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
Sherlock Holmes link between medical investigation and the detection of crime. Other inspirations have been considered. One is thought to be Francis "Tanky" Smith, a policeman and master of disguise who went on to become Leicester's first private detective. Another might be "Maximilien Heller", by French author Henry Cauvain. It is not known if Conan Doyle read "Maximilien Heller", but he was fluent in French, and in this 1871 novel (sixteen years before the first adventure of Sherlock Holmes), Henry Cauvain imagined a depressed, anti-social, polymath, cat-loving, and opium-smoking Paris-based detective. Details about Sherlock Holmes' life are scarce in Conan Doyle's stories.