The Hound of the Baskervilles 1939

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) starring Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Richard Greene, Lionel Atwill

Product review of The Hound of the Baskervilles

The most famous of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s canon is ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’. It was originally released by Twentieth Century-Fox in 1939. It’s the first of fourteen Sherlock Holmes films starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.

After Sir Charles Baskerville is killed outside of Baskerville Hall, his good friend Dr. Mortimer (Lionel Atwill) fears that the curse of the Baskervilles has struck once again. So, Mortimer enlists the help of Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone), before yet another Baskerville can succumb to the evil legend.

Sir Henry Baskerville (Richard Greene) arrives in London to claim his inheritance. Mortimer takes Sir Henry to 221b Baker Street and expresses his fear for Sir Henry’s life. Baskerville soon learns that along with the grand mansion on the moor, comes a devilish curse, a curious butler (John Carradine) and a cast of bizarre neighbors.

Holmes, pressed with “other business,” sends Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) to accompany Sir Henry to the dreary moor. To protect the young Baskerville from the legend of the wicked hound. Of course, with danger afoot, Sherlock Holmes may not be so far from the scene as is assumed.

Cast

• Richard Greene … Sir Henry Baskerville
• Basil Rathbone (Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon) … Sherlock Holmes
• Wendy Barrie (Five Came Back) … Beryl Stapleton
• Nigel Bruce (The Two Mrs. Carrols) … Dr. Watson
• Lionel Atwill (The Vampire Bat) … James Mortimer M.D.
• John Carradine (Invisible Invaders) … Barryman
• Barlowe Borland … Frankland
• Beryl Mercer … Mrs. Jennifer Mortimer
• Morton Lowry … John Stapleton
• Ralph Forbes … Sir Hugo Baskerville
• E.E. Clive (The Little Princess) … Cabby
• Eily Malyon (On Borrowed Time) … Mrs. Barryman
• Lionel Pape … Coroner
• Nigel De Brulier … Convict
• Mary Gordon … Mrs. Hudson
• Ian Maclaren (Les Miserables 1935) … Sir Charles

Editorial review of The Hound of the Baskervilles courtesy of Amazon.com

Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce star in this 1939 adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s frequently filmed novel, and the result is one of the most atmospheric and purely enjoyable versions of The Hound of the Baskervilles. Except for minor changes, the script is true to Doyle’s enthralling mystery about a centuries-long curse against heirs to the Baskerville estate, situated within the haunting and deadly Dartmoor in the southwest of England.

With the arrival of a new master, Canadian Henry Baskerville (Richard Greene), Sherlock Holmes (Rathbone) and Dr. Watson (Bruce) are called upon to solve the strange case of the “gigantic hound” that may be readying to savage the poor fellow. Wonderful sets, crisp performances, and Rathbone’s accessible but no-nonsense take on the Great Detective make this a real delight. Typical of the 20th Century Fox Holmes pictures, there’s an in-joke, a final line of censor-defying dialogue alluding to Holmes’s little problem with cocaine. –Tom Keogh