Der Hund von Baskerville

Outstanding performance of the famous group of actors makes you love this movie from the first sight. Seeing it once does not satisfy.

No doubt, Vasili Livanov is the best as Sherlock Holmes. I could not imagine any actor who could play this role as beatiful as he did. His especial tones in the voice make him incredible and unforgetable as the greatest consulting detective of all times.

Greatest part of the glory goes to Vitaly Solomin, who has played John Watson - great actor, great scene of "drunk baronet, Watson and Barrymore"

Of course, Nikita Mikhalkov. This actor and director is known now for many movies he participated in.Then, we saw him still young and already known, but not so famous as he is now. He makes this movie as amusing, as he can. Maybe this feature and all the twists and turns as he plays them as Henry Baskerville make this movie so different from those of other countries' ones. His performance makes you applauding him for this

And of course Barrymore as played by Aleksandr Adabashyan will be remembered in years. His announcements in the process of the movie and calm servants' character, which sometimes grows into overwhelming care for the young baronet adds to this movie another aspect, as a result of which, we, too, starting to worry about Sir Henry not less than Barrymore himself.

Many other actors also played their part in this movie on their best side. Oleg Yankovsky as Stapleton, Alla Demidova as Laura Lions, Yevgeni Steblov as Doctor Mortimer and many others. We have to thank them all, otherwise this movie would not ever been what we are used to see today. In two words, in this movie, we got the best of Soviet cinematograph and its actors.

All the glory I think should go to the director of these series of movies of Sherlock Holmes adventures, Igor Maslennikov.

I have seen "Hound of Baskervilles" many times, as well, I also saw movies that were made by Americans and English. Of course, it is only my subjective opinion, but the russian movie is the best of them all. If you did not see it, then it is a must for you to do it now.

Even at those, distant times of 20 years ago, when the movie was done, no computerized special effects, or whatever else, was available, this movie involves you deeply into the dark and brilliant story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who brings you into the age, where there were no electricity, cinema or planes. This was the age of Victorian England, the age of the British Empire, the age of Sherlock Holmes.

When you visit museum of Sherlock Holmes in London, Baker St., first thing that you see on the second floor is a number of pictures of all actors who ever played Holmes in the movies, and in the middle of that compilation you can see the biggest photo - the photo of Vasiliy Livanov.

All world cinematographers (including British ones) have admitted that Vasiliy Livanov is the best Sherlock Holmes that ever appeared on screen. And it is true. There were made several movies about the adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr.Watson for Russian TV in the late 70-ies and early 80-ies, including such films as The Meeting, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Bloody Script and many more (about 10 total number). Livanov as Sherlock, Vitaliy Solomin as Watson, Rina Zelenaya as Mrs.Hudson, Borislav Brondukov as Inspector Lestrade all make these series directed by Igor Maslennikov an all-time masterpiece. Almost all of actors started their careers in theaters (Livanov, Solomin and Zelenaya continued giving performances even after their success on the big screen) which gave films amazing atmosphere of reality. The images of old London were carefully reconstructed in Baltic cities almost untouched by time which gave movies a lot of similarities with real XIX century London. All movies (it wouldn't be right to call them episodes) are set on very high level, and from the opening unforgettable music score they charm every viewer. It's very hard to distinguish the best film of the series, every of them has something unique. The Hound of the Baskervilles for example has the greatest number of participating celebrities, including Nikita Mikhalkov (internationally known for directing and playing in such movies like An Unfinished Piece for Mechanical Piano, The Barber of Siberia, Oscar-winning Burnt by the Sun etc.), Oleg Yankovskiy (Nostalgia by Tarkovskiy), Evgeniy Steblov and many more. This set of movies is a must-see for everyone whether you've read the book or not. It's rather difficult to find these movies with English subtitles but they exist and trust me, they worth searching for them. 10 out of 10 for all films.

Once, a poll was conducted in England, and Vassily Livanov and Vitaliy Solomin were found the best ever impersonation of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in the movies all over the world. Here, the brilliant couple delivers again. In addition, the winning plot and the magnificent guest performances of Nikita Michalkov as Sir Henry and of Oleg Yankovsky as Stapleton make this movie exceptional even amongst the Russian Sherlock Holmes series. A must!

If you come upon these rare old Soviet Sherlock Holmes variations I would advise you to jump on them quick, you'll see the best of any variation or story that's ever been done.

All that being said, that in know way takes away from what Jeremy Brett or Basil Rathbone accomplished. Each actors interpretation is different than another's but if you want a version that is true to the story, then this is the one...hands down.

Seeing these old Soviet versions are a real treat. You would think that they would try and sneak some anti-capitalist or pro Soviet type of propaganda in this but as far as I can tell, this is straight from the story itself and just pretty darn entertaining. With these bare bones versions of the Sherlock tales you'll get a setting they want you to believe is in London circa the time they were told but you can plainly see that the backdrop is Soviet with the architecture and style. Even with this, it's very charming the Soviets take on the Sherlock series.

I can't tell anyone enough how good this series is. They couldn't have picked a better pair to play the title roles. These were parts these two were made for. Make an effort to find these series of TV movies from cold war days and be ready for a real treat from the Iron Curtain. I'll bet cash money you'll love every minute of these hard to find gems.

Russians are good at adapting English detective stories.Didn't they make the best version of Agatha Christie's "Ten little N....." aka "ten little Indians" aka "and then there were none" ,the only one which followed the plot of the novel till the end.

"Hound" is no exception.Its unusual length is explained by the fact it was a two-part MTV work.(One should notice that Russian "ten little N..." had a running time of two hours +)Well acted ,the movie sounds English wherever it takes place,in Baker street in Sherlock's flat -the streets of London are the only flaw ,but we do not see them that much- or in the Baskerville castle or on the moor .The butler serving porridge every morning could not sound more English.The flashback concerning Hugo Baskerville receives a treatment which retains its mystery.The landscapes and the color are excellent and the subtitles allow non-Russian-speaking to follow the plot ,in case they would not know it,which is ,like for Christie's novel ,dubious for whodunit buffs.