Jim Moriarty is the perfect antagonist. Jim Moriarty is the perfect antagonist Which original Doyle stories feature London's evil underworld mastermind

The main character, the head of a powerful criminal organization, the genius of the criminal world.

Here is how Sherlock Holmes describes it:

He comes from a good family, received an excellent education and is naturally endowed with phenomenal mathematical abilities. When he was 21, he wrote a treatise on Newton's binomial, which won him European fame. After that, he received a chair in mathematics at one of our provincial universities, and, quite possibly, a bright future awaited him. But the blood of a criminal flows in his veins. He has a genetic propensity for cruelty. And his extraordinary mind not only does not restrain, but even strengthens this tendency and makes it even more dangerous. Dark rumors spread about him on the campus where he taught, and in the end he was forced to leave the department and move to London, where he began to prepare young people for the officer's examination ...

Returning from the review, Kutuzov, accompanied by the Austrian general, went to his office and, calling the adjutant, ordered to give himself some papers relating to the state of the incoming troops, and letters received from Archduke Ferdinand, who commanded the advanced army. Prince Andrei Bolkonsky with the required papers entered the office of the commander in chief. In front of the plan laid out on the table sat Kutuzov and an Austrian member of the Hofkriegsrat.
“Ah ...” said Kutuzov, looking back at Bolkonsky, as if by this word inviting the adjutant to wait, and continued the conversation begun in French.

The main antagonist of the famous English detective Sherlock Holmes, Professor James Moriarty, was remembered by readers from the stories of Arthur Conan Doyle and from films based on them. He is the head of a dangerous criminal network operating throughout Europe, with which the famous master of the deductive method is fighting. Who is he, the criminal genius of Europe, and did he have a prototype? What actors embodied his image on the screen?

The prototype of a dangerous criminal

Arthur Conan Doyle took many of the character traits and appearance of the characters in his books from real life. Professor Moriarty also has several prototypes. According to the researchers of the English writer's work, the image of Holmes's main opponent was mainly copied from Adam Worth, who was called the "Napoleon of the underworld" in the 19th century. It was this characterization that the writer gave Moriarty in his stories.

The real genius of the underworld of the XIX century - what is the similarity with

Worth's parents lived in Europe but then emigrated to the US. During the Civil War, Adam fought for the Union. After the end of hostilities, he began a criminal career and became a pickpocket. Very quickly, Worth became the leader of his own gang and took up robberies. He was caught and sent to Sing Sing, one of the most terrible prisons. He successfully escaped from it and returned to the underworld again. He became famous for robbing a bank in Boston, penetrating there through a tunnel dug from a nearby store. This story is later used by Conan Doyle in his stories about Sherlock Holmes. After a daring robbery, Worth fled to England, where he created a criminal network engaged in robberies. He arranged the matter in such a way that none of the participants in his criminal schemes knew by sight their organizer. This is exactly how Conan Doyle described Moriarty - a man in the shadows and directing through intermediaries hundreds of his henchmen throughout Europe.

The fate of Worth is extremely interesting. In the end, he himself came to William Pinkerton and told his story. He spent the last years of his life decently, together with his children. Worth's son became a detective at the Pinkerton agency.

Which of Doyle's original stories feature London's evil underworld mastermind?

It seems strange, but Sherlock Holmes' main opponent, Professor Moriarty, appears in only a few stories. "Norwood Contractor" and "Empty House" - in them the famous detective and Dr. Watson solve crimes behind which their sinister adversary stands. The criminal genius himself is not personally shown in them, Holmes only speaks of him as an organizer and compares him with a spider weaving a web.

And only in the story, which at one time caused a storm of indignation, in which the brilliant detective dies, Professor Moriarty finally appears before the readers. This is the story "The Last Case of Holmes". With this work, Doyle wanted to end the order of the detective who had bothered him, but caused a flurry of indignation. Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty were too colorful characters to just get rid of them like that. The detective, beloved by readers, had to be resurrected, but his main opponent was out of luck. Professor Moriarty died at the bottom of the Reichenbach Falls.

The best film adaptations of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes featuring his main adversary

Throughout the history of cinema, there have been many adaptations of stories about the great detective and his sworn enemy. But the audience especially liked and remembered only a few.

The 1980 Soviet television movie The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson is still considered one of the most successful adaptations of Doyle's stories. the British themselves have repeatedly recognized the best Holmes of all time. Of the modern paintings, the films of Guy Ritchie had great success. The British television series "Sherlock" and the Russian "Sherlock Holmes" are popular.

Who played Professor Moriarty. Actors and their incarnations

To embody the role of the evil genius of London and Europe on the screen is a difficult task. Arthur Conan Doyle gives a very definite villain. Professor Moriarty (photo can be seen below) had a thin face and gray hair. Outwardly, he most of all resembled a priest. He had a fast high-flown speech.

In the Soviet film adaptation, Professor Moriarty is actor Viktor Evgrafov. He managed to convey the literary appearance of the criminal. Tall, thin, dressed in a black suit, he really looked like a poisonous spider, always ready to jump.

In Guy Ritchie's second film about the adventures of the famous detective, the audience finally saw the main enemy of Holmes. During the filming of A Game of Shadows, there were many rumors that Moriarty was actor Brad Pitt. In the first part, the director did not show the face of the villain, which gave him the opportunity to choose any celebrity for this role. But Richie opted for a British actor and did not lose. Moriarty in his performance turned out to be convincingly cruel and prudent. Before the audience appears the image of a brilliant mathematician, many moves ahead, developing a plan of action and cold-bloodedly removing objectionable witnesses. This is how Conan Doyle described the professor. And although outwardly Harris bears little resemblance to the description of Moriarty, he played the role entrusted to him brilliantly.

In the 2003 adventure film The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, the most famous characters from the books of the 19th century were collected: Captain Nemo, Allan Quatermain, Tom Sawyer, Dorian Gray. Their opponent was the Phantom, under whose name Moriarty was hiding. He was played by Australian actor Richard Roxburgh.

In the popular modern TV series Sherlock, Professor Moriarty is actor Andrew Scott. The opponent of Sherlock Holmes in his performance is very different from the classic image. He is not from a noble family with good manners, but a real psycho villain. So it was conceived by the creators of the series, who wanted to move away from the cliché. Even the action itself they transferred to our time. Another difference between Moriarty, played by Scott, from the work of other actors - he is very young.

In 2013, the Russian series about the adventures of the famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, was released. The role of Professor Moriarty was played by Alexei Gorbunov.

Paradoxes of the film "Young Sherlock Holmes"

Actor Anthony Higgins played the sinister Professor Moriarty in this 1985 film. In 1993, he embodied on the screen the already famous detective in the television series 1994 Baker Street: The Return of Sherlock Holmes.

This is not the only case when an actor plays the role of ideological opponents in different films. a year before filming in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, where he embodied the image of Professor Moriarty, he played Sherlock Holmes in the film The Hound of the Baskervilles.

James Moriarty in the works of other authors

The famous 19th century criminal, invented by Arthur Conan Doyle and killed by him, received a second birth in the books of other writers. The most interesting works popular with readers are the author Kim Newman. In them, the main character is not the famous detective, but Professor Moriarty. "The Hound of the d'Urbervilles" is one of the books in the cycle dedicated to the "Napoleon of the underworld". In it, he, along with an assistant, Sebastian Moran, solves complex riddles.

John Edmund Gardner is another author whose trilogy featured Professor Moriarty. Finally, Anthony Horowitz, a popular writer, wrote several works based on Doyle's stories. His latest novel is simply titled Moriarty.

Conclusion

The figure of a brilliant criminal, a sinister opponent of the famous detective, is no less interesting than Sherlock Holmes himself. And thanks to the actors who wonderfully embodied his image on the screen, viewers can imagine what the "Napoleon of the underworld" of the 19th century looked like - Professor Moriarty.

The villainous villain and genius of the underworld Sherlock Holmes considered professor of mathematics James Moriarty (James Moriarty).
The professor wrote a treatise on Newton's binomial, was prone to cruelty, created a powerful criminal organization, died in the Reichenbach Falls without saying the last "forgive" to his sworn enemy.

The cinematographer, a big fan of opposing good to evil and vice versa, could not but respond and show Moriarty on the screen. If Holmes appeared in the cinema in 1900 ("Sherlock Holmes Baffled", dir. Thomas Edison (according to other sources - Arthur Marvin), 30 seconds, did not survive), then Moriarty - only 8 years later.

Sherlock Holmes
Denmark, 1908
Cast: Gustave Lund, Viggo Larsen (SH).
Some sources claim that Alwin Neuss played the role of SH in this film.
Photos of Lund not found, let it be Viggo.

To secure success.
Sherlock Holmes II
Denmark, 1908
All the same.

A short break for 8 years and a couple more films.
The Valley of Fear
UK, 1916
Directed by: Alexander Butler
Cast: Booth Conway, H.A. Saintsbury (SH), Arthur M. Cullin (Doctor).
There are also problems with the photo of Conway, the poster of the play with the performer of the role of Holmes.

Sherlock Holmes
USA, 1916.
Directed by: Arthur Berthelet
Cast: Ernest Maupain, William Gillette (SH), Edward Fielding (Doctor)

The titles of the films do not shine with variety.
Sherlock Holmes
USA, 1922.
Directed by: Albert Parker
Cast: Gustav von Seyffertitz, John Barrymore (SH), Roland Young (Doctor).
Here it is, the first Moriarty found in the photo.

The Final Problem
UK, 1923
Director: George Ridgwell
Cast: Percy Standing, Eille Norwood (SH), Hubert Willis (Doctor).
Frame with Holmes. Alas.


USA, 1929.
Directed by: Basil Dean
Cast: Harry T. Morey, Clive Brook (SH), H. Reeves-Smith (Doctor).

Sherlock Holmes" Fatal Hour / The Sleeping Cardinal
UK, 1931
Director: Leslie S. Hiscott
Cast: Norman McKinnel, Arthur Wontner (SH), Ian Fleming (Doctor).
The professor's name is Robert Moriarty.

Sherlock Holmes
USA, 1935.
Director: William K. Howard
Cast: Ernest Torrence, Clive Brook (SH), Reginald Owen (Doctor).
Revenge of Moriarty. Holmes is getting married.

The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes
UK, 1935
Director: Leslie S. Hiscott

Murder at the Baskervilles / Silver Blaze
UK, 1937
Directed by: Thomas Bentley
Cast: Lyn Harding, Arthur Wontner (SH), Ian Fleming (Doctor).
After the death of the Dog, 20 years have passed and Sir Henry's daughter is getting married. Further about the Silver horse.


USA, 1939.
Director: Alfred L. Werker
Cast: George Zucco, Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce.

Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon
USA, 1943.
Director: Roy William Neill
Cast: Lionel Atwill, Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce.
Lionel Atwill played Dr. Mortimer in The Hound of the Baskerills in 1939.

The Woman in Green
USA, 1945.
Director: Roy William Neill
Cast: Henry Daniell, Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce.

Sherlock Holmes und das Halsband des Todes / Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace / Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace
France-Italy-Germany, 1962.
Director: Terence Fisher, Frank Winterstein
Cast: Hans Söhnker, Christopher Lee (SH).

Une adventure de Sherlock Holmes
France, 1967
Directed by: Jean-Paul Carrere
Cast: Grégoire Aslan, Jacques François (SH), Jacques Alric (Doctor).
A little-known film, not listed in almost any reference book.
Photos of actors from other films.

Elementary, My Dear Watson
UK, 1973
Directed by: Harold Snoad
Cast: Bill Maynard, John Cleese (SH), William Rushton (Doctor).
Episode "Comedy Playhouse".

The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes Smarter Brother
USA, UK, 1975.
Directed by: Gene Wilder
Cast: Leo McKern, Gene Wilder, Douglas Wilmer (SH), Thorley Walters (Doctor).

Sherlock Holmes in New York
USA, 1976
Director: Boris Sagal
Cast: John Huston, Roger Moore (SH), Patrick Macnee (Doctor).

The Seven-Per-Cent Solution / The Seven Percent Solution / Sherlock Holmes' Vienna Holidays
UK-US, 1976.
Director: Herbert Ross
Cast: Laurence Olivier, Nicol Williamson (SH), Robert Duvall (Doctor).
Moriarty is a humble professor of mathematics whom Holmes, in his morphine delirium, made into an evil genius.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. Deathmatch
USSR, 1980.
Director Igor Maslennikov
Cast: Viktor Evgrafov, Vasily Livanov, Vitaly Solomin.
Viktor Evgrafov was voiced by Oleg Dal.

Sherlock Holmes
USA, 1981.
Director: Peter H. Hunt
Cast: George Morfogen, Frank Langella (SH), Richard Woods (Doctor).

Sherlock Holmes
France, 1982
Directed by: Jean Hennin
Cast: François Maistre, Paul Guers (SH), Philippe Laudenbach.

The Baker Street Boys
UK, 1983
Director: Marilyn Fox
Cast: Colin Jeavons, Roger Ostime (SH), Hubert Rees (Doctor).
Colin Jeavons in the subsequent series "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" played Inspector Lestrade.

Meitantei Holmes
Japan, 1984
Animated series with talking animals.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
UK, 1984-1985.
Cast: Eric Porter, Jeremy Brett, David Burke.

Of course, after the series comes out " The Return of Sherlock Holmes". The actors are the same, except for the Doctor, played by Edward Hardwicke.

Young Sherlock Holmes
USA, 1985
Director: Barry Levinson
Cast: Anthony Higgins, Nicholas Rowe, Alan Cox.
In 1993, Anthony Higgins played the detective himself in Sherlock Holmes Returns.

Without a Clue
UK, 1988
Directed by: Thom Eberhardt
Cast: Paul Freeman, Michael Caine, Ben Kingsley.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents. My Dear Watson
USA, 1989
Directed by: Jorge Montesi
Cast: John Colicos, Brian Bedford, Patrick Monckton

Hands of a Murderer
UK, 1990
Directed by: Stuart Orme
Cast: Anthony Andrews, Edward Woodward, John Hillerman

The Hound of London
Luxembourg, 1993.
Directed by: Peter Reynolds-Long
Cast: Jack Macreath, Patrick Macnee, John Scott-Paget.

Star Trek: The Next Generation:
Elementary, Dear Data(1988)
Ship in a Bottle(1993)
Cast: Daniel Davis

Sherlock Holmes Returns
USA, 1993.
Director: Kenneth Johnson
Cast: Ken Pogue, Anthony Higgins (SH).

At this time, Moriarty appears in the animated series " Black cloak", "Batman", "futu frame"and a couple of minor television projects.

Sherlock
USA-Romania-UK, 2002.
Directed by: Graham Theakston
Cast: Vincent D'Onofrio

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
USA-Germany-Czech Republic-UK, 2003.
Director: Stephen Norrington
Cast: Richard Roxburgh

hello from fans
House M.D.
No Reason(season 2)
USA, 2006
Director: David Shore
As Jack Moriarty: Elias Koteas

Jim Moriarty is a character in a modern film adaptation of detective stories about Sherlock Holmes by the world famous and famous English writer Arthur Conan Doyle, a professor, an enemy of the protagonist and an unsurpassed intruder from the Sherlock series.

Character characteristic

Jim Moriarty is an Englishman with wit, arrogance, arrogance and boundless narcissism. Despite a good background, a prestigious education and an extraordinary mind with brilliant mathematical abilities, the hero has a penchant for cruelty and he madly likes to be a dangerous villain, to confront the detective Sherlock Holmes, respected by him.

The literary name of the villain is James Moriarty, in the series he is known as Jim Holmes, who calls him a consultant criminal. The villain also has other names - "spider" and "bomber".

Hero activities

Jim Moriarty is a genius of the criminal environment, the head of a large criminal association, in essence, a rabid psychopath-sadist. The world's first and only consulting criminal is the exact opposite of consulting detective Sherlock. The hero uses his subordinates, less successful villains, as his weapons - all the criminals that come across to Sherlock in the first season are the predecessors and faithful followers of Moriarty.

Association with Sherlock Holmes

Despite the fierce rivalry, Jim Moriarty truly admires Sherlock like no other. He recognizes the unparalleled abilities of the detective, considers him a worthy opponent, which is why he carefully and diligently tries to create barriers to solving the crimes of the enemy. Jim and Sherlock even have something in common in characterization: sarcasm and cynicism.

In 1989, because Carl Powers laughed at Jim Moriarty, he was killed by a merciless criminal. The killer kept his victim's shoes. He tossed the sneakers into Sherlock Holmes' apartment at 221B Baker Street in order to meet the detective again.

According to the writers, Jim is Sherlock's weak point. Holmes himself calls him a spider, he believes that the criminal clearly knows where people's pain points are and when they can be skillfully used.

Screen image of the antihero

The show's writers felt that Moriarty, fictionalized by Arthur Conan Doyle, was too successful. The features of the hero were inherited by many subsequent literary and film villains: sophistication, exemplary decency, gallantry and delicacy. Therefore, the screenwriters, working on the script for the series, did not want to adhere to the prevailing stereotypes, and Jim turned into an actual, more modern image of a dark, frightening, crazy psycho arch-villain.

Sherlock and Jim's antagonism culminates in the third episode "Reichenbach Falls" of the series' second season (2012), where they fall off the edge of a rooftop. The 2016 series special episode "The Ugly Bride" depicts Jim's death, which corresponds to her book version of the Conan Doyle story "Holmes' Last Case": in a duel of sworn enemies, both heroes die, falling off a cliff into the Reichenbach Falls.

Jim Moriarty - actor Andrew Scott

Andrew Scott is an Irish film, television and theater actor born October 21, 1976 in Dublin. He made his film debut in 1995 as the main character (Eamon Doyle) in the film Korea. The actor starred in more than 30 films, including the role of Paul McCartney in the film "Lennon without embellishment" (2010), the main role (Laevsky) in the screen production of Anton Chekhov's story "Duel" (2010) and others . Many film critics consider his talent outstanding.

For the first time, Andrew Scott as Moriarty appeared in the third episode "The Great Game" of the first season (2010). The actor noticeably stands out from other performers who previously played Moriarty: first of all, his on-screen image is much younger in age than in the book original and other film versions .

To the populace

Undoubtedly, Jim Moriarty, whose quotes were instantly distributed among a wide audience, has no less army of fans than his film opponent Sherlock Holmes. All admirers of the villain-genius know his inimitable capacious phrases and use them with pleasure to the place in colloquial speech. Some of the most popular sayings include:

  • an unconventional greeting referring to an M-1 Army Browning in a pocket;
  • cynical admission that the anti-hero has no heart, which means there is nothing to burn out;
  • to an ardent accusation of insanity - the answer: “Did you just guess?”;
  • a philosophical statement that in a world where all doors are closed, the one who has the key is considered king, etc.

Quoting such a charismatic antagonist is a good argument in a heated discussion. And Moriarty's especially brief and concise statements are actively used by the townsfolk as the status of social networks.

Professor James Moriarty is the nemesis of Sherlock Holmes, a brilliant criminal element whom the London detective calls the "Napoleon of the underworld". Arthur Conan Doyle himself uses this expression, referring to the real evil genius Adam Worth, who served as one of the prototypes of Moriarty.

In the original Holmesian, in the short story "The Adventure of the Final Problem", Professor Moriarty, a late Victorian villain and head of one of the most powerful criminal networks in all of Europe, falls with the detective off a cliff. . Sherlock believed that the crown of his activity should have been the elimination of Moriarty, whose atrocities are poisoning society. However, readers, including Queen Victoria herself, were simply outraged that Moriarty dragged Sherlock with him to the grave. Doyle had no choice but to "resurrect" his favorite detective.



Moriarty is a vengeful, independent, charismatic and self-confident man who reveals the ruthless side of his personality as soon as something pisses him off. He respects Holmes' intellect and says that for him to fight with people of this level is a real intellectual pleasure.

Characterizing his worst enemy, Sherlock calls James Moriarty a man of noble birth, with an excellent education and phenomenal mathematical abilities. It turns out that at the age of 21, Moriarty wrote a treatise on Newton's binomial, which made him famous throughout Europe. He then received a chair in mathematics at a provincial university and, as the detective believes, could reach even greater heights. However, the genius, in whose veins the blood of a criminal flows, due to his sick mind and hereditary tendency to cruelty, soon became the subject of dark rumors - and was forced to resign and get out to London (London).

In the story "The Valley of Fear" Moriarty is called the intriguer of all times and peoples, the organizer of all hell and the brain of the criminal world, darkening the fate of peoples. And at the same time, Sherlock himself is amazed at how ingenious the tactics of his fierce enemy, who wrote "The Dynamics of an Asteroid" ("The Dynamics of an Asteroid"), an amazing book that no scientist dared to criticize, despite the tarnished reputation of the author himself. A defiled doctor and a slandered professor is Moriarty's guise, and Sherlock calls it a stroke of genius.

Wishing to reveal some details of the appearance of the "Napoleon of the criminal world", Conan Doyle describes a man with a thin face, gray hair and stilted speech. The criminal is more like a Presbyterian priest, ready to give a blessing to any sinner, than to someone who, with a light hand, sends people objectionable to him to the forefathers. Moriarty is the owner of untold wealth, carefully hiding his real financial situation. Sherlock believes that the professor's money is scattered in at least twenty bank accounts, and the main capital is hidden somewhere in France (France) or Germany (Germany).

In the short story "The Empty House", Holmes claims that Moriarty acquired powerful pneumatics from a blind German craftsman, one Mr. von Herder. This weapon, which resembled a simple cane in appearance, fired revolver cartridges at long distances and made almost no noise, which made it ideal for taking up sniper positions. In his dirty work, the villainous professor preferred to arrange "accidents", whether it was the incident when Sherlock almost died from falling masonry or from a horse-drawn cart rushing at breakneck speed.

Fans of the adventures of the London genius of private investigation assumed that not only Adam Worth could serve as the prototype for Moriarty. Someone saw the fictional villain as American astronomer Simon Newcomb. This talented graduate of Harvard (Harvard), with a special knowledge of mathematics, became famous throughout the world even before Conan Doyle began to write his stories. Another point of comparison was the fact that Newcomb had developed a reputation as a vicious snob, trying to destroy the careers and reputation of his academic rivals.

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