Behind the scenes "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes": How on the set Lebanon almost lost the main role, and Solomin - his life

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

40 years ago, in 1979, director Igor Maslennikov completed work on the first series of screen versions of selected works by Arthur Conan Doyle about Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Over the next 7 years, the entire country watched their adventures continue. Even the British themselves admitted: “The Russians have returned our national heroes to us,” and called this series one of the best adaptations of the writer's works. But for the actors this success was not easy - Livanov could not find a common language with the director, and Solomin almost said goodbye to life on the set …

The idea for the series about Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson belonged to screenwriters Yuliy Dunsky and Valery Fried. The stories “Study in crimson tones” and “Motley tape” were the first to be chosen for the film adaptation. Director Igor Maslennikov became interested in their script and in 1979 shot the first 2 episodes on its basis - "Acquaintance" and "Bloody Inscription". The very first film made such a splash that viewers flooded the Central Channel with letters asking them to film a sequel.

The director himself explained this success as follows: "".

In the main role, Maslennikov initially saw only Vasily Livanov, but when he started filming, problems began. The leadership of Central Television did not want to approve Livanov for the role of Holmes, as they believed that he did not correspond to the image of an English detective. In addition, the actor already then earned the nickname "Moscow brawler" - there were legends about Livanov's difficult character. When Maslennikov shot trial episodes with the participation of the main characters, Livanov and Solomin were still approved, but the problems did not end there.

During the filming, Livanov fully justified his nickname - he and the director quarreled to smithereens. According to the actor, the director could not cope with his tasks, worked carelessly, and he began to direct the filming process himself. And then he even demanded that the management change the director of the film. After that, everyone was sure that Maslennikov would find another actor for the role of Sherlock Holmes. But he acted wiser: he decided to endure to the last, being sure that no one else would play this role better.

A year before that, the director had already worked with Livanov and knew that he often behaved defiantly towards other members of the film crew. However, Maslennikov considered that the actor's unpredictable character, his excessive self-confidence and arrogance would only help him better get used to the role of his extravagant hero. For the sake of this one hundred percent hit in the image, he made concessions.

Livanov could start a quarrel at any moment, he was often late for the site. The famous scene of the fight between Holmes and Moriarty near the waterfall could not have taken place at all - Livanov washed down and almost disrupted the shooting. One of the operators of the picture, Anatoly Lapshov, found a kind of way out of the situation - in order to get the actor out of the binge, he poured him until he fell unconscious. After that, he no longer had the desire to kiss the bottle … But Maslennikov's patience then almost burst - he was already thinking about replacing the actor and reshooting all the scenes played with him. The director even looked for a suitable candidate - Boris Klyuev. When Livanov found out about this, he decided not to tempt fate anymore and with redoubled zeal took up work. As a result, Klyuev got the role of Sherlock's brother, Mycroft.

Livanov's appearance was ideally complemented by an unusual timbre of his voice. The actor acquired it by accident: during the filming of the film "Unsent Letter" in 1959, he screamed so hard that he lost his voice. For 2 weeks the actor was silent, and when he spoke, he did not recognize his voice - since then it was hoarse and low. "", - Livanov said later. This timbre has become his hallmark and an integral part of the image of Sherlock Holmes.

Vitaly Solomin was the absolute opposite of Livanov. He did not participate in conflicts and knew how to find a common language with everyone, although in life he was a rather closed and closed person. Even with Livanov, with whom he had not worked before and met for the first time at the tests, he was able not only to reach mutual understanding, but also to make friends. Only to the advice of Solomin about his role did Livanov really listen. After filming, they continued to communicate and maintained a warm relationship for the rest of their lives. “” - this is how Livanov later explained the secret of the success of their brilliant tandem on the screen.

Vitaly Solomin's candidacy for the role of Doctor Watson was also not approved immediately - his appearance seemed too "Russian" for an English gentleman. Photo tests for this role were taken by Oleg Basilashvili, Yuri Bogatyrev, Leonid Kuravlev, but when the director accidentally saw a photo of Solomin with his mustache on Lenfilm, he was amazed at his resemblance to Arthur Conan Doyle himself and confirmed his decision.

The role of Dr. Watson almost became the last for Vitaly Solomin. In one of the scenes, his hero was supposed to extinguish a fire set by the henchmen of the villain Moriarty in Holmes's room. A set was built on the vacant lot behind the Lenfilm pavilions. As soon as filming began, the pyrotechnics threw a fireball at her. The scenery flared up and burned out instantly, the firefighters did not even have time to supply water. By some miracle, they managed to shoot the scene, but an even greater miracle was that during the filming of this episode, Vitaly Solomin remained unharmed, although he later had to grow his scorched hair.

Despite the incredible success of the film, after the completion of its filming, Igor Maslennikov and Boris Livanov did not communicate for a long time - they could not forgive each other for mutual claims and grievances. "", - the director wrote in his memoirs.

Nevertheless, the result of their joint work is still admired by the audience, and this hero still remains one of the most popular: Sherlock Holmes in life and on the screen.