The Sign of Four (1923 film)

1923 film

The Sign of Four
Film poster
Directed by	Maurice Elvey
Written by	Maurice Elvey
Based on	The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle
Produced by	Jeffrey Bernerd
Starring	Eille Norwood Isobel Elsom Arthur M. Cullin
Production company	Stoll Pictures
Distributed by	Stoll Pictures (UK) UFA (Germany)
Release date	1923 (1923)
Running time	7 reels; 6750 feet
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

The Sign of Four is a 1923 British silent mystery film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Eille Norwood, Isobel Elsom and Fred Raynham. The film is based on the 1890 novel The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle, and was one of a series of Sherlock Holmes films starring Norwood.

Premise

Holmes and Watson are called in to investigate a strange murder in South London which appears to have its roots in events in India some years before.

Production

Previous Watson performer Hubert Willis was replaced by Arthur M. Cullin in the role as director Maurice Elvey felt that Willis was too old to woo the much younger Isobel Elsom as Mary Morstan. Norwood was unimpressed with Cullin in the role although Cullin brought previous experience having played Watson to H. A. Saintsbury's Holmes in The Valley of Fear.

The climactic chase on the Thames was shot on location.

Cast

Eille Norwood - Sherlock Holmes
Isobel Elsom - Mary Morstan
Fred Raynham - Prince Abdullah Khan
Arthur M. Cullin - Doctor John Watson
Norman Page - Jonathan Small
Humberston Wright - Doctor Sholto
Henry Wilson - Pygmy
Madame d'Esterre - Mrs Hudson
Arthur Bell - Inspector Athelney Jones

References

Wlaschin, Ken (2009). Silent Mystery and Detective Movies: A Comprehensive Filmography. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 206. ISBN 978-0-7864-4350-5.
^ Barnes, Alan (2011). Sherlock Holmes on Screen. Titan Books. pp. 235–236. ISBN 9780857687760.
BFI Database entry

External links

The Sign of Four at IMDb

v t e Films directed by Maurice Elvey
Silent films	Maria Marten (1913) The Suicide Club (1914) The Loss of the Birkenhead (1914) Her Luck in London (1914) The Idol of Paris (1914) There's Good in Everyone (1915) Honeymoon for Three (1915) Gilbert Gets Tiger-It is (1915) Midshipman Easy (1915) Gilbert Dying to Die (1915) Florence Nightingale (1915) From Shopgirl to Duchess (1915) Her Nameless Child (1915) Home (1915) Love in a Wood (1915) Fine Feathers (1915) Charity Ann (1915) A Will of Her Own (1915) Meg the Lady (1916) Esther (1916) Driven (1916) Vice Versa (1916) Money for Nothing (1916) When Knights Were Bold (1916) Trouble for Nothing (1916) The Princess of Happy Chance (1916) The King's Daughter (1916) Mother Love (1916) Smith (1917) The Grit of a Jew (1917) The Woman Who Was Nothing (1917) Justice (1917) The Gay Lord Quex (1917) Flames (1917) Mary Girl (1917) Hindle Wakes (1918) The Greatest Wish in the World (1918) Goodbye (1918) Adam Bede (1918) The Life Story of David Lloyd George (1918) Nelson (1918) Comradeship (1919) Quinneys (1919) Keeper of the Door (1919) Dombey and Son (1919) The Rocks of Valpre (1919) God's Good Man (1919) Mr. Wu (1919) The Swindler (1919) The Elusive Pimpernel (1919) Bleak House (1920) The Amateur Gentleman (1920) At the Villa Rose (1920) The Hundredth Chance (1920) A Question of Trust (1920) The Tavern Knight (1920) The Victory Leaders (1920) Innocent (1921) A Gentleman of France (1921) The Hound of the Baskervilles (1921) The Fruitful Vine (1921) A Romance of Wastdale (1921) The Man with the Twisted Lip (1921) The Passionate Friends (1922) Running Water (1922) Dick Turpin's Ride to York (1922) A Debt of Honour (1922) The Wandering Jew (1923) The Sign of Four (1923) Guy Fawkes (1923) The Royal Oak (1923) Sally Bishop (1923) Don Quixote (1923) Henry, King of Navarre (1924) Slaves of Destiny (1924) The Love Story of Aliette Brunton (1924) My Husband's Wives (1924) Folly of Vanity (1924) Curlytop (1924) She Wolves (1925) Every Man's Wife (1925) The Woman Tempted (1926) The Flag Lieutenant (1926) Mademoiselle from Armentieres (1926) Roses of Picardy (1927) Tragedy of a Marriage (1927) Hindle Wakes (1927) The Flight Commander (1927) Quinneys (1927) The Glad Eye (1927) Mademoiselle Parley Voo (1928) Balaclava (1928) Palais de danse (1928) You Know What Sailors Are (1928) High Treason (1929)
Sound films	The School for Scandal (1930) Potiphar's Wife (1931) Sally in Our Alley (1931) A Honeymoon Adventure (1931) Frail Women (1932) In a Monastery Garden (1932) The Marriage Bond (1932) The Water Gipsies (1932) Diamond Cut Diamond (1932) The Lodger (1932) The Lost Chord (1933) I Lived with You (1933) This Week of Grace (1933) Soldiers of the King (1933) Love, Life and Laughter (1934) Road House (1934) Lily of Killarney (1934) The Clairvoyant (1935) The Tunnel (1935) Heat Wave (1935) Spy of Napoleon (1936) The Man in the Mirror (1936) A Romance in Flanders (1937) Who Killed John Savage? (1937) Melody and Romance (1937) Change for a Sovereign (1937) Lightning Conductor (1938) Who Goes Next? (1938) The Return of the Frog (1938) Sword of Honour (1939) Sons of the Sea (1939) Under Your Hat (1940) The Spider (1940) For Freedom (1940) Room for Two (1940) Salute John Citizen (1942) The Lamp Still Burns (1943) Medal for the General (1944) Strawberry Roan (1945) Beware of Pity (1946) The Third Visitor (1951) The Late Edwina Black (1951) My Wife's Lodger (1952) The Great Game (1953) Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary? (1953) House of Blackmail (1953) The Harassed Hero (1954) What Every Woman Wants (1954) The Gay Dog (1954) The Happiness of Three Women (1954) You Lucky People! (1955) Room in the House (1955) Fun at St. Fanny's (1956) Dry Rot (1956) Stars in Your Eyes (1956) Second Fiddle (1957)

Films directed by Maurice Elvey

Silent films

Maria Marten (1913)
The Suicide Club (1914)
The Loss of the Birkenhead (1914)
Her Luck in London (1914)
The Idol of Paris (1914)
There's Good in Everyone (1915)
Honeymoon for Three (1915)
Gilbert Gets Tiger-It is (1915)
Midshipman Easy (1915)
Gilbert Dying to Die (1915)
Florence Nightingale (1915)
From Shopgirl to Duchess (1915)
Her Nameless Child (1915)
Home (1915)
Love in a Wood (1915)
Fine Feathers (1915)
Charity Ann (1915)
A Will of Her Own (1915)
Meg the Lady (1916)
Esther (1916)
Driven (1916)
Vice Versa (1916)
Money for Nothing (1916)
When Knights Were Bold (1916)
Trouble for Nothing (1916)
The Princess of Happy Chance (1916)
The King's Daughter (1916)
Mother Love (1916)
Smith (1917)
The Grit of a Jew (1917)
The Woman Who Was Nothing (1917)
Justice (1917)
The Gay Lord Quex (1917)
Flames (1917)
Mary Girl (1917)
Hindle Wakes (1918)
The Greatest Wish in the World (1918)
Goodbye (1918)
Adam Bede (1918)
The Life Story of David Lloyd George (1918)
Nelson (1918)
Comradeship (1919)
Quinneys (1919)
Keeper of the Door (1919)
Dombey and Son (1919)
The Rocks of Valpre (1919)
God's Good Man (1919)
Mr. Wu (1919)
The Swindler (1919)
The Elusive Pimpernel (1919)
Bleak House (1920)
The Amateur Gentleman (1920)
At the Villa Rose (1920)
The Hundredth Chance (1920)
A Question of Trust (1920)
The Tavern Knight (1920)
The Victory Leaders (1920)
Innocent (1921)
A Gentleman of France (1921)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1921)
The Fruitful Vine (1921)
A Romance of Wastdale (1921)
The Man with the Twisted Lip (1921)
The Passionate Friends (1922)
Running Water (1922)
Dick Turpin's Ride to York (1922)
A Debt of Honour (1922)
The Wandering Jew (1923)
The Sign of Four (1923)
Guy Fawkes (1923)
The Royal Oak (1923)
Sally Bishop (1923)
Don Quixote (1923)
Henry, King of Navarre (1924)
Slaves of Destiny (1924)
The Love Story of Aliette Brunton (1924)
My Husband's Wives (1924)
Folly of Vanity (1924)
Curlytop (1924)
She Wolves (1925)
Every Man's Wife (1925)
The Woman Tempted (1926)
The Flag Lieutenant (1926)
Mademoiselle from Armentieres (1926)
Roses of Picardy (1927)
Tragedy of a Marriage (1927)
Hindle Wakes (1927)
The Flight Commander (1927)
Quinneys (1927)
The Glad Eye (1927)
Mademoiselle Parley Voo (1928)
Balaclava (1928)
Palais de danse (1928)
You Know What Sailors Are (1928)
High Treason (1929)

Sound films

The School for Scandal (1930)
Potiphar's Wife (1931)
Sally in Our Alley (1931)
A Honeymoon Adventure (1931)
Frail Women (1932)
In a Monastery Garden (1932)
The Marriage Bond (1932)
The Water Gipsies (1932)
Diamond Cut Diamond (1932)
The Lodger (1932)
The Lost Chord (1933)
I Lived with You (1933)
This Week of Grace (1933)
Soldiers of the King (1933)
Love, Life and Laughter (1934)
Road House (1934)
Lily of Killarney (1934)
The Clairvoyant (1935)
The Tunnel (1935)
Heat Wave (1935)
Spy of Napoleon (1936)
The Man in the Mirror (1936)
A Romance in Flanders (1937)
Who Killed John Savage? (1937)
Melody and Romance (1937)
Change for a Sovereign (1937)
Lightning Conductor (1938)
Who Goes Next? (1938)
The Return of the Frog (1938)
Sword of Honour (1939)
Sons of the Sea (1939)
Under Your Hat (1940)
The Spider (1940)
For Freedom (1940)
Room for Two (1940)
Salute John Citizen (1942)
The Lamp Still Burns (1943)
Medal for the General (1944)
Strawberry Roan (1945)
Beware of Pity (1946)
The Third Visitor (1951)
The Late Edwina Black (1951)
My Wife's Lodger (1952)
The Great Game (1953)
Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary? (1953)
House of Blackmail (1953)
The Harassed Hero (1954)
What Every Woman Wants (1954)
The Gay Dog (1954)
The Happiness of Three Women (1954)
You Lucky People! (1955)
Room in the House (1955)
Fun at St. Fanny's (1956)
Dry Rot (1956)
Stars in Your Eyes (1956)
Second Fiddle (1957)

Screen adaptations of Sherlock Holmes

Theatrical films

Silent

Sherlock Holmes Baffled (1900)
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes; or, Held for Ransom (1905)
Sherlock Holmes in the Great Murder Mystery (1908)
Arsène Lupin contra Sherlock Holmes (1910)
Éclair film series (1912–1913)
Der Hund von Baskerville (1914)
Detektiv Braun (1914)
A Study in Scarlet (1914 British film)
A Study in Scarlet (1914 US film)
The Valley of Fear (1916)
Sherlock Holmes (1916)
Sherlock Holmes (1922)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1929)

Stoll series	The Dying Detective (1921) The Devil's Foot (1921) The Man with the Twisted Lip (1921) The Hound of the Baskervilles (1921) The Sign of Four (1923)

Wontner series

Rathbone–Bruce
series

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)
Voice of Terror (1942)
Secret Weapon (1942)
Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943)
Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943)
The Spider Woman (1943)
The Scarlet Claw (1944)
The Pearl of Death (1944)
The House of Fear (1945)
The Woman in Green (1945)
Pursuit to Algiers (1945)
Terror by Night (1946)
Dressed to Kill (1946)

Downey series

Sherlock Holmes (2009)
A Game of Shadows (2011)

Other films

The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1929)
The Limejuice Mystery (1930)
The Speckled Band (1931)
Lelíček ve službách Sherlocka Holmese (1932)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1932)
Sherlock Holmes (1932)
A Study in Scarlet (1933)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1937)
The Grey Lady (1937)
The Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes (1937)
Deduce, You Say! (1956)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)
The Deadly Necklace (1962)
A Study in Terror (1965)
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970)
They Might Be Giants (1971)
The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975)
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1978)
Murder by Decree (1979)
The Case of Marcel Duchamp (1984)
Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)
The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
Without a Clue (1988)
Zero Effect (1998)
A Samba for Sherlock (2001)
Case Closed: The Phantom of Baker Street (2002)
Holmes & Watson. Madrid Days (2012)
Mr. Holmes (2015)
The Empire of Corpses (2015)
Sherlock Gnomes (2018)
Holmes & Watson (2018)
Sherlock Holmes and the Great Escape (2019)

Television/
streaming/
direct-to-video

Films

Ian Richardson	The Sign of Four (1983) The Hound of the Baskervilles (1983)
Peter O'Toole (animated)	Sherlock Holmes and a Study in Scarlet (1983) Sherlock Holmes and the Baskerville Curse (1983) Sherlock Holmes and the Sign of Four (1983) Sherlock Holmes and the Valley of Fear (1983)
Vasily Livanov series	Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson (1979) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson (1980) The Hound of the Baskervilles (1981) The Treasures of Agra (1983) The Twentieth Century Approaches (1986)
Christopher Lee	The Leading Lady (1991) Incident at Victoria Falls (1992)
Matt Frewer	The Hound of the Baskervilles (2000) The Sign of Four (2001) The Royal Scandal (2001) The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire (2002)
Ian Hart (as Watson)	The Hound of the Baskervilles (2002) The Case of the Silk Stocking (2004)
Other films	The Three Garridebs (1937) The Man Who Disappeared (1951) The Hound of the Baskervilles (1972) The Longing of Sherlock Holmes (1972) Doctor Watson and the Darkwater Hall Mystery (1974) The Return of the World's Greatest Detective (1976) Sherlock Holmes in New York (1976) Silver Blaze (1977) The Strange Case of the End of Civilisation as We Know It (1977) The Hound of the Baskervilles (1982) The Masks of Death (1984) The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1987) Hands of a Murderer (1990) The Crucifer of Blood (1991) 1994 Baker Street: Sherlock Holmes Returns (1993) The Hound of London (1993) Sherlock: Case of Evil (2002) Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars (2007) Sherlock Holmes (2010) Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes (2010)

Television series

Sherlock Holmes (1951)
Sherlock Holmes (1954)
Sherlock Holmes (1965–1968)
Sherlock Holmes (1967–1968)
Sherlock Holmes (1968)
Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson (1979–1980)
Young Sherlock: The Mystery of the Manor House (1982)
The Baker Street Boys (1983)
Sherlock Hound (1984–1985)
Sherlock Holmes (1984–1994)
- episodes
The Adventures of Shirley Holmes (1997–2000)
Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century (1999–2001)
Sherlock (2010–2017)
Tantei Opera Milky Holmes (2010–2016)
Aria the Scarlet Ammo (2011)
Elementary (2012–2019)
Sherlock Holmes (2013)
Sherlock Holmes (2014–2015)
Miss Sherlock (2018)
Sherlock: Untold Stories (2019)
Case File nº221: Kabukicho (2019–2020)
Moriarty the Patriot (2020–2021)
Sherlock in Russia (2020)
The Irregulars (2021)
Mademoiselle Holmes (2024)
Sherlock & Daughter (2025; upcoming)
Watson (2025; upcoming)
Young Sherlock (2025; upcoming)

Actors by role

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References

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