What's smoking on the Enola Holmes 2 set?
For pipe enthusiasts, the sequel to this Sherlock Holmes derivative falls indubitably short. While preparing to take notes on all the pipes in a movie that features one of the most recognizable pipe-smoking characters in literature and film, I am sad to discover that not only do they never show Sherlock's shag tobacco in his Persian slipper, nor see him strike a bowl or take a true puff of smoke, they don't even use the quintessential Sherlock pipe, the Calabash.
Let's begin briefly with something of interest. The movie opens with Enola being chased through a London street by two policemen. She passes a sign that reads "57 Robert Barling." While I wasn't able to find any history on this particular location, it is perhaps a reference to the Barling company, a multi-generational family of pipe makers that was founded in Marylebone, the well-known London district where Sherlock Holmes lived and worked near Baker Street.
At 25:10, we see our first pipe as Enola mouths the piece while she noses around Sherlock's apartment after helping him stumble home drunkenly from a bar. It appears to be a common bent billiard pipe, likely a briar.
We see Sherlock waiving the same pipe around like a cheap prop at 40:40 - still unlit - as he and Enola discuss his Moriarty case after Enola pops out from behind a wall map following her escape from Lestrade.
Holmes' pipes according to Conan Doyle
Granted, according to the original Sherlock Holmes short stories and novels, Holmes only had three pipes - a blackened “disreputable” clay pipe reserved for a "disputatious mood," an oily briar pipe, and a cherrywood pipe.
According to modern theatre
The gourd Calabash pipe we most associate with Holmes' silhouette was popularized by an American actor, William Hooker Gillette (not of the razor company), who portrayed Sherlock on stage and in a 1916 silent film. According to Gillette, he wanted a pipe large enough for the audience to see, and one that wouldn't block his face. The pipe had a deep bend, golden color, and a whitish meerschaum bowl with a black stem. The new bright white meerschaum pipe shown here will turn to a golden brown and its color will deepen with use over time.
On a side note
William Gillette designed the Seventh Sister castle, which the State of Connecticut renamed to Gillette Castle when they took over the property in 1943. The castle straddles the towns of East Haddam and Lyme, Connecticut in the United States, sitting high above the Connecticut River. Plan a trip to Connecticut to see Gillette castle state park.
The final appearance
Near the closing credits, Sherlock sits with his newspaper and a pipe, still not a whisp of smoke to be seen.
Also in...
Netflix
Netflix basic with Ads
Enola Holmes 2
Now a detective-for-hire like her infamous brother, Enola Holmes takes on her first official case to find a missing girl, as the sparks of a dangerous conspiracy ignite a mystery that requires the help of friends — and Sherlock himself — to unravel.
Other Spotlights
