Sunday, January 20, 2013

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)

Director: Sidney Lanfield                                 Writer: Ernest Pascal
Film Score: David Buttolph                              Cinematography: Peverell Marley
Starring: Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Lionel Atwill and John Carradine

Though this is the first of what is typically called the Universal Sherlock Holmes series with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, the first two features were actually made at 20th Century Fox before they dropped the concept. Meanwhile, Universal had purchased the rights to several stories and decided to continue the series in 1942. Arguably the most well known classic Conan Doyle story, The Hound of the Baskervilles is decidedly not the best of the series, even though the two Fox films were the only ones to be set in the Victorian era.

It’s difficult to find things to criticize in this film, especially in the context of the entire series. The characters of Holmes and Watson are already solid in their interpretation by the two leads. Rathbone is energetic, almost frantic, a physical representation of his intellectual speed, and he has no time for emotion, either negative or positive. When Bruce begins to pout about being deceived at one point, Rathbone simply chides him and pushes ahead relentlessly to solve the case. Bruce, bordering on doddering, believes he’s smarter than he really is and makes what he considers bold moves that actually backfire . . . which, of course, is exactly what Rathbone’s Holmes is counting on to flush out the murderer.

The story concerns the curse of the Baskervilles, dating from the 18th Century when the badly behaving patriarch of the clan brought about his own death by raising a hound of hell who destroyed him. Since then, all of the Baskerville heirs to the estate have died in similar supernatural means. The most recent death of Sir Charles Baskerville brings his friend and physician, brings Lionel Atwill’s Dr. Mortimer to Holmes to prevent the death of the most recent heir, Sir Henry, played by Richard Green in one of his early roles. Holmes pleads too much work to do, sends Watson with Sir Henry with explicit instructions to keep him off the moors at night, thus giving Holmes the ability to move at will without being detected himself and solve the case.

Though the remake by Hammer in 1959 was in color, had a terrific cast in Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Andre Morell, and changed the story slightly to make a better motivation for the murders, it still lacks in comparison to the joie de vivre of the original. Rathbone and Bruce would go on to make fourteen films in all, from the two Fox entries in 1939 until after World War II in 1946. What made the Universal series so popular is the updating of the setting to modern time, allowing Holmes and Watson to battle Nazis and other wartime dangers. The Hound of the Baskervilles is a great introduction to the series and fans of the Hollywood Holmes will certainly enjoy it.

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