Sherlock Holmes (1916 film) Sherlock Holmes (1916 film) Sherlock Holmes is a 1916 American silent film starring William Gillette as Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. The film, which was directed by Arthur Berthelet, was produced by Essanay Studios in Chicago. It was adapted from the 1899 stage play of the same name, which was based on the stories, "A Scandal in Bohemia," "The Final Problem," and "A Study in Scarlet" by Arthur Conan Doyle. All surviving prints of the 1916 film "Sherlock Holmes" were once thought to be lost. However, on October 1, 2014, it was announced that a copy had been discovered in
Adrian Conan Doyle Adventures of Sherlock Holmes". Sir Arthur's widow Jean chose a spiritualist, the Rev. John Lamond, to write an authorised life of him, "Arthur Conan Doyle: A Memoir" (John Murray, 1931). The memoir emphasised his paranormal interests but was not what readers wanted, so after their mother's death Adrian and Denis grudgingly allowed Hesketh Pearson to write "Conan Doyle: His Life and Art" (Methuen, 1943). But Pearson's book offended Adrian and Denis by saying that the secret of their father's success was that he was the "common man". Adrian threatened criminal proceedings against Pearson's "fakeography", and wrote an article in protest,