moriarty@fluke.UUCP (The Napoleon of Crime) (03/22/86)
I was wondering how people felt about the changes made to A. Conan Doyle's
"The Red-Headed League" on the latest episode of Granada-TV's "The
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" (seen on PBS MYSTERY! series). In it, it is
shown that the villain of the story, John Clay, is actually a tool of
Professor Moriarty. There is an obvious reason for this -- the next (and
last) episode in the series is "The Final Problem", and introducing and
disposing of the Napoleon of Crime can't be done well in a single episode
(nyah-ah-ah), so they placed him here. This is also not the first time
they've changed the plot (the Greek Interperter changed the end so the
villain was caught); but Holmes has been "messed with" even when Doyle was
still alive, so it's difficult to summon any outrage.
Besides, from a Sherlockian point of view, it's a theory that has been
around for some time. As pointed out by Baker Street Irregular Robert R.
Patrick, in the canon, Holmes refers to Clay as "the fourth smartest man in
London"; well, he probably finds Mycroft #1, himself #2, and Clay #4; that
leaves a #3, where Moriarty fits in rather nicely. And as was demonstrated
in this episode, Clay is more of a freebooter in the book -- the idea of him
breaking into the Bank of England by himself seems a little unlikely, as he
needs extra info. And it is the kind of plot, in scope and magnitude, that
would suit Moriarty well.
However, the idea of the Red-Headed League itself is a bit whimsical for
Moriarty -- probably he came up with the general idea and Clay (or someone
else) embellished it. At any rate, the two actors playing Holmes and Watson
on this show are the finest in memory -- or at least the closest to the
spirit of the books. I rather like how they stick to the history of the
canon, instead of a letter-perfect rendition of Doyle's stories.
Besides, we know (for certain) that Watson knew of Moriarty before "The
Final Problem" -- in one of the canon novels, _The_Valley_of_Fear_, which
takes place before "The Final Problem", Holmes and Watson (indirectly)
confront Moriarty, thus having Doyle himself indicate that Watson's
ignorance of Moriarty in "The Final Problem" is a ploy to introduce his
readership to the man who was the greatest criminal mind of the 19th century.
As well as the 20th....
"But in calling Moriarty a criminal you are
uttering libel in the eyes of the law, and
there lies the glory and the wonder of it.
The greatest schemer of all time, the
organizer of every devilry, the controlling
brain of the underworld.... That's the man."
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
(another clever alias)
ARPA: fluke!moriarty@uw-beaver.ARPA
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