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The film version and the original text contain the same characters. However, the film has a few more characters. In the film, Mrs. Staunton is the housekeeper at the Roylotts’ ancestral home in Stoke Moran. But she’s not in the original story. Two more characters who appear in the movie but not in the book are Rodgers, the Roylotts’ butler, and Ali, a servant that Roylott has brought from India.
Some of the characters that appear in both the film and the original text also differ. Helen and Julia are twins in the original text, but they’re born five years apart in the film version. And Julia’s name has been changed to Violet in the film.
The characters didn’t look at all like I had imagined them when I read the story. For example, I envisioned Sherlock Holmes as a tall, lanky guy. In the film, he was quite hefty. I did not imagine Watson would be bald, which he was in the movie. I also imagined Helen to look different. At the beginning of the original story, Watson informs us that her hair was gray, probably due to stress and worry over her dangerous situation. In the film, however, Helen does not have gray hair.
Grimesby Roylott is the antagonist in the short story and in the film version as well. He murders Violet, one of his stepdaughters who was engaged to be married. He kills her so that he can keep her portion of the family inheritance. He has decided to murder Helen, his other stepdaughter, after he hears of her marriage plan. In the film, Roylott has an Indian servant named Ali who assists him in the murders. Ali does not appear in the original story. In the film, we see Roylott spying on Helen and following her as she visits Holmes and Watson in their apartment. These details about Roylott do not appear in the original text either.