The Hound of the Baskervilles

"The Hound of the Baskervilles' has always been my favourite Sherlock Holmes adventures. I have seen at least three movies (this one, one with Basil Rathbone as Holmes and one with Peter Cushing as the great detective) I must admit that this is the best. None of them were based exactly on the book. The only thing I can suggest is that since this is a TV series, it could be made a bit longer with more than one episode.

This was a very fine adaptation of a great book. True it does start off slowly, like the book, and I don't think it is quite as good as 1987's Sign of Four. That was creepy, suspenseful, and featured a wonderfully understated performance from the late great John Thaw. The minor negatives aside, this is a conveniently faithful and suspenseful adaptation.

It does benefit from fine camera work, wonderful scenery and costumes, and the music score was superb. And there are some genuinely creepy moments, in particular the opening and any other scene with the very scary looking Hound. It isn't all creepy though. There is a very charming ad libbing moment between Holmes and Watson, that was really nice to see.

And the acting was great, especially Jeremy Brett as Holmes. Despite the fact that he was ill during production, he still gave a stellar turn as always in the role I remember him by most. Brett was a great actor, and it was a real shame when he died; I will always consider him as the definitive Holmes, with his gritty baritone and towering presence Brett was perfect as Holmes. Edward Hardwicke as Dr Watson is a really nice contrast, and their chemistry is evident here. The supporting performances were sterling, worth of note were James Faulkener and Ronald Pickup.

All in all, while not as good as Sign of Four, it was a very atmospheric and faithful adaptation. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Sherlock (Jeremy Brett) and Watson (Edward Hardwicke) are hired by Doctor Mortimer (Neal Duncan) for the investigation a killing , the deceased Sr. Baskerville , who has been inherited by his brother Sir Henry (Kristoffer Tabori) . Watson goes to the mansion , there are the servants (Ronald Pickup) and he meets Stapleton (James Faulkner) and his sister . Meanwhile , an inmate has escaped and on the moors sounds the barking a savage beast .

This is an excellent film of the splendid Sherlock Holmes/Jeremy Brett TV series . It's a genuine ripping yarn with much suspense and intrigue . The film gets mystery , tension , detective action and packs an exciting deal of outstanding surprises with great lots of fun , despite being a known story . Jeremy Brett's magnificent interpretation , although the best Sherlock is forever Basil Rathbone . Brett plays as Holmes as an intelligent , obstinate , broody , pipesmoking sleuth , his acting is similar to Peter Cushing in television or Nicol Williamson (Seven-per-cent-solution) or Christopher Plummer (Murder by decree) in cinema . Here Dr. Watson isn't a botcher , bungler or clumsy partner usually incarnated by Nigel Bruce , but a cunning and astute pal well incarnated by Edward Hardwicke who even achieved recently success as co-protagonist in Oliver Twist (by Roman Polanski) . The movie has a creepy as well as eerie atmosphere , specially when is developed on the moors where lives the fearful giant beast ; besides , the London streets and 223 Baker Street house are well designed . The motion picture was well directed by Peter Hammond .

Other versions about this notorious novel are the followings : 1939 classy recounting by Sidney Landfield with Richard Greene , Basil Rathbone , Nigel Bruce , Lionel Atwill , Wendy Barrie ; 1959 by Terence Fisher with Peter Cushing , Andre Morell and Christopher Lee ; 1977 spoof rendition by Paul Morissey with Peter Cooke and Dudley Moore ; 1983 by Douglas Hickox with Ian Richardson and Donald Churchill ; 2000 TV by Rodney Gibbons with Matt Frewer and Kenneth Welsh , 2002 retelling with Richard Roxbough and Richard Hart , among others .

I am a great fan of the Granada television series starring Jeremy Brett. I have all of the episodes taped, with the Mystery commentaries by Vincent Price. Most of these are gems. There is no doubt in my mind who the best portrayer of Holmes is: Brett, hands down. I have read and taught this story so many times, so when I saw it was next on the docket, I was so thrilled. Unfortunately, it seemed to be a weak entry in the series. If this series is attempting to be true to the works of Conan-Doyle, why doe they once again play fast and loose with characters and plot. Why do they forsake the original story of Sir Hugo Baskerville? Why are some of the significant characters missing. I own at least 12 versions of this story on video, and not one of them follows the plot of the original story. Normally, my belief is that we are dealing with two different media, the silver screen and the printed page. However, when using a novella such as this, there is no reason to sacrifice plot elements and personalities. A few years later, I saw another version on Public Television. A nicely told story, very violent, like this story is. But, once again, a bunch of implanted gobbledygook. This one tries hard to follow the general plot, but it doesn't work. One critic complains about the lack of screen time for Holmes. That's a part of the plot. He is working behind the scenes. Once he arrives in Dartmoor, he has a great deal of screen time. It's not awful, but we had Jeremy Brett at his best; why not make a script that would go down in history.

"The Hound of the Baskervilles" is not my favorite Sherlock Holmes film: There are problems with the hound no matter how it is portrayed, and the violence in the film is disturbing. "The Hound" has perhaps suffered from overexposure; it is by all odds the most famous of the Sherlock Holmes tales. It lacks the substance of other full-length Holmes films, such as "The Sign of Four" and "The Master Blackmailer." And it lacks the horror of "The Last Vampire," which Conan Doyle wrote as a tribute to his friend Bram Stoker, the celebrated author of "Dracula."

The acting in the Sherlock Holmes films is consistently good. For me as for many other people, Jeremy Brett was the quintessential Holmes. It is a pity he is no longer around to play the part, and an even greater pity that the Holmes films are being remade in what promises to be a greatly inferior version.