Considered the first German serial, this work is directed by and stars Viggo Larsen, who plays a certain famous detective. He and his assistant attempt to capture the thief Arsène Lupin, but he always manages to escape at the end of each episode.

The production is based on the work of Maurice LeBlanc, which is actually titled Arsène Lupin versus Herlock Sholmes (that’s right, you read correctly... Herlock Sholmes). In fact, Arthur Conan Doyle did not take the joke very well. He was furious to see his famous character being ridiculed—according to him—in Maurice LeBlanc's book. Perhaps it is an exaggeration to think that Sherlock was ridiculed through his copy. Herlock Sholmes is as capable as the original Sherlock Holmes, with the difference that, eventually, he falls into small traps set by Lupin, which is perfectly acceptable since Arsène Lupin is the true star in this case, the main character. However, their clashes practically end in a draw, because although Sholmes clarifies all the thief's tricks in full detail, he ends up “allowing” him to escape. Although he always has a “good reason” for letting the escapes happen, one perceives a true mutual admiration between the two. It is worth mentioning that while Sherlock Holmes has the help of the “dear Watson” by his side, Sholmes has as a companion a dull Mr. Wilson, who is frequently disdained and even mistreated by his master.

Leblanc's audacity in copying Sherlock Holmes was such that he had no qualms about describing Herlock Sholmes as follows (which might even seem like a slight jab at Doyle, since both characters mentioned were created well before Sherlock Holmes):

“One would say that nature amused itself by taking the two most extraordinary types of policemen produced by the imagination, Edgar Allan Poe's Dupin and Émile Gaboriau's Lecoq, to create with them a new one, even more extraordinary and more unreal. And when one hears the narration of those feats that made him famous throughout the entire world, one wonders if he himself, this Herlock Sholmes, is not a legendary character, a hero come to life from the brain of a great novelist—a Conan Doyle, for example.” – Arsène Lupin versus Herlock Sholmes, by Maurice Leblanc.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Title: Arsène Lupin contra Sherlock Holmes
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
No. of Episodes: 5
Production Company: Deutsche Vitaskop GmbH
First Release: July 23, 1910 (Germany)
Color and Sound: Black and white; Silent (German intertitles)
Cast: Viggo Larsen (Sherlock Holmes), Paul Otto (Arsène Lupin)
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