Sherlock Holmes: A Baker Street Dozen Author: | Language: English | ISBN:
B000UB3HTU | Format: PDF
Sherlock Holmes: A Baker Street Dozen Description
Here are 12 acclaimed, exciting, fully dramatized performances of Conan Doyle classics. It's elementary that any Conan Doyle fan will want this splendid set of Sherlock Holmes mysteries, 12 timeless tales performed as radio theater and linked by violin-music interludes.
The great Sir John Gielgud stars as the sleuth of Baker Street, with Ralph Richardson as his venerable companion, Dr. Watson, and Orson Welles as the nefarious Professor Moriarty. With three giants of the theater in such colorful roles, it's no mystery why this collectionwas so popular on cassette.
Included are:
- "The Blue Carbuncle"
- "A Case of Identity"
- "Charles August Milverton"
- "The Dying Detective"
- "The Final Problem"
- "The Golden Pince-Nez"
- "The Norwood Builder"
- "A Scandal in Bohemia"
- "The Second Stain"
- "The Six Napoleons"
- "The Solitary Cyclist"
- "The Speckled Band"
- Audible Audio Edition
- Listening Length: 5 hours and 18 minutes
- Program Type: Audiobook
- Version: Unabridged
- Publisher: HighBridge Company
- Audible.com Release Date: July 24, 2007
- Language: English
- ASIN: B000UB3HTU
An audio book simply doesn't get any better than this. A dream cast brings to life the Sherlock Holmes adventure A Baker Street Dozen. Any one of these stars would be reason enough to stand in line for this audio book, but hearing all three in a full dramatization is absolutely amazing.
The superb John Gielgud stars as the master sleuth himself, Ralph Richardson is impeccable as his erstwhile companion, Dr. Watson. Now, who would be perfect as the evil Professor Moriarty? Orson Welles, of course.
Singling out one of these narrators would be an impossibility, but who has the better part? For this listener it is Orson Welles who imbues his character with so much stealth and evil that we can see the no-good at work.
Some would claim that Moriarty was the first arch villain, the man Holmes described as the "Napoleon of Crime." He did merit that description, and was certainly the Baker Street detective's arch enemy. Also described by Holmes as follows:
"He is a man of good birth and excellent education, endowed by nature with a phenomenal mathematical faculty. At the age of twenty-one he wrote A Treatise on the Binomial Theorem, which has had a European vogue. On the strength of it he won the mathematical chair at one of our smaller universities, and had, to all appearances, a most brilliant career before him. "
It's interesting to note how Moriarty has survived the years even to an appearance on Star Trek.
The iconic Sherlock Holmes has also lasted through the decades and lives again in this remarkable audio version of A Baker Street Dozen.
Listen, you will surely enjoy.
- Gail Cooke
By Gail Cooke
HALL OF FAME TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE VOICE
I'm 25. I first heard Gielgud and Richardson's "The Speckled Band" back when I was in 6th grade. I found copies of the Baker Street Dozen stories at my local library, and would constantly check them out, over and over again. Around 8 or 9 years ago, I bought my own copies in a cassette boxed set, which have since worn out.
So I was more than thrilled to see this, the Baker Street Dozen stories on CD, and separated into chapters, at that! There are websites that have copies of these stories, but they are in terrible quality, or chopped up. For stories that were first recorded in 1953, they sound like they were recorded yesterday. I have a bunch of old radio broadcasts on CD, ranging from THE SHADOW to MURDER AT MIDNIGHT and THE GREEN HORNET, and their quality ranges from horrible to fair. But THIS, my friends, is British radio at its finest; fully dramatized, with music and sound effects that fit right into the story, characters that come to life, and stories that will keep you listening over and over again.
It seems everyone in America can't look past the Sherlock Holmes ideal with Basil Rathbone and his rendition of the great detective... nobody really bothers to look or listen to other actors' versions of the character. Sir John Gielgud is, in my opinion, the greatest portrayer of Holmes. EVER.
To wrap this up... if you're a Sherlock Holmes fan, GET THIS. Trust me, you won't be disappointed. The acting is superb, the quality is astounding for something that's over 50 years old, and the replay value is higher than high, because these stories are timeless. The game is afoot, and you should come along...
By N. Flowers
Sherlock Holmes: A Baker Street Dozen Preview
Link
Please Wait...