Nigel Bruce the unsurpassed silver screen Dr Watson
- By
sjp1966
Born in 1895 in Ensenada, Mexico when his parents were on holiday, Bruce had parts in 78 movies over the course of his career, from Red Aces in 1929 through to World for Ransom that was released posthumously in 1954, with Bruce having died from heart failure the previous year. But it is for his role as the bumbling Dr John H Watson in the 14 Sherlock Holmes movies that he starred in with Basil Rathbone that he is most fondly remembered.
Nigel Bruce was the son of the baronet of Airth and Stenhouse, a descendant of Robert the Bruce and of the Royal Stuarts. Raised in England he sat out most of World War 1 with a serious leg injury. Military service is something that Bruce shared with the fictitious Dr Watson, whom according to Conan Doyle had been in the Army Medical Corp but was discharged following an injury which he received during the battle of Maiwand in Afghanistan? (we were in that country even back then)
But Bruce’s role as the loyal Watson did not please everybody. Holmes purists state that the Dr Watson in the Conan Doyle books was an intelligent and capable person and that the Dr Watson as portrayed by Nigel Bruce comes over as blithering, and fuzzy, almost foolish, nothing like the Watson in the books. But even so they (Bruce and Rathbone) are generally accepted as the definitive Silver Screen Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson.
Over the years that the films were made both Bruce and Rathbone continued to play their roles on Radio. Between October 2, 1939 to July 7, 1947. they did some 220 radio shows covering all kind of Sherlock Holmes mysteries. Apparently most of these radio shows are lost which is a shame. Rathbone left before the end of the broadcasts as he was eager to separate himself from the Holmes character but it was a typecast that was to stay with him for the rest of his life, but Bruce stayed on for an additional 39 shows which he did with Tom Conway.
Around five or six years before his death Bruce finished his auto-biography called Games, Gossip and Greasepaint. This however has not been published and was last with his daughter, Pauline. Nick Utechin of the Sherlock Holmes Society Journal interviewed her back in 1989 with regards the manuscript, After speaking to *Nick recently he said this of the meeting "As I recall, Pauline told me that, prior to her father's death, publishers simply weren't interested enough because - to be frank - it isn't the most exciting read ever!" Every word, however," was written by Nigel Bruce.
Times have changed between now and then and it's probable such a book would be well recieved by the public, especially fans of Sherlock Holmes and lovers of 1930’s and 40’s cinema. *Nick goes onto say "Sadly the passage of years has meant that I am now out of contact with Pauline and so have no idea of the current status of the typescript'." This begs the quesion "has Pauline still got the transcript"? and if so would she be prepared to approach publishers to print it?
On a final note there are some discrepancies between film and book however. Seemingly little things such as the line “elementary my dear Watson” which never appeared in any of the books, or the fact that there is no mention of Holmes wearing a deerstalker hat, this item of clothing becoming known as part of Holmes wardrobe from the Art of Sidney Padgett in the Strand Magazines where he (Sidney) depicted Holmes with a deerstalker. The main thing must be the timeline, especially for the film which obviously take part in World War 2, no doubt as part of propaganda, but even so, both of these actors are, right up to this day, generally considered as the very best Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson. A belief that is very much shared by me.
*Many thanks to Nick Utechin of The Sherlock Holmes Society