basil
basil

NOTES:
The first thing one notices upon viewing these rooms in the film is that Basil is an untidy fellow. There are books, papers, and clothes strewn about, not to mention scientific experiments taking up space. Mrs. Judson must be a longsuffering lady to put up with such a tenant.

Although this room is lit by lamps, there is gas laid on elsewhere in the house, as seen by the outside gas lamp next to the door.

Basil has a suit of armor with a "B" emblazoned on the shield. Either it's the heirloom of a family descended from medieval knights, or he enjoys collecting such pieces. Or both.

The fanlight over the door is a beautiful stained glass window, again showing a "B" monogram. Did Basil simply decide to have it put in when he came to live in Baker Street? We speculate that he unthinkingly shot out the old glass and had to replace it, splurging somewhat to get his initial displayed above the door. Remember what Mrs. Judson started to say when Basil fired a bullet into her pillows: "How many times have I told you..." Clearly, there have been multiple incidents of gunplay in the house.

There are two clocks in the room, one on the landing and a small one on the mantle. However, they are not set to the same time. The logical inference is that the mantle clock is a souvenir from a case and is not used to tell time. There are other items in the room that are probably memorabilia from past cases, such as the portrait of Ratigan, the tribal mask, and the billiard ball in the skull, among others. And the mantle is where Basil places his latest keepsake, Ratigan's bell.

In the fireplace we see wood burning. No humans in the city would use wood when coal is so much more plentiful. However, for a mouse, any cast-off piece of wood will suffice to build a fire.

Strange that we find no fireplace utensils, such as a shovel or poker in the room. The bellows is currently employed in an experiment, but what has become of the other implements?

Observe the contraptions Basil has cobbled together to aid in his study of tobacco ashes and footprints and you will admit that he's quite a good gadgeteer.

Note the bureau on the landing. The sleeve of some piece of clothing sticking out of the drawer shows that clothes are kept inside. Why would anyone keep clothing in such an odd place; why not in a bedroom or dressing room? There are a few possible answers: perhaps Basil's bedroom is too small or too full of other things to contain all his clothes; perhaps he uses this bureau to keep his disguises; perhaps that particular garment doesn't belong in that drawer and Basil has just left it lying about.

There is a vanity table behind the door that leads to the kitchen. Again, this is a strange place for such a piece of furniture. One can only surmise that Basil's bedroom is hopelessly cluttered, and that he uses this space to apply disguises and stage make-up.

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