Les Aventures de Sherlock Holmes et du docteur Waston: Le Chien des Baskerville

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.

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.

The movie, as well as others of this series, proves that if you got a talent, you can shoot even if you are somewhat short on means. To shoot this movie, the crew, of course, could not go to some British location, and its London portion was shot in the ancient quarter of Riga. But more than anything, marvelous play of V. Livanov and Co. made it possible to express the spirit of this novel by Arthur Conan Doyle as well as the atmosphere of the 19th century England (which, on the whole, was not the case when the Soviet movie-makers had to deal with American settings.) Unforgettable irony of almost omniscient Sherlock Holmes, Watson's ignorance, bordering on stupidity, charming sagacity of Mrs. Hudson, thick-witted inspector Lestrade - that's how the movie about Sherlock Holmes should look like.

This version of Hounds is sensational. I recommend viewing with a good audio system as the background music can really pop. The same for the whole series.

This episode has remarkably strong characters - the writers were not reluctant to shift attention from Holmes and Watson. These characters are a reason to watch Hounds over and over. For example, Evgeniy Steblov as Dr. Mortimer is highly engaging. He is entertaining while reading the Hounds curse, kind of a reverse HItchcock where the McGuffin is the curse, about which no one really cares about the details.

Nikita Mikhalkov as Sir Henry is equally engaging. His introduction into the story is unconventional, and might seem out of place at first. The Sherlock-Cumberbatch series might have benefited from more development of Russell Tovey's Henry. The Barrymore's are also fleshed out.

The production company is Lenfilm which, I am told, refers to a Leningrad organization. I assume the exteriors are from that part of Europe. I love the lighting (not the low contrast flat kind we often see). The camera work is on a par with the BBC of the same era - excellent in movement and angles. The execution of the Foley artist's contributions is not always great but, to my mind, adds character.

I purchased the series DVD with English subtitles. The video looks good on a 60-inch screen. I'm not in the industry, I had a screen test at 20th Century Fox in 1948. I didn't pass the test.

"The Hound of the Baskervilles" is almost certainly the Sherlock Holmes story most adapted for screen versions. In a sense that's not surprising because it's so good, but in another it is, since the character of Holmes himself is absent for much of the story. Filmmakers tend to resort to awkwardly rewriting the original or leaving the story in the hands of a bumbling, unbelievable Watson.

This film, however, from a series of excellent films made for Soviet television and starring Vasili Livanov as Holmes, benefits from a Watson who is perhaps the screen's best -- excellently acted by Vitali Solomin as both a man ready for action and a sensitive writer, and always three- dimensionally written. He's more than capable of driving the middle section of this "Hound of the Baskervilles" -- a production which apart from that also seems to get just about everything else right.

In two parts it runs to almost two and a half hours, and that long running time is invaluable. It never drags, being excellently directed with attention to detail in every shot and a nuanced sense of suspense, and the extra breathing room allows every minor and supporting character to be given a significant role. That's huge, as they are all illuminated with well-written scenes and inhabited as character parts with good performances. It gives a great sense of scope and complexity to the mystery.

Part of the success here is that this production somehow manages to treat the original without too much reverence, but still to recreate its atmosphere perfectly. This means while Sir Henry is introduced as a very funny figure of comedy, he can slowly become more of a figure of pity. It is actually quite effective the way heart is added by playing on Sir Henry's unrequited love for Mrs. Stapleton, and his interactions with Barrymore become a delightful whole movie in and of themselves.

As with the other films the cinematography as well as the locations and settings are gorgeous and evocative of a very rich and detailed Victorian world -- with a slightly Russian flavor mirrored in the language naturally spoken by the actors. The music sometimes strikes a contrast this time, but always seems to work despite itself. The hound itself -- which in other films comes off as silly -- is realized with wonderful and spooky simplicity as per its actual explanation.

And, as in his previous appearances, Vasili Livanov is a sublime Sherlock Holmes -- an immensely appealing and well-acted version of the character.

In short, as close to a perfect screen version of "The Hound of the Baskervilles" as I have seen, and a cracking good film on its own.