THE SHERLOCK HOLMES SOCIETY OF LONDON Founded as The Sherlock Holmes Society in 1934 ANNUAL DINNER Saturday 17th January 2015 The Society's sixty-second Annual Dinner will be held in the Members' Dining Room at the House of Commons, London, on Saturday 17th January 2014, at 6.30 for 7.30 pm. The title assigned to this year's function is THE GILLETTE JOLLIFICATION. We are much indebted to Bob Neill, who makes a welcome return as our sponsor as a sitting Member of Parliament, a requirement for all functions held in this unique venue. Bob is the Conservative Party Vice Chairman for Local Government and was elected as the Member of Parliament for Bromley and Chislehurst in June 2006, following a successful career as a barrister specialising in criminal law. We look forward to welcoming both him and all or most of our Honorary Members, as well as members of the Society from all over the world. By now, most members will have heard of the amazing discovery at the Cinémathèque Française of the silent film version of Sherlock Holmes starring William Gillette, directed by Arthur Berthelet and produced by Essanay Studios in 1916. For our 2015 Annual Dinner the Society is delighted to welcome Professor Russell Merritt, the supervising editor of the project to restore the film, long considered to have been lost. Gillette was the established foremost interpreter of Holmes on stage - his interpretation inspired the classic illustrations of Frederic Dorr Steele. Gillette, quite simply, was Sherlock Holmes. The film is now being digitally restored by the San Francisco Silent Film Festival and the Cinémathèque Française. Russell Merritt is adjunct professor in the Film and Media Studies Department at UC Berkeley and has written and lectured extensively on film. Born and raised in New Jersey, he grew up going to the cinema, becoming seriously interested in film in high school and college, his interest widening to other arts. At graduate school, he specialized in Renaissance literature, and then seized the opportunity to apply what he learned in other disciplines to the world of film. His first academic article was on Alain Resnais’ “Last Year at Marienbad." His Harvard Ph.D. dissertation was on D.W. Griffith and the 485 short- to full-length films Griffith made between 1908 and 1913. His interest in Griffith led to a more general fascination with silent film and with various film styles and genres, such as animation or the films of the 1950s. After 20 years teaching as a tenured professor at the University of Wisconsin, Russell moved to California in 1986 to join his friend and classmate from graduate school, Bill Nestrick, founder of UC Berkeley’s film program. In addition to teaching film at Berkeley, he has also taught at the University of Southern California, Stanford, and San Francisco State University. He has been a member of the Baker Street Irregulars since 1958. The menu for the Dinner is as follows:- Potted Scottish salmon with watercress crème fraiche with dill soused cucumber and wholemeal bread Roast Rump of English Lamb butternut squash sauce with Puy lentil and winter vegetable cassoulet Warm brioche ‘Tipsy’ cake soaked in rum sugar glaze with Bourbon vanilla ice-cream and caramel rum bananas Coffee and Petit Fours Most members will know that the seating capacity of the Members' Dining Room is limited to 170 and that this means it is only possible for them to invite one guest each. If the Dinner is oversubscribed a ballot will be held immediately after the closing date for applications, which is Saturday 6th December. Security at the House of Commons is necessarily strict, and admission will be by formal invitation only: for this reason we need to know the full name of your guest if you are bringing one. Successful applicants will receive personalised invitation cards which will have to be produced to the police on the night in order to gain entrance to the building, and as these will perforce be despatched during the Christmas postal rush please do not worry unduly if yours does not arrive until after the holiday. If you expect to be away at that time please give an address to which mail should be sent to ensure safe receipt. Fish or vegetarian alternatives will be available if ordered in advance, and special dietary requirements can also be catered for provided sufficient notice is given. Space is provided on the application form for you to state your requirements. The charge for the evening will be £79.00/US$158.00 per head, inclusive of everything except drinks which must be paid for individually on the night. Copies of the House of Commons wine and bar lists will be sent to all successful applicants so that they can order in advance: we have found that this gives everyone more time to mingle with friends in the bar beforehand - although you will be able to place an order on the night if you prefer. The Dinner is a formal occasion and it is customary for gentlemen to wear dinner jackets (black tie) and for ladies to wear evening dress (short or long) but this is not obligatory. Visitors from overseas in particular may not wish to bring dress clothes for one evening only, and we should like to assure them that dark lounge suits and cocktail frocks are equally suitable. Smoking is not permitted in any rooms, including the pre-prandial bar and the Dining Room itself. POST ANNUAL DINNER FUNCTION A CENTRE PAGE SPREAD! The Sherlock Holmes Society of London’s Morning After will be held at The Centre Page, 29-33 Knightrider Street London EC4V 5BH on Sunday 18th January, from 11.30 am, where we have sole use of the downstairs room for our informal function. Knightrider Street is on the right as you walk down Peter's Hill from St Paul's towards the Millennium Bridge; the pub is on the corner. The original building of 1665 was The Horn Coffee House in Doctors Commons, 10 Godliman Street, off Carter Lane on the south side of St Paul’s Churchyard. The Horn Tavern, as the late 18th century pub was known, is best known as being mentioned in Charles Dickens’ The Pickwick Papers - Mr Pickwick sent his friends to the tavern to fetch a bottle of wine for his supper, he being incarcerated in the Fleet Prison at the time. It was fairly recently restored and renamed The Centre Page. (While Holmes did visit Doctors’ Commons in “The Speckled Band”, it was sadly to Somerset House that he went, the building housing it here having been demolished in 1867). Drinks will be available on a cash basis and lunch will be served at 1.00 p.m. Traditional Roast Beef or Roast Chicken with all the Trimmings or Vegetarian Ravioli with Garlic Bread followed by either Apple Pie or Cheese & Biscuits; after lunch Tea or Coffee are included in the price. The cost will be £16 / $32 per head. Choices must be notified in advance. An application form is appended and you may include the appropriate payment on your Dinner cheque if you wish. Members planning to spend the day in the area might like to know that there is a sung Eucharist at St. Paul’s Cathedral at 11.30am on Sunday mornings and Evensong at 3.15pm. The Tate Modern (open until 6pm) and The Globe Theatre Exhibition (open until 5pm) are a short walk away on the south side of the Thames. The Museum of London, whose current exhibition is Sherlock Holmes the man who never lived and will never die, is a short walk away to the north. 2015 DATES FOR THE DIARY March Wine Tasting May AGM and London Festival June Cricket match (to be confirmed) October The Richard Lancelyn Green Lecture November Film Evening THE SHERLOCK HOLMES SOCIETY OF LONDON Founded as The Sherlock Holmes Society in 1934 To: Miss Catherine Cooke, 15, Copperfield Court, 146, Worple Road, Wimbledon, London, SW20 8QA. “THE GILLETTE JOLLIFICATION” I/We should like to attend the Society's Annual Dinner at the House of Commons on Saturday 17th January 2015 with …… guests (limited to one per member) and enclose the appropriate remittance of £79.00/US$158.00 per head, payable to The Sherlock Holmes Society of London. I/We should like to order …… vegetarian or fish meals (please delete or specify as applicable). I/We have a special dietary requirement as follows ……………………………………….. NAME(S) OF MEMBERS ………………………………………………………………… NAME(S) OF GUESTS …………………………………………………………………... ADDRESS TO WHICH INVITATION CARDS SHOULD BE SENT: ………………………………………………………………………………………………. ………………………………………………………………………………………………. TELEPHONE NUMBER OR E-MAIL ADDRESS IN CASE OF EMERGENCY: ………………………………………………………………………………………………. Please print or write clearly - especially if giving an e-mail as these can so easily be mis-read and one mistake is fatal! POST-ANNUAL DINNER FUNCTION I/We should like to come to the "Morning After" get-together on Sunday 18th January, and to bring …… guests (no limit) and enclose the appropriate remittance of £16 / $32 per head, payable to The Sherlock Holmes Society of London. I/We should like to order: …… Roast Beef OR …… Roast Chicken OR ….. Vegetarian Ravioli followed by ….. Apple Pie OR ……Cheese and Biscuits (please specify number of each) NAME(S) OF MEMBER(S) ………………………………………………………………. NAME(S) OF GUEST(S) …………………………………………………………………. [email protected] .