Sherlock Holmes

The jacket doesn't tell us when these radio dramas were first presented: It must be 50 years ago or more. They feature Sir John Gielgud as Sherlock Holmes and Ralph Richardson as Dr. Watson (oddly named "James" here). Both are pictured on the jacket with a young Orson Welles, who seems to have played Professor Moriarty in a short flashback sequence. Sound effects are subtle, more in the background than in many such dramatizations; the violin music is perfunctory at best. But here we have some of the best actors in the English language performing well-adapted Holmes stories, so who can complain? D.W. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine