When Sir Charles Baskerville is found dead, apparently of fright, and his nephew is sent for to take charge of Baskerville Hall in Dartmoor, Sherlock Holmes is asked to investigate the circumstances of the death and the Baskerville curse of a hideous hound said to have stalked the family for centuries.
This was the first of the fourteen classic Rathbone-Bruce Sherlock Holmes series, and for my money is the definitive version of the classic Arthur Conan Doyle story. Rathbone is simply commanding in this part; his classic angular features, his fierce wit and dynamic screen presence make the role his own with invisible ease. The rest of the cast are great, particularly Carradine as the gaunt mysterious butler. The spooky, isolated ambiance of Baskerville Hall and the gloomy fog-shrouded moors give the movie an eerie, suspenseful atmosphere and the classic scenes - the purloined boot, the light upon the moor, the old friends reunited in the cave and the nail-biting finale are handled with terrific aplomb. As with almost all the adaptations there is some re-writing; the whole Laura Lyons subplot is cut and Beryl Stapleton is a much simplified romantic interest, but these don't detract from what is a brilliant detective movie, and the beautiful black-and-white images are a treat to savour. This ripping tale has been filmed umpteen times (and this wasn't the first version by quite some way) but I think this is the best, the closest contender being the subsequent 1959 Hammer version with Peter Cushing. If at all possible, try to see the Optimum Releasing DVD prints of this and the rest of the Rathbone movies, beautifully preserved by the UCLA Film Archive. Classic Gothic cinema.
This was the first of the fourteen classic Rathbone-Bruce Sherlock Holmes series, and for my money is the definitive version of the classic Arthur Conan Doyle story. Rathbone is simply commanding in this part; his classic angular features, his fierce wit and dynamic screen presence make the role his own with invisible ease. The rest of the cast are great, particularly Carradine as the gaunt mysterious butler. The spooky, isolated ambiance of Baskerville Hall and the gloomy fog-shrouded moors give the movie an eerie, suspenseful atmosphere and the classic scenes - the purloined boot, the light upon the moor, the old friends reunited in the cave and the nail-biting finale are handled with terrific aplomb. As with almost all the adaptations there is some re-writing; the whole Laura Lyons subplot is cut and Beryl Stapleton is a much simplified romantic interest, but these don't detract from what is a brilliant detective movie, and the beautiful black-and-white images are a treat to savour. This ripping tale has been filmed umpteen times (and this wasn't the first version by quite some way) but I think this is the best, the closest contender being the subsequent 1959 Hammer version with Peter Cushing. If at all possible, try to see the Optimum Releasing DVD prints of this and the rest of the Rathbone movies, beautifully preserved by the UCLA Film Archive. Classic Gothic cinema.