But, I ask you, Dear Reader, Where would we be without the'sidekick'?
I present three here, and others will follow.
Of course, we begin with Dr. John Watson, who wrote about the exploits of Sherlock Holmes. According to an article in Wikipedia:
Watson has two roles in Holmes's life. First, he gives practical assistance in the conduct of his cases; he is the detective's right-hand man, acting variously as look-out, decoy, accomplice and messenger. Second, he is Holmes's chronicler (his "Boswell" as Holmes refers to him).
Without Watson, we would not know:
-- Holmes was the first to use skills of acute observation and deduction to solve a crime.
-- He was a skilled boxer in his younger years.
-- He often took cocaine, especially between cases, when he was bored.
-- His nemesis, the mastermind / ringleader of crime in London, was called 'Moriarty.'
There are many varieties of portrayals of Watson. In the movies and on radio, Nigel Bruce played him mostly as a bungler, sometimes even as comic relief, opposite Basil Rathbone.
On stage and in the major British television production, he is played by David Burke and later Edward Hardwicke, opposite the definitive Holmes of Jeremy Brett, and displays a more important role in solving the crime.
A modern version played in contemporary London, shows Martin Freeman receiving and posting on-screen text messages with Holmes, played by Benedict Cumberbatch.
CBS is running a new show, Elementary, this seasion, set in modern New York, with a twist: Lucy Liu plays Dr. Joan Watson to Holmes, starring Jonny Lee Miller, as a recovering British drug addict.
BTW, Holmes never uttered the catchphrase: “Elementary, my dear Watson.” (According to any of the 60 Holmes stories written by Conan Doyle.)
Our second detective sidekick, Archie Goodwin, goes even one step further than Watson: he narrates the stories of Nero Wolfe in the first person and plays a central character in almost all of them.
Without Goodwin, we would not know:
-- Wolfe weighs one-seventh of a ton and has expensive tastes, especially in fine dining. A number of cookbooks have been published, containing detailed recipes from Wolfe's kitchen.
-- He lives in a luxurious brownstone in New York City (which has a variety of addresses throughout the 33-novel and 39 short-story series by Rex Stout).
-- He raises orchids in a 3rd-floor greenhouse containing 10,000 plants.
-- He never alters his routines or leaves the brownstone, except in dire circumstances.
-- Goodwin has developed an extraordinary memory, can recite verbatim conversations that went on for hours, and, most importantly, can bring extremely reluctant people to Wolfe for interrogation.
My favourite portrayals of Goodwin are Don Franks, opposite Mavor Moore, in a 1982 CBC radio series; and Timothy Hutton, opposite Maury Chaykin, in the A&E Network television series, shot in 2000 in Toronto.
Our third detective sidekick, Capt. Arthur Hastings, OBE, played on the British television series by Hugh Fraser, has less of a role opposite David Suchet's Hercule Poirot, the Belgian detective from Agatha Christie.
We know these traits about Hastings:
-- He is Poirot's only close friend, and both share similar military backgrounds (during World War I).
-- He is extremely brave, and eagerly helps catch and subdue dangerous criminals.
-- He is sometimes gently mocked for some fanciful hypotheses.
-- He can remember facts and details, and can prompt Poirot towards a forgotten vital clue that was somehow missed by 'the little grey cells.'
Alas, Hastings appears only eight of the thirty-three Poirot novels, which indicates that he served only a minor role in Agatha Christie's literary purpose.
Watson, Goodwin and Hastings are only three of my favourite detective sidekicks; of course, I have more to tell you about.
I invite you to send me the names of yours.
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