British character actor, Nigel Bruce who appeared in over 80 films in a career that spanned three decades, died sixty years ago today (October 8, 1953). Best known for his depiction of Dr. Watson starring opposite Basil Rathbone in several pictures and radio dramas based on the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Bruce is remembered today on Once Upon a Screen via work he did on radio with a special Old Time Radio double feature.
“Brief Moment”
The first feature is a special, star-studded Lux Radio Theater production of “Brief Moment”, hosted by Cecil B. DeMille from February 14, 1938, which stars Bruce accompanied by a fantastic cast including Ginger Rogers, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Louis Calhern, Paul Harvey and Grace Kern.
“The Amateur Mendicant Society”
This second feature is an episode of The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, which teams Rathbone and Bruce as Holmes and Watson from April 2, 1945.
On his depiction of Dr. Watson – “The stories we did were modernised but the characters of the famous detective and his biographer were kept more or less as originally written by Conan Doyle. Watson, however, in the films was made much more of a ‘comic’ character than he ever was in the books. This was with the object of introducing a little light relief. The doctor, as I played him, was a complete stooge for his brilliant friend and one whose intelligence was almost negligible. Many of the lovers of Conan Doyle must have been shocked, not by this caricature of the famous doctor but by seeing the great detective alighting from an aeroplane and the good doctor listening to his radio. To begin with, Basil and I were much opposed to the modernising of these stories but the producer, Howard Benedict, pointed out to us that the majority of youngsters who would see our pictures were accustomed to the fast-moving action of gangster pictures, and that expecting machine guns, police sirens, cars travelling at 80 miles an hour and dialogue such as ‘Put em up bud’, they would be bored with the magnifying glass, the hansom cabs, the cobblestones and the slow tempo of an era they never knew and a way of life with which they were completely unfamiliar.”
Once upon a screen... 
Love Nigel Bruce, love his flawed but still enjoyable and good Watson, and LOVE the films he made with Basil Rathbone, some of my favorite films of all time. Thank you so much for doing this little post. Rebloging it.
SO happy you enjoyed this! Had to post a remembrance! 🙂
Aurora
Oh, and never seen Bruce as young as he is in that one picture, it takes a bit getting used to. Also, did you take that last quote from his unpublished autobiography? It really shows his intelligence, which many people, myself included, might not have thought he had because of his interpretation of Watson.
Anyway, great job.
Thank you again! The quote is from IMDB and I loved it so had to include it. Love the insight it offers to the actor and how he approached the character.
Aurora
Reblogged this on The Artistic Packrat and commented:
This post courtesy of the wonderful Once Upon a Screen… Check out their blog if you haven’t.
I love Nigel Bruce and the films he made with Basil Rathbone, some of my favorite films of all time. I know many people criticize Bruce’s interpretation of the good doctor. Despite the flaws with his performance, I almost always find him entertaining, and he could be quite close to the literary source when the part was written that way. So, a sometimes underrated Watson to say the least.
The last quote is a great one. It really shows his intelligence, which many people, myself included, might not have thought he had because of his interpretation of Watson. A nice look into a the man behind the part that tells you, I think, a lot about him with the use of just one quote.
If you have never watched any of his films – the Holmes’ movies particularly – go check them out and be prepared to have a great time with a series of films well worthy of their classic titles
How did I miss this? Love the “young” photo of dear NB. Though did he ever really look young? Hard to believe he was actually three or four years younger than Rathbone and only in his early forties when he made The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Below is a link to an interview with Nigel Bruce’s daughter: Pauline, and extracts from his unpublished memoirs, relating to his work on the Sherlock Holmes movies and radio series. Click each page to enlarge.
https://get.google.com/albumarchive/118245811686959745462/album/AF1QipNzwkad4u21tYW4pvgYgde4bHvch7OC5gVv3E30
Thanks!!