The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Quotes

Context

This line is spoken by Sherlock Holmes, played by Basil Rathbone, in the movie The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, directed by Alfred L. Werker (1939).

Are you ready for a shocker? Sherlock Holmes never said this line—at least, not the Sherlock Holmes written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Though Holmes did say "elementary" and "my dear Watson" in books by Doyle, the world's favorite detective never put the two together. He was actually more into saying "Exactly, my dear fellow." Yeah… it doesn't have the same ring, does it?

The first time the exact phrase was ever used was in a movie called The Return of Sherlock Holmes, starring Clive Brook. However, it didn't get glued to Holmes's persona until the 1939 film The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. John Watson.

As in a ton of other Holmes movies, Sherlock slings this more-than-a-little condescending line at his loyal assistant while the two are trying to foil a nefarious plot by their arch nemesis Prof. Moriarty. (You gotta think that Watson kinda liked the abuse.)

You can get clued in with this clip here. If you want a heaping helping of film history, click here for the full movie.

Where you've heard it

Where you haven't heard this phrase is the newest re-boots of the series. Neither Benedict Cumberbatch's cool sociopath version of Holmes nor Robert Downey Jr.'s demolition-loving version have used the phrase. However, the TV show Elementary, starring Jonny Lee Miller as Holmes and Lucy Liu as a female Watson, does reference the quote in the title of the show—but we probably didn't have to tell you that.

The phrase was used a lot in many Holmes films starring Basil Rathbone and went viral from there. Just Google the thing. You'll find a ton of articles, bizarre vlogs, and even a pretty sweet documentary focusing on Watson that uses the phrase as its title. Though our favorite thing has to be this weird cartoon, where a video game Holmes practices his a capella dubstep skills. This is why YouTube was made.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

This phrase is so ingrained in the popular imagination that no one will even notice if you quote it.