Leslie S. Hiscott

Leslie Stephenson Hiscott (25 July 1894 – 3 May 1968) was an English film director and screenwriter who made over sixty films between 1925 and 1956. He was born in London in 1894. In 1931 he directed Alibi, the first ever depiction of Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie's famous detective, with Austin Trevor in the lead role. He directed a follow-up, Black Coffee, also starring Trevor, the same year.

During the 1930s he became best known for his mystery films, also working on portrayals of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and A. E. W. Mason's Inspector Hanaud. He worked extensively at Twickenham Film Studios in west London where he was a co-founder.

Filmography

Early filmography

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes (/ˈʃɜːrlɒk ˈhoʊmz/) is a fictional character created by British author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A London-based "consulting detective" whose abilities border on the fantastic, Holmes is known for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to adopt almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science to solve difficult cases. The character first appeared in print in 1887, and was featured in four novels and 56 short stories by Conan Doyle, as well as later works by other authors. The first novel, A Study in Scarlet, appeared in Beeton's Christmas Annual in 1887 and the second, The Sign of the Four, in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine in 1890. The character's popularity grew with the first series of short stories in The Strand Magazine, beginning with "A Scandal in Bohemia" in 1891; additional short-story series and two novels (published in serial form) appeared from then to 1927. The events in the stories take place from about 1880 to 1914.

All but four stories are narrated by Holmes's friend and biographer, Dr. John H. Watson. Two are narrated by Holmes himself ("The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier" and "The Adventure of the Lion's Mane"), and two others are written in the third person ("The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone" and "His Last Bow"). In two stories ("The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual" and "The Adventure of the Gloria Scott"), Holmes tells Watson the story from memory, with Watson narrating the frame story. The first and fourth novels, A Study in Scarlet and The Valley of Fear, include long passages of omniscient narrative of events unknown to either Holmes or Watson.

The Sleeping Cardinal

The Sleeping Cardinal is a 1931 British mystery film directed by Leslie S. Hiscott and starring Arthur Wontner and Ian Fleming. The film is an adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, though it is not based on any one particular story it draws inspiration from "The Empty House" and "The Final Problem". It is unrelated to the Basil Rathbone series of Holmes films which also began in the 1930s.

The film is also known as Sherlock Holmes' Fatal Hour in the USA.

Plot summary

Opening with a silent sequence in silhouette within the Bank of England, we’re whisked to a London home where Foreign Office bureaucrat Ronnie Adair (Leslie Perrins) is once again winning handsomely whilst gambling at bridge. Adair is called to a meeting with The Sleeping Cardinal, a picture disguising the identity of Professor Moriarty (Norman McKinnel), and blackmailed into taking counterfeit money to Paris in his diplomatic pouch. Adair’s concerned sister calls for the assistance of Sherlock Holmes (Arthur Wontner) and Dr. Watson (Ian Fleming) to investigate the reasons for her brother's gambling excesses and depressed moods. After Adair succumbs to an apparent suicide; Holmes derives from a trail of clues Moriarty's involvement.

The Sleeping

The Sleeping was an American post-hardcore band from Long Island, New York, formed in 2003. The band was founded by Cameron Keym, Sal Mignano, and Joe Zizzo from the remains of Skycamefalling, after auditioning twenty-two potential singers, they came across Doug Robinson, former singer/guitarist of the band Stillwelle. Their music has been featured in video games including Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam for the Wii, Madden NFL 07, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock ("Don't Hold Back"), Guitar Hero: World Tour ("Bomb the World"), and FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage ("Listen Close"). They released their fourth studio album, The Big Deep, on September 28, 2010.

Their first album, Believe What We Tell You was released in 2004, and their second, Questions & Answers was released in 2006. They started touring before they released a full length record. They toured on a three song demo that was hand printed and self recorded. The demo sold over 1000 copies, the band used a DIY method at first which saw them booking their first tour themselves. In 2004, the band was signed to a small independent record company and released Believe What We Tell You and started touring full-time. In 2004 and 2005, they toured with Taking Back Sunday, Bayside, Brandston, Action Action and many more. In 2006 they were featured on the Nintendo Fusion Tour along with Plain White T's, Relient K, Emery, and Hawthorne Heights. They also toured the UK on the Victory Records Tour with The Audition, Bayside and Aiden. They toured mainland Europe and the UK on the Give It A Name fest with Gallows, Jimmy Eat World and Sparta. They toured in January 2007 with Senses Fail among others. They were also nominated for 2007's MTV Mountain Dew Circuit Breakout, and finished in the Top 12.

Arthur Wontner

Arthur Wontner (21 January 1875 – 10 July 1960) was a British actor best known for playing Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's master detective Sherlock Holmes in five films from 1931 to 1937. These films are:

Reportedly, Wontner landed the role of Sherlock Holmes thanks to his performance of Holmes imitation Sexton Blake in a 1930 stage production.

Of all Wontner's films as Sherlock Holmes, The Missing Rembrandt is no longer available. It is officially a lost film. It is possible to obtain all of the others.

Silver Blaze was renamed Murder at the Baskervilles on its US release in order to make the most of the publicity which had been generated by Basil Rathbone's version of The Hound of the Baskervilles. In many respects Wontner's film can be seen as a sequel as it is set twenty years after the events of the more famous story.