Costume sketches for Sherlock Holmes

Eisenstein found that his images were often indebted to the book covers heralding the adventures of Pinkerton, Nick Carters, Ethel King, and Fantômas.Eisenstein had always been interested in characters capable of changing their appearance, such as Rodolphe in Eugene Sue’s "Les mystères de Paris," Rocambole in Ponson du Terrail’s "Exploits de Rocambole," Dumas’ "Count Monte-Christo," "Fântomas," later Disney’s characters and Lautréamont’s "Maldoror." Eisenstein found in these protean figures the same fluid, plasmatic quality that he attributed to his drawings.