Although himself a bit of a latecomer to screen and never hit big at the box office, make no mistake: Professor Moriarty was the forerunner of film's criminal masterminds. Wherever a mastermind is symbolized by a web, Moriarty is at the centre. His 1916 film debut made him look like a loser, and quickly brushed him aside. But here he is central to the story (in the UK, the film was titled Moriarty), and properly acknowledged as a menacing force that Holmes must struggle to reckon with. Sure, the film is slowed down by a hokey romance thrown in so that the good guy gets the girl in the end, but Moriarty stays hardcore and unstoppable.

Online: Wikimedia