Happy Birthday Sir Ian McKellen?

Happy Birthday Ian McKellan! Born on this day, May 25th, 1939 in Lancashire, England. That makes you, what, 76? Like all you need at your age is to be involved in a copyright lawsuit! That's what you get for playing Sherlock Holmes, the greatest literary detective who ever lived, without the studio apparently paying due regard to the copyright laws! I'm sure it's not your fault that neither author Mitch Cullin, or the studio who adapted his book for the film, didn't do whatever it was they needed to do legally, but there you have it. Although I would have thought all of Conan Doyle's work was in public domain now, apparently some stories written post 1923 are still under protection. It's complicated. Or the Arthur Conan Doyle estate is just whistling in the wind. 

“This action for copyright infringement arises from unauthorized copying by Mitch Cullin—in his novel A Slight Trick of the Mind and in the motion picture Mr. Holmes based on the novel—of original Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Conan Doyle),” says the jury trial seeking May 21 filing in District court in New Mexico. “The remaining defendants have participated in copying these protected stories in the infringing movie, have published and distributed the infringing novel and motion picture, and have titled the movie so as to confuse consumers and unfairly trade on CDEL’s goodwill.”

One thing's sure, now that I've seen the trailer, I'm going to have to see the movie. I saw it this weekend by the way, preceding Tomorrowland which I liked a lot. If only it had more tomorrow in it! More of those lovely futuristic ideas, architectural and technical wonders that serve to elevate, then I would have truly loved it. Still, I enjoyed it. And Raffey Cassidy who plays Athena really held her own, as did Britt Robertson, against George Clooney. 

The trailer for Mr. Holmes looked so intriguing I'll probably pick up a copy of Cullen's book "A Slight Trick of the Mind" for my husband for Father's Day as he's a huge Sherlock Holmes fan. It's only 272 pages so he'll be done in an hour, meaning I'll have the necessary week +/— I'll need to get it read long before the movie comes out July 17th. Because lawsuit or no, it will come out.

 About the book

It is 1947, and the long-retired Sherlock Holmes, now 93, lives in a remote Sussex farmhouse with his housekeeper and her young son. He tends to his bees, writes in his journal, and grapples with the diminishing powers of his mind. But in the twilight of his life, as people continue to look to him for answers, Holmes revisits a case that may provide him with answers of his own to questions he didn’t even know he was asking–about life, about love, and about the limits of the mind’s ability to know. A novel of exceptional grace and literary sensitivity, A Slight Trick of the Mind is a brilliant imagining of our greatest fictional detective and a stunning inquiry into the mysteries of human connection.