This 8 minute plus short is made up of a set of string puppets and is a parody of the Sherlock Holmes character. His name has been modified to Herlock Sholmes and the action opens inside a Chinese opium den. There is a fight, and some people are killed with a female dancer left alive.
The British police are called in and they are baffled, so they consult the great detective Herlock Sholmes and he agrees to investigate. With magnifying glass in hand, Herlock manages to avoid the knife wielding assailant until the police arrive.
Modern viewers will generally find the action of string puppets to be uninspiring, but this was no doubt great entertainment in the early years of television, it was produced in 1930. With as many as seven puppets on the screen at one time, there had to be a great deal of coordination between the puppeteers. The action demonstrates how talented all of the puppeteers were, the puppets move in a surprisingly lifelike manner.
The plot is simple and easy to follow, there are occasional text screens to explain what is happening. This video is a look back at a generally forgotten form of entertainment, the string puppet.
The British police are called in and they are baffled, so they consult the great detective Herlock Sholmes and he agrees to investigate. With magnifying glass in hand, Herlock manages to avoid the knife wielding assailant until the police arrive.
Modern viewers will generally find the action of string puppets to be uninspiring, but this was no doubt great entertainment in the early years of television, it was produced in 1930. With as many as seven puppets on the screen at one time, there had to be a great deal of coordination between the puppeteers. The action demonstrates how talented all of the puppeteers were, the puppets move in a surprisingly lifelike manner.
The plot is simple and easy to follow, there are occasional text screens to explain what is happening. This video is a look back at a generally forgotten form of entertainment, the string puppet.