which deductions may be drawn. This murder would have been infinitely more difficult to unravel had the body of the victim been simply found lying in the roadway without any of those outré and sensational accompaniments which have rendered it remarkable. These strange details, far from making the case more difficult, have really had the effect of making it less so."

The Great Final Reveal!

Speaking of unique personality traits of Sherlock Holmes, not all of them are as virtuous as some of the fans of the character may wish to believe. Much to Dr.Watson's frustration, Holmes is often found guilty of withholding information about the crimes he is solving from those around him. This particular trait leads to the unexpected final reveal of the identity of the murderer as he shows up in the Baker Street apartment in the presence of Holmes, Dr. Watson and the two jealous Scotland Yard detectives. This reveal leaves all those present breathless (quite literally!) and let's Holmes have the last laugh even if it was at the expense of his less gifted Scotland Yard colleagues.

'A Study in Scarlet' also contains some of the most quotable lines in all of literary works depicting the life and works of Sherlock Holmes. This novel is essentially a great introduction to the personality, professional skills and philosophy of life of Sherlock Holmes and should be turned into a great movie sooner rather than later!

Tobias Gregson - "is the smartest of the Scotland Yarders"

Image Courtesy Wikipedia


Inspector Tobias Gregson is a fictional character that has made appearances in short stories of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. His first appearance is made in 'A Study in Scarlet' in which he calls upon the services of Holmes to solve a murder case. He requests Holmes to join in the investigation in these words:



“MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:

“There has been a bad business during the night at 3, Lauriston
Gardens, off the Brixton Road. Our man on the beat saw a light
there about two in the morning, and as the house was an empty
one, suspected that something was amiss. He found the door open,
and in the front room, which is bare of furniture, discovered the
body of a gentleman, well dressed, and having cards in his pocket
bearing the name of ‘Enoch J. Drebber, Cleveland, Ohio, U. S. A.’
There had been no robbery, nor is there any evidence as to how the
man met his death. There are marks of blood in the room, but there
is no wound upon his person. We are at a loss as to how he came
into the empty house; indeed, the whole affair is a puzzler. If you
can come round to the house any time before twelve, you will find
me there. I have left everything in statu quo until I hear from you.
If you are unable to come, I shall give you fuller details, and
would esteem it a great kindness if you would favour me with your
opinions.

“Yours faithfully,

“TOBIAS GREGSON.”



It is after Dr. Watson reads this letter to Holmes that the later mentions how he sees Gregson as a detective and also mentions the ongoing rivalry between Inspector Lestrade and Inspector Tobias Gregson. In his own words, "Gregson is the smartest of the Scotland Yarders,","he and Lestrade are the pick of a bad lot. They are both quick and energetic, but conventional–shockingly so. They have their knives into
one another, too. They are as jealous as a pair of professional beauties."

As Holmes had recognized, Gregson was the one Scotland Yard officer who was closer to Holmes' ways of finding evidence, however, Gregson was forced to follow the law which was his big limitation. Inspector Gregson apparently doesn't adhere to the law as closely as Inspector Lestrade does, that is why he overlooks Holmes' illegal act of breaking in a house by smashing a window in 'The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter'.
Gregson also featured in 'The Adventure of the Wistaria Lodge' and 'The Adventure of the Red Circle' and in the later he impresses both Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes with his energy and courage as Dr. Watson remarks,

"Our official detectives may blunder in the matter of intelligence, but never in that of courage. Gregson climbed the stair to arrest this desperate murderer with the same absolutely quiet and businesslike bearing with which he would have ascended the official staircase of Scotland Yard. The Pinkerton man had tried to push past him, but Gregson had firmly elbowed him back. London dangers were the privilege of the London force."

Some also believe that the inclination shown by Doyle to appreciate official forces in his later writings shows a change of his attitude about the police. The above passage clearly shows a change of opinion by Doyle about the official force.

Inspector Lestrade - "a little sallow rat-faced, dark-eyed fellow!"

Image Courtesy Wikipedia


Among the many interesting characters in the Sherlock Holmes series is that of inspector Lestrade. Inspector Lestrade has been described as a prominent officer at the Scotland Yard who from time to time drops by at 221 B Baker Street to get some "useful hints" from detective Sherlock Holmes. Apart from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's writing, this fictional character has also made appearances in several other novels and stories.

Despite the fact that little family background and personal profile is available about the Scotland Yard's finest, his character, abilities and physical traits have been touched upon in many of the stories he appears in. His first initial, that is, "G" has been revealed in 'The Adventure of the Cardboard Box'. Some believe that Doyle created G. Lestrade as an tribute to his first wife, as this is an anagram for 'Dearest L'. Lestrade apparently has an experience of 20 years with the force before Holmes' one of the most exciting stories takes place, 'A Study in Scarlet'

'In a Study in Scarlet' Lestrade has been described as "a little sallow rat-faced, dark-eyed fellow", where as in 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery his personality and appearance was put to words as "a lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking,". Inspector Lestrade is a man of limited intelligence, educational background as he uses simple language, is impatient, highly energetic and is a very particular dresser. Despite being painted as a villain most of the times by good old Dr. Watson, Lestrade also shows a sense of humor from time to time as once he remarked to Watson saying he doubted the sanity of Holmes.

Contrary to the customs of those days, according to Conan Doyle Lestrade keeps a hand gun with him all the time, which came to use in 'The hound of the Baskervilles'. Despite the fact that Holmes' confederate Dr. Watson has described him as a short man, it can be asserted confidently that his height must have been at least 5' 7'' as this was the minimum requirement to join the police force. During 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery' while Holmes was describing his hunt for footprints mentioned a rather eccentric feature about Lestrade, in his own words, "That left foot of yours with its inward twist is all over the place."

Inspector Lestrade is different altogether when it comes to his methods to get hold of criminal evidence. In Holmes' opinion Lestrade has no real gift for solving criminal cases yet his tenacity and determination put him way ahead of the rest of the officers. Holmes tells Dr. Watson once about the secret rivalry between Inspector Lestrade and Inspector Tobias Gregson and describes the two as "the best of a bad lot ... both quick and energetic, but conventional — shockingly so."

Often Inspector Lestrade feels frustrated at the hands of Holmes because of his unconventional methods. Lestrade says that he is a "practical man" dismissing Holmes' imaginative thinking and his detection methods. However, with the passage of time Lestrade starts appreciating Sherlock Holmes as a detective as Watson makes an observation while recording 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' that "from the reverential way in which Lestrade gazed at my companion that he had learned a good deal since the days when they had first worked together."

Lestrade once complimented Holmes in these words after he solves an unlikely case, "We're not jealous of you down at Scotland Yard. No, sir, we are proud of you, and if you come down to-morrow there's not a man, from the oldest inspector to the youngest constable, who wouldn't be glad to shake you by the hand." These words did not fail to penetrate the skin of the cold blooded London detective. Despite all his criticism about Inspector Lestrade and his abilities, even Holmes acknowledged him during 'The hound of the Baskervilles' as he commented to Dr. Watson that Lestrade, "is the best of the professionals, I think,"

Inspector Lestrade has featured in several adaptations and novels written by many prominent writers. Many unexplored regions of his private life and personality have been touched upon by other writers. He has been depicted by Colin Jeavons in the famous Granada TV adaptation of Sherlock Holmes stories.

221B Baker Street, Residence of Sherlock Holmes

Image courtesy to Wikipedia

221 B Baker Street in London

221 B Baker Street is the residence of the fictional character Sherlock Holmes, which has been mentioned in almost all of the 52 short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It is in 'A Study In Scarlet' that Holmes meets Dr. Watson and both agree to share an apartment in the Baker Street.

In the stories the apartment is stated as an upstairs apartment of a residential house. During the period in which Sir Arthur Doyle wrote these stories the street numbers only reached upto 100, probably that it is why he chose the fictional number of 221. During those days this area was known as the ‘Upper Baker Street’. However, when the street numbers were reallocated street numbers from 219 to 229 were allocated to Abbey Road Building Society subsequently named as Abbey National.

Owing to the worldwide popularity of Sherlock Holmes, the company started to recieve a large number of messages for which they even appointed a 'secretary to Sherlock Holmes' who dealt with them. The house contains a picture of Sherlock Holmes on a bronze plaque at the front. A bronze statue of Holmes also stands at the entrance of the Baker Street station which was ordered in 1999.

The exact location of the fictional house has always been a matter of dispute as there are many theories that point to many locations. Now 221B Baker street has become an attraction for tourists and fans who come to visit it from all over the world.

'A Study In Scarlet'

Image courtesy Wikipedia

Original Cover of 'A Study In Scarlet'

‘A Study In Scarlet’ is one of the most popular novels written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The character of Sherlock Holmes was first featured in this novel. It is one of the four novels written by Conan Doyle that feature Holmes.

Doyle wrote this novel when he was 27 and it was first published, after much rejection, by Ward Lock and Co. in ‘Beeton’s Christmas Annual’ in 1887. In 1888, Ward Lock and Co. published it as a novel which also contained illustrations drawn Charles Doyle, father of Conan Doyle. In 1890 an American version of ‘A Study In Scarlet’ was released by J.P. Lippincott Co. Conan Doyle only earned £25 from the publication, although, he did insist for royalty. Shortly after its publication, Doyle wrote ‘The Sign Of Four’ in 1890, another novel featuring Sherlock Holmes.

Initially this novel failed to make any mark and went unnoticed but who knew that in recent times, it was just the begginning of a series of short stories that will attract a huge fan club. The novel was initially named as ‘The Tangled Skein’ but was later renamed. Its name ‘A Study In Scarlet’ is derived from the engaging conversation between Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in which the former is discussing his investigation methods. Holmes terms the murder investigation as ’study in scarlet’, in his own words "There’s the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life, and our duty is to unravel it, and isolate it, and expose every inch of it".

It is in ‘A Study In Scarlet’ that both Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson meet for the first time. Dr. Watson exhausted and injured from war in Afghanistan returns to London, but soon due to limited resources looks to share an apertment with someone. A friend of his, who knows Holmes as well, arranges a meeting between the two to settle things. In their first meeting, Holmes surprises Dr. Watson with his deductive reasoning, when he reveals several facts about Watson’s past life.

The story is divided in two parts, the first part titled ‘Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John Watson, M.D., Late of the Army Medical Department’ describes events of their meeting and the crime. While the other part titled ‘The Country of the Saints’ takes the reader to the deserts of United States describing events involving the Mormon community that lead to the crime. In the last two chapters, Dr. Watson continues to describe the conclusion of the case as he saw it.

Early Life And Family

Although not many details have been offered in these stories, but on ocassions some background and early life of Holmes is discussed. In ‘The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual’ and “The Adventure of the Gloria Scott’ Holmes early life has been depicted.

While studying in University Holmes satrted to develop his extraordinary skills and he decided to become a professional crime detective after he got inspired with an experience with his friend’s father. Not much about his family is disclosed as well, in ‘The Greek Interpreter’, Holmes tells his trusted friend that his grandmother was the sister of French artist Vernet.

Holmes also had an elder brother Mycroft Holmes who is shown to have even greater deductive skills than Sherlock Holmes. Mycroft works as a government official and is a waliking database for the policy makers. Despite having superior skills to his younger brother Mycroft’s lack of energy did not allow him to become a detective. He has appeared in person in three stories: The Greek Interpreter’, ‘The Final Problem’ and ‘The Bruce-Partington Plans’, while Homes also mentions his elder brother in ‘The Empty House’.

In ‘His Last Bow’ The date of birth of Holmes is placed somewhere around the year 1854. In ‘The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger’, it is mentioned that Holmes has been actively working as a detective for twenty three years, and only seventeen of these years are spent with his loyal friend Dr. Watson.

Personal Habits

Image Courtesy Wikipedia

Dr. Watson often despised Holmes' habit of using drugs

Sherlock Holmes is depicted to be a person of unusual, irregular and often unhealthy habits. His biographer and close friend Dr. Watson states in one of the stories that Holmes has irregular habits and often his papers, chemical equipment used to be scattered in the room. He used to place his tobacco in a persian slipper, and was a regular user of cigars, cigarettes and pipes.

Holmes often concealed the truth or bent the truth, in order to protect someone’s honor and dignity. In many stories Holmes carries out illegal actions to meet a god purpose. In ‘The Adventure of Charles Milverton Augustus’, afterlong discussion both the friends agree to break in a house to get important papers.

While working on an important case, Holmes will stop himself from eating and sleeping. Dr. Watson describes Holmes as a late riser but when on an imporatnt case, Dr. Watson often woke up to find that Holmes had left earlier. Holmes showed aversion to the female sex and often he remarked that it was due to lack of trust. In all his life Holmes admired only one lady, Irene Adler in ‘ A Scandal in Bohemia’.

The Scotland Yard often asked Holmes for assistance in certain cases and Holmes often tested their patience when he did not disclose the truth till the last moment. He used to give clues and hints to the officers in particular ‘Inspector Lestrade’, who showed dislike towards Holmes. In ‘The Adventure of The Naval treaty’, holmes remarks in amusement that out of the last 53 cases Scotland Yard had taken all the credit in 49.

Holmes is mainly a reserved person and his ego is strong which made him seem arrogant. Holmes’ another special trait was his ability to change disguise which also helped him in many cases. Holmes is a strong patriot as well and in a few stories he also served the British Government.

On foggy days in London when no serious cases came to homes, Dr. watson explains that this was the most painful occasion to see Holmes indulging himself in drugs and torturing him self.