Hearing Arthur Conan Doyle's actual voice is pretty surreal

Is it worth watching today? Yeah, I think so, but mostly as a time machine. If you like Sherlock Holmes, you'll probably find it neat to see the man behind the curtain. If you hate old, scratchy footage of people sitting in chairs, you’ll probably be bored to tears in about two minutes.

It's weirdly short. Only about ten minutes long. But it feels like you're spying on someone’s private afternoon. 🐕

The first thing that hits you is his voice. It's deep and rumbly, like a grandfather who has told too many stories. You expect him to sound like a stuffy professor, but he’s actually pretty chill. He’s sitting outside, and you can hear the birds chirping in the background, which is a nice touch for 1927.

He talks about Dr. Joseph Bell, the real guy who inspired Sherlock. It's cool to hear him admit that he basically just took a real person's brain and put it in a book. He calls Holmes his "monstrous child" or something like that. You can tell he’s a bit annoyed that people only care about the detective and not his other stuff.

The sound quality is... well, it's from 1927. It sounds like he’s talking through a tin can filled with gravel. But you can still make out the words. It's definitely better than some of the silent stuff from that year, like The Iron Mule, where you just have to guess what everyone is yelling about.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1929) through its definitive frames.

Then the movie takes a hard turn. He stops talking about mystery stories and starts talking about ghosts. 👻

He gets really serious about "psychic religion." It’s a bit uncomfortable to watch, honestly. He looks right at the camera and tells you that death isn't the end and that he's been talking to spirits for years. He seems so convinced. It’s not like a scam; he really believes this stuff.

One detail I loved was the dog. There’s a little terrier just hanging out near him. At one point, the dog looks like it’s about to walk off-camera, and Doyle just keeps talking. The dog doesn't care about Sherlock Holmes or the afterlife. The dog just wants a treat. 🦴

The camera doesn't move at all. It’s just one long shot of him in a chair. It makes the whole thing feel very personal. Like you’re sitting on a porch with him while he rants about his hobbies.

I wonder if people back then thought he was crazy. Or maybe they were just impressed that the movie could talk at all. Around this time, movies like This Way Out were still mostly about physical gags, so hearing a famous author give a lecture was probably a big deal.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1929) through its definitive frames.

There’s a moment where he fumbles his words a little bit. He doesn't restart the take. They just kept it in. I like that. It makes him feel more like a real person and less like a statue in a museum.

He has this massive, bushy mustache. It’s so big it almost covers his whole mouth. I spent a good three minutes just wondering how he eats soup without getting it all over himself. 🍜

The film ends kind of abruptly. He just gets up and walks away into the trees with his dog. No big credits, no music. Just a guy going back to his house. It’s a strange little clip, but I’m glad it exists.

If you've got ten minutes and want to see what a legend looks like when he’s just being a regular old man, give it a look. Don't expect any explosions or plot twists. Just Arthur and his ghosts.

It’s definitely more interesting than reading a biography. You get to see the way he blinks and the way he leans forward when he wants to make a point. It makes the books feel more real, somehow. Anyway, it’s on YouTube or somewhere, probably. Go find it if you're bored. 🎥