The Hound of the Baskervilles Reviews

This was the first time that Rathbone and Bruce were cast as Holmes and Watson and their superlative performances resulted in the delightful series that followed this excellent mystery. A faithful adaptation of the Doyle novel, the film is set in the 1880s period of gaslit London with all its wet cobblestone streets, billowing fog, and eerie atmosphere. The young heir to the Baskerville estate (Greene) fears for his life and calls in the great Sherlock Holmes to help solve the mysterious curse that has killed every Baskerville master since 1650. This version of THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES was an enormous success immediately upon release, and it proved to be the best of the series. Rathbone was the perfect Holmes, his well-modulated voice, his sharply-honed features, his lanky figure all conforming to the public's image of the great detective as Sidney Paget first drew his imagined likeness in the Strand Magazine in 1889 when Doyle created the character. He had earned the role and would keep it for life as Bruce would claim the amiable character of Dr. Watson, the two becoming a beloved screen team. Lanfield's direction is solid and careful as he unfolds the sinister tale. Carradine, Lowry, and particularly Atwill are all superb in their supporting roles. THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES was always Rathbone's favorite film, even though he considered it "a negative from which I merely continued to produce endless positives of the same photograph." Rathbone would go on to appear in 16 films as Sherlock Holmes and more than 200 radio shows dealing with the indefatigable sleuth between 1939 and 1946.