Val Gielgud and Sherlock Holmes

 

 

Detailed information about Radio productions involving Val Gielgud and Sherlock Holmes:

A list of some of the productions in which he linked up with his brother John.

C20575. -- A5327. Dr. Watson Meets Mr. Sherlock Holmes. BBC Light Programme, Tuesday, October 5, 1954, 9:00-9:30 p.m. (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, No. 1) Credits: Producer, Harry Alan Towers; Director, Val Gielgud; Adapter, John Keir Cross. Cast: John Gielgud (Sherlock Holmes), Ralph Richardson (Dr. Watson), Norman Claridge (Stamford), Philip Leaver (Milverton), Monica Grey (Unknown Woman), John Cazabon (Inspector Lestrade).

C20576. -- A5328. A Scandal in Bohemia. BBC Light Programme, Tuesday, October 12, 1954, 9:00-9:30 p.m. (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, No. 2) Credits: Producer, Harry Alan Towers; Director, Val Gielgud; Adapter, John Keir Cross. Cast: John Gielgud (Sherlock Holmes), Ralph Richardson (Dr. Watson), Margaret Ward (Irene Adler), Olaf Pooley (King of Bohemia)

The production of the Bruce-Partington Papers or 'Plans' offered the wonderful opportunity of the Gielgud brothers playing the Holmes brothers Sherlock and Mycroft.

C20578. -- A5330. The Bruce-Partington Plans. BBC Light Programme, Tuesday, October 26, 1954, 9:00-9:30 p.m. (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, No. 4) Credits: Producer, Harry Alan Towers; Director, Martyn C. Webster; Adapter, John Keir Cross. Cast: John Gielgud (Sherlock Holmes), Ralph Richardson (Dr. Watson), Val Gielgud (Mycroft Holmes), John Cazabon (Inspector Lestrade), William Fox (Col. Valentine Walter).

C20579. -- A5331. A Case of Identity. BBC Light Programme, Tuesday, November 2, 1954, 9:00-9:30 p.m. (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, No. 5) Credits: Producer, Harry Alan Towers; Director, Val Gielgud; Adapter, John Keir Cross. Cast: John Gielgud (Sherlock Holmes), Ralph Richardson (Dr. Watson), Monica Grey (Mary Sutherland), Geoffrey Wincott (Hosmer Angel and James Windibank).

C20582. -- A5334. The Norwood Builder. BBC Light Programme, Tuesday, November 23, 1954, 9:00-9:30 p.m. (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, No. 8) Credits: Producer, Harry Alan Towers; Director, Val Gielgud; Adapter, John Keir Cross. Cast: John Gielgud (Sherlock Holmes), Ralph Richardson (Dr. Watson), John Cazabon (Inspector Lestrade), Arthur Lawrence (John Hector McFarlane), Jean Stuart (Mrs. McFarlane), Arthur Ridley (Jonas Oldacre)

C20643. -- A5393. The Sign of the Four. BBC Home Service, Saturday, March 2, 1963, 8:30-10:00 p.m. (Saturday-Night Theatre) Repeated: HS, Monday, March 4, 1963, 3:00-4:30 p.m.; HS, Sunday, November 20, 1966, 2:30-4:00 p.m. Credits: Producer, Val Gielgud; Adapter, Michael Hardwick. Cast: Carleton Hobbs (Sherlock Holmes), Norman Shelley (Dr. Watson), Grizelda Hervey (Mrs. Hudson), Elizabeth Morgan (Mary Morstan), Philip Leaver (Thaddeus Sholto), George Curzon (Major Sholto), Duncan McIntyre (McMurdo), Harriet Petworth (Mrs. Bernstone), George Merritt (Inspector Athelney Jones), Will Leighton (Sergeant), Norman Claridge (Sherman), Carmen Hill (Mrs. Smith), Charles Eley (Jacky), Glyn Dearman (Wiggins), Malcolm Hayes (Jonathan Small), Robert Dodson, Timothy Palmer, Anthony Paul, Ronald Williams (Baker Street Irregulars).

More on Val Gielgud and Sherlock Holmes

The 12-show Gielgud/Richardson series in 1954 marked a turning point. After this series, numerous short series and single shows were produced for the British Broadcasting Corporation. The 1954 series was produced in London by Harry Alan Towers, who also produced THE LIVES OF HARRY LIME (THE THIRD MAN) and THE BLACK MUSEUM. Holmes was played by Sir John Gielgud and Watson was by Sir Ralph Richardson. The series was an excellent adaptation of stories from the Sherlock Holmes canon. The performances are solid and enjoyable. The shows were adapted for radio by John Kier Cross and directed by either Val Gielgud or Martyn C. Webster.

Some members of the cast are noted in the list below.

Orson Welles, who played Holmes in the MERCURY THEATER Holmes play, appeared as Professor Moriarty in "The Final Solution".

Twelve shows were aired by the BBC from Oct. 5, 1954 through Dec. 21, 1954. The series aired in the US on NBC from Jan. 2, 1955. The US series consisted of 22 shows, of which the last 6 were re-broadcasts of earlier shows.

Reference to Val Gielgud in obituary of his brother John on May 2nd 2000

'His brother Val Gielgud was a playwright, a novelist and a director. Besides their talent for the theater, he said, the Gielguds and the Terrys shared "the same weakness: weak lachrymal glands." They were easy criers, something that he was to use later to his advantage in performance.