Instruct: Given a question, retrieve passages that answer the question.
Query: What was the first film adaptation of Sherlock Holmes?
"Sherlock Holmes Baffled" marks the first in an observable trend of early film-makers to show the character as a figure of fun; in this case the somewhat louchely dressed Holmes is left "baffled" by a burglar, in contrast with the detective prowess displayed by his literary namesake. William K. Everson in his book "The Detective in Film" noted that "Sherlock Holmes Baffled", in common with all other silent detective films "labored under the difficulty of not being able to conduct prolonged interrogations or oral deductions ... the stress was on mystery or physical action rather than on literary-derived sleuthings." It was only in 1916 that William Gillette's "Sherlock Holmes" attempted a serious adaptation of Conan Doyle's character. Michael Pointer has suggested that the appearance and costume of the anonymous actor in "Sherlock Holmes Baffled" is an imitation of Gillette's stage portrayal of Holmes. Gillette's play "Sherlock Holmes" had made its Broadway debut at the Garrick Theater on November 6, 1899.
Wiggins is a street urchin in London and head of the Baker Street Irregulars. He has no first name in the stories. His first appearance is in "A Study in Scarlet" (1886). The film "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes", directed by Billy Wilder, features a character called Wiggins (played by Graham Armitage) who is a footman at the Diogenes Club. He delivers a note to Mycroft Holmes (played by Christopher Lee) and receives instructions concerning various items. The character, credited as "Bill Wiggins", also appears in the series three finale of "Sherlock" portrayed by Tom Brooke as a drug user who actually demonstrates the beginning of Sherlock's deductive skills, and later appoints himself a "pupil" of Sherlock's.
During the Second World War, Christie wrote two novels, "Curtain" and "Sleeping Murder", intended as the last cases of these two great detectives, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Both books were sealed in a bank vault for over thirty years and were released for publication by Christie only at the end of her life, when she realised that she could not write any more novels. These publications came on the heels of the success of the film version of "Murder on the Orient Express" in 1974.
The first depictions of the supernatural on screen appear in several of the short silent films created by the French pioneer filmmaker Georges Méliès in the late 1890s. The best known of these supernatural-based works is the 3-minute short film "Le Manoir du Diable" (1896), also known in English as "The Haunted Castle" or "The House of the Devil". The film is sometimes credited as being the first ever horror film. In "The Haunted Castle", a mischievous devil appears inside a medieval castle and harasses the visitors. Méliès' other popular horror film is "La Caverne maudite" (1898), which translates literally to "the accursed cave". The film, also known for its English title "The Cave of the Demons", tells the story of a woman stumbling over a cave that is populated by the spirits and skeletons of people who died there. Méliès would also make other short films that historians consider now as horror-comedies. "Une nuit terrible" (1896), which translates to "A Terrible Night", tells a story of a man who tries to get a good night's sleep but ends up wrestling a giant spider. His other film, "L'auberge ensorcelée" (1897), or "The Bewitched Inn", features a story of a hotel guest getting pranked and tormented by an unseen presence. 
In 1897, the accomplished American photographer-turned director George Albert Smith created "The X-Ray Fiend" (1897), a horror-comedy that came out a mere two years after x-rays were invented. The film shows a couple of skeletons courting each other. An audience full of people unaccustomed to the idea would have found it frightening and otherworldly. The next year, Smith created the short film "Photographing a Ghost" (1898), consisdered a precursor to the paranormal investigation subgenre. The film portrays three men attempting to photograph a ghost, only to fail time and again as the ghost eludes them and throws chairs.
Japan also made early forays into the horror genre. In 1898, Japanese film company Konishi Honten released two horror films both written by Ejiro Hatta; "Shinin No Sosei" (Resurrection of a Corpse), and "Bake Jizo" (Jizo the Spook) "Shinin No Sosei" told the story of a dead man who comes back to life after having fallen from a coffin that two men were carrying. (the writer Hatta played the dead man, while the coffin-bearers were played by Konishi employees.) Though there are no records of the cast, crew, or plot of "Bake Jizo", it was likely based on the Japanese legend of Jizo statues, believed to provide safety and protection to children. The presence of the word bake—which can be translated to "spook," "ghost," or "phantom"—may imply a haunted or possessed statue. (In Japan, Jizō, or respectfully as "Ojizō-sama", is a beloved divinity who is seen as the guardian of children, and in particular, children who died before their parents. He has been worshipped as the guardian of the souls of "mizuko", the souls of stillborn, miscarried, or aborted fetuses.)
Spanish filmmaker Segundo de Chomón is regarded as the most significant Spanish silent film director in an international context. He was popular for his frequent camera tricks and optical illusions, an innovation that contributed heavily to the popularity of trick films in the period. His famous works include "Satán se divierte" (1907), which translates to "Satan Having Fun", or "Satan at Play"; "La casa hechizada" (1908), or "The House of Ghosts", considered to be one of the earliest cinematic depictions of a haunted house premise; and "Le spectre rouge" (1907) or "The Red Spectre", a collaboration film with French director Ferdinand Zecca about a demonic magician who attempts to perform his act in a mysterious grotto.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (released in the United States and India as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) is a 2001 fantasy film directed by Chris Columbus and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is based on J. K. Rowling's 1997 novel of the same name. The film is the first instalment of the "Harry Potter" film series and was written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman. Its story follows Harry Potter's first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as he discovers that he is a famous wizard and begins his education. The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, with Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, and Emma Watson as Hermione Granger.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a 2002 fantasy film directed by Chris Columbus and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is based on J. K. Rowling's 1998 novel of the same name. The film is a sequel to the 2001 film "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" and the second instalment in the "Harry Potter" film series. It was written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman. Its story follows Harry Potter's second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as the Heir of Salazar Slytherin opens the Chamber of Secrets, unleashing a monster that petrifies the school's denizens. The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, with Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, and Emma Watson as Hermione Granger and is also the last film to feature Richard Harris as Professor Albus Dumbledore, due to his death that same year.
In October 1998, Warner Bros. purchased the film rights to the first two novels for a seven-figure sum. A film adaptation of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" was released on 16 November 2001, and "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" on 15 November 2002. Both films were directed by Chris Columbus. The film version of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" was released on 4 June 2004, directed by Alfonso Cuarón. The fourth film, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", was directed by Mike Newell, and released on 18 November 2005. The film of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" was released on 11 July 2007. David Yates directed, and Michael Goldenberg wrote the screenplay, having taken over the position from Steve Kloves. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" was released on 15 July 2009. David Yates directed again, and Kloves returned to write the script. Warner Bros. filmed the final instalment of the series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", in two segments, with part one being released on 19 November 2010 and part two being released on 15 July 2011. Yates directed both films.
The rights for the first four novels in the series were sold to Warner Bros. for £1,000,000 by J.K. Rowling. After the release of the fourth book in July 2000, the first film, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", was released on 16 November 2001. In its opening weekend, the film grossed $90 million in the United States alone, which set a record opening worldwide. The succeeding three motion picture adaptations followed suit in financial success, while garnering positive reviews from fans and critics. The fifth film, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", was released by Warner Bros. on 11 July 2007 in English-speaking countries, except for the UK and Ireland, which released the movie on 12 July. The sixth, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", was released on 15 July 2009 to critical acclaim and finished its theatrical run ranked as the number two grossing film of 2009 on the worldwide charts.
With its setting in the Thirty Years' War, it covered a period never previously depicted on film (apart from 1933's "Queen Christina"). In this light, George MacDonald Fraser wrote in 1988, "The plot left me bewildered - in fact the whole bloody business is probably an excellent microcosm of the Thirty Years' War, with no clear picture of what is happening and half the cast ending up dead to no purpose. To that extent, it must be rated a successful film. ... As a drama, "The Last Valley" is not remarkable; as a reminder of what happened in Central Europe, 1618-48, and shaped the future of Germany, it reads an interesting lesson." Fraser says of the stars, "Michael Caine ... gives one of his best performances as the hard-bitten mercenary captain, nicely complemented by Omar Sharif as the personification of reason."
The original three-hour-long version of the film, titled "The Cuckoo Clocks of Hell", was screened in 1973, and purportedly caused theater riots in New York City and Chicago. It was claimed that the theater in Chicago was burned down. The following year, the film had a brief release under the title "The Fun House". In 1977, it was released yet again, through Cinematic Releasing Corporation, under its most widely known title, "Last House on Dead End Street", a play on the title of the Wes Craven film "The Last House on the Left" (1972). Both of these later releases of the film were significantly shorter, running 78 minutes, as opposed to the original 175 minutes.
Some British television programs, particularly those made by or for ITC Entertainment, were shot on colour film before the introduction of colour television to the UK, for the purpose of sales to U.S. networks. The first British show to be made in colour was the drama series "The Adventures of Sir Lancelot" (1956–57), which was initially made in black and white but later shot in colour for sale to the NBC network in the United States. Other British colour television programs include "Stingray" (1964–1965), which was the first British TV show to be filmed entirely in colour, "Thunderbirds" (1965–1966) and "Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons" (1967–1968). However, most UK series predominantly made using videotape, such as "Doctor Who" (1963–89; 2005–present) did not begin colour production until later, with the first colour "Doctor Who" episodes not airing until 1971.
Trade shown on 4 November 1952, the film opened at the Plaza, Piccadilly Circus on 15 January 1953, with general release following from 23 February. Press responses ranged from "Though grossly overacted by all in sight, the film will draw pity from those who know how harsh the world can be" to "Before virtue triumphs we are treated to a great deal of horror and degradation ... It is not only rapacious boarding-house keepers and baby-farmers who exploit the misfortunes of unmarried mothers. Where would popular playwrights and film producers be without them?"
Fisher's career changed direction permanently when Hammer asked him to direct "The Curse of Frankenstein" (1957), their first colour horror film. It was the company’s most important project to date, and Fisher was hand-picked by Hammer management to helm the movie as he had a reputation for reliability. Working from a script by Jimmy Sangster that re-imagined the lengthy original novel as a gruesome, morally ambiguous chamber piece, the film saw British TV star Peter Cushing cast as Baron Victor Frankenstein whilst the then little-known supporting actor Christopher Lee portrayed the Creature. It was a handsome-looking, quality production and an international box office smash; alarming British critics and raising the standard for what was acceptable in terms of on-screen violence and gore, the movie established Hammer as a leading brand name in the British film industry.
Hammer had even more financial success with Fisher’s second gothic horror film "Dracula" (1958), starring Lee in the title role and Cushing as his adversary Doctor Van Helsing. Once again reducing the scope of its source novel in line with Hammer’s budgetary constraints, the screenplay minimised both the geographical settings and the number of characters, and the result was a compact, atmospheric and action-packed chiller in which Lee portrayed the figure of the vampire Count Dracula as having an animalistic sexuality that had never before been presented on screen. It is today regarded as a trailblazer in the horror movie genre, the archetypal Hammer movie, and the greatest of Fisher’s directorial efforts.
Science fiction films appeared very early in the silent film era. The initial attempts were short films of typically 1 to 2 minutes in duration, shot in black and white, but sometimes with colour tinting. These usually had a technological theme, and were often intended to be humorous. "Le Voyage dans la Lune", created by Georges Méliès in 1902 is often considered to be the first science fiction film. It drew upon Jules Verne and H. G. Wells in its depiction of a spacecraft being launched to the moon in a large cannon. Its ground-breaking special effects pioneered the way for future science-fiction films, and it became largely popular after its release.
The development team decided that, as with "And Then There Were None", they would change Christie's original ending for "Murder on the Orient Express". The aim of the developers was to create games that would not only appeal to casual gamers, but also to Christie fans. As nearly all Christie fans have read "Murder on the Orient Express", and know the solution, and considering that the novel was to be included with the game, the developers decided that the ending needed to be changed. The novel has two solutions – one being what appears to be happening and the other being what is actually occurring – and the developers aimed to develop a third solution which drew on these two solutions and still surprised the player. Lee Sheldon admitted that his variation to the ending of "And Then There Were None" received some criticism, and said that in "Murder on the Orient Express" changing the ending was even harder because of the sheer fame of the book and its solution. He also expressed his hatred of adaptations of older material which make fun of that time period, and said that he was trying to stay as faithful to Christie's work and time era as possible.
Fahrenheit 451 is a 1966 British dystopian drama film directed by François Truffaut and starring Oskar Werner, Julie Christie, and Cyril Cusack. Based on the 1953 novel of the same name by Ray Bradbury, the film takes place in a controlled society in an oppressive future in which the government sends out firemen to destroy all literature to prevent revolution and thinking. This was Truffaut's first colour film as well as his only English-language film. At the 1966 Venice Film Festival, "Fahrenheit 451" was nominated for the Golden Lion.
His first book, "A Heritage of Horror: The English Gothic Cinema 1946 – 1972" (1973), the first book-length survey of the British horror film, has according to Kim Newman in 'Sight and Sound' "long been regarded as a trail-blazing classic" and is described by SFX as among the small category of essential books on horror cinema. In it he analyses the films of Hammer and Amicus, and other British horror phenomena, including the works of Michael Reeves and what Pirie referred to as Anglo-Amalgamated's "Sadean Trilogy", beginning with "Horrors of the Black Museum" in 1959. An updated version of Pirie's book, entitled "A New Heritage of Horror: The English Gothic Cinema" was published in 2008. Film-maker Martin Scorsese described it as "the best study of British horror movies and an important contribution to the study of British cinema as a whole". Pirie's other film related works include "The Vampire Cinema" (1975) and "Anatomy of the Movies" (1981, as editor).
A film, directed by Terry Gilliam, was planned. As of 2002 Gilliam still hoped to make the film with its already completed script, but by 2006 it seemed to have come to nothing. Funding was slow to appear and Gilliam moved on to other projects. There was a rumour that Johnny Depp was originally cast as Crowley and Robin Williams as Aziraphale. However Gaiman has said on his website, "Well, Robin's worked with Terry Gilliam before as well, of course, most famously in "The Fisher King". But I have no idea about "Good Omens" casting (except for Shadwell. Terry told me who he wanted to play Shadwell. I immediately forgot the man's name, although I can assure you that it wasn't Robin Williams)." According to an interview in May 2006 at "The Guardian" Hay Festival, Gilliam was still hoping to go ahead with the film.
Though not exactly labeled as such, there were early precedents for "television movies", such as "Talk Faster, Mister", which aired on WABD (now WNYW) in New York City on December 18, 1944, and was produced by RKO Pictures, or the 1957 "The Pied Piper of Hamelin", based on the poem by Robert Browning, and starring Van Johnson, one of the first filmed "family musicals" made directly for television. That film was made in Technicolor, a first for television, which ordinarily used color processes originated by specific networks (most "family musicals" of the time, such as "Peter Pan", were not filmed but broadcast live and preserved on kinescope, a recording of a television program made by filming the picture from a video monitor – and the only (relatively inexpensive) method of recording a television program until the invention of videotape).
For the novels "I'm Not Stiller" and "Homo Faber" there were several film proposals, one of which involved casting the actor Anthony Quinn in "Homo Faber", but none of these proposals was ever realised. It is nevertheless interesting that several of Frisch's dramas were filmed for television adaptations. It was in this way that the first filmic adaptation of a Frisch prose work appeared in 1975, thanks to Georg Radanowicz, and titled "The Misfortune" ("Das Unglück"). This was based on a sketch from one of Frisch's "Diaries". It was followed in 1981 by a Richard Dindo television production based on the narrative "Montauk" and one by Krzysztof Zanussi based on "Bluebeard". It finally became possible, some months after Frisch's death, for a full-scale cinema version of "Homo Faber" to be produced. While Frisch was still alive he had collaborated with the filmmaker Volker Schlöndorff on this production, but the critics were nevertheless underwhelmed by the result. In 1992, however, "Holozän", a film adaptation by Heinz Bütler and Manfred Eicher of "Man in the Holocene", received a "special award" at the Locarno International Film Festival.
Michael Moriarty plays an amoral anthropologist who has been lumbered with his dysfunctional adolescent son (Ricky Addison Reed). He returns to Salem's Lot, the town of his birth, to find that it has been taken over by the undead. A few living people are kept around to provide blood for the vampires and to operate the gas station and shops in the daytime. Knowing of the anthropologist's refusal to moralise about other people's lifestyles (in the opening scene he is seen refusing to interfere in a human sacrifice and concerned only for the quality of the film he is shooting), the vampires employ him to write their story. As the vampires' evil nature becomes clear, the anthropologist is joined by a Nazi hunter (played by Samuel Fuller) who helps him save his son, and at the climax the master vampire is impaled on the American flag instead of the traditional stake. As the trio escapes Salem's Lot, the vampires are left in the sun to burn along with their homes.Filming took place in Vermont.
The stories of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle were very popular as adaptations for the stage, and later film, and still later television. The four-volumes of the "Universal Sherlock Holmes" (1995) compiled by Ronald B. De Waal lists over 25,000 Holmes-related productions and products. They include the original writings, "together with the translations of these tales into sixty-three languages, plus Braille and shorthand, the writings about the Writings or higher criticism, writings about Sherlockians and their societies, memorials and memorabilia, games, puzzles and quizzes, phonograph records, audio and video tapes, compact discs, laser discs, ballets, films, musicals, operettas, oratorios, plays, radio and television programs, parodies and pastiches, children's books, cartoons, comics, and a multitude of other items — from advertisements to wine — that have accumulated throughout the world on the two most famous characters in literature."Three "Sherlock Holmes" adaptations have appeared in American newspapers. The first, titled "Sherlock Holmes", ran from 1930 to 1931. "Sherlock Holmes" was drawn by Leo O'Mealia (who later drew covers for "Action Comics") and distributed by the Bell Syndicate. A short-lived half-page Sherlock Holmes comic strip appeared daily and Sunday in the 1950s, written by radio scriptwriter Edith Meiser and drawn by Frank Giacoia. The third adaptation "Mr. Holmes of Baker Street" by Bill Barry appeared in 1976-1977. This adaptation of the famous detective was not very popular down south, but experienced a series of faithful followers in northern states.
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes; or, Held for Ransom is a 1905 American silent film directed by J. Stuart Blackton for Vitagraph Studios. It was the second film based on Arthur Conan Doyle's "Sherlock Holmes" stories, following the 1900 Mutoscope trick film "Sherlock Holmes Baffled", and is usually regarded as the first attempt to film a "serious" Holmes adaptation. The scenario was by Theodore Liebler based on elements of Conan Doyle's novel "The Sign of the Four".
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson () is a 1979 Soviet film adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's novels about Sherlock Holmes. Directed by Igor Maslennikov it is the first of a 5-part TV film series (divided into 11-episodes) "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson". The film is divided into two episodes – "The Acquaintance" (, based on "The Adventure of the Speckled Band") and "Bloody Inscription" (, based on "A Study in Scarlet").
John Barrymore played the role in a 1922 movie entitled "Sherlock Holmes", with Roland Young as Watson and William Powell in his first screen appearance. This Goldwyn film is the first Holmes movie made with high production values and a major star.