The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)

"There's no doubt of it in my mind. Or perhaps I should say, my imagination. For that's where crimes are conceived and they're solved - in the imagination."

According legend, the Baskerville family of Devonshire are cursed.  The curse began in 1650 when Hugo Baskerville was killed by a demonic dog, and it's most recent victim was Sir Charles Baskerville.  His best friend, Dr. James Mortimer (Atwill), turns to Sherlock Holmes (Rathbone) and Dr. John Watson (Bruce) to protect the last of Baskervilles, Sir Henry (Greene), who is arriving from Canada.

Holmes scoffs at the legend, but suspects that someone is planning to murder Sir Henry.  He sends Watson with Dr. Mortimer and Sir Henry, to report everything that happens and protect Sir Henry.  At Baskerville Hall, they meet the neighbors and suspects: the Baskerville's mysterious butler Barryman (Carradine) and his unhappy wife (Malyon), cranky Frankland (Borland) who is always threatening to sue someone, scientist John Stapleton (Lowry) and his beautiful sister Beryl (Barrie).  Can Holmes and Watson solve the case and save Sir Henry?


Beginning 1939, actors Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce starred in 14 Sherlock Holmes films.  The first film in the series was The Hound of the Baskervilles, based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous story. 

Doyle initially wrote The Hound of the Baskervilles in 1901 as a serialized story and was published as a novel a year later.  Doyle did not initially plan to write another Holmes story, as he had killed Holmes 8 years before, but realized that Holmes was needed for this story.  The popularity of this novel led to Doyle resurrecting the character for more stories.

Rathbone is the definitive Holmes.  Many other actors have and will portray Holmes, but to many people (including me), Rathbone is the best.  The studio and Doyles' estate felt Rathbone was the perfect choice for Holmes, but disagreed about casting Bruce as Watson.  Bruce's portrayal of Watson is different from Doyle's characterization, making him more bumbling and a comic foil (which grew stronger with each subsequent film).  They are great here.

Director Sidney Lanfield made some good choices with the film, such as subtle camera angles especially for Lionel Atwill's Dr. Mortimer.  The set is good, especially for the moor.  But he also made some bizarre choices, such as the lack of music throughout the film (which would heighten the tension during some scenes).  The screenplay, written by Ernest Pascal, made some changes to Doyle's story.  One character was completely removed and a new character was added, and the motivations of a few characters are change.  If you have read the novel or seen any other version of the story, you will pick up on the changes.  I understand the desire to streamline the story, but it also changes Doyle's original story.

There have been over 20 film and TV adaptations of this story.  It has also been reimagined in several novels, such as The Moor by Laurie R. King and Pierre Bayard's Sherlock Holmes Was Wrong that proposes a different murderer.

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) 80 minutes
Director: Sidney Lanfield
Starring: Richard Greene as Sir Henry Baskerville
Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes
Nigel Bruce as Dr. John Watson
Wendy Barrie as Beryl StapletonLionel Atwill as Dr. James Mortimer
John Carradine as Barryman
Morton Lowry as John (Jack) Stapleton
Eily Malyon as Mrs. Barryman
Barlowe Borland as Frankland