DVD, Sherlock Holmes and The Hound of The Baskervilles (1939) film
This black and white version of what is probably Holmes' most famous story is both visually stark and aurally spare. The lack of any incidental music makes it a very strange experience and certainly lessens the atmosphere as the tension is generated purely from dialogue or sound effects, and the rustling and bumping of the soundtrack doesn't help. It is most interesting viewed as Basil Rathbone's first turn as the popular detective, and the character comes across very well, his verve and ingenuity well represented. Watson, on the other hand, is not true to the character of the books in anything more than his devotion to his friend, but Nigel Bruce's bumbling, put-upon version lightens a dark tale, with his mutterings and ineptitudes.
The other characters vary, and none live up to their literary equivalent. Richard Greene's American accent doesn't come across very well, and Dr. Mortimer is portrayed as a much more sinister man, presented as a possible early suspect. I don't remember any seances in the book, yet Mortimer's wife gets them together for one anyway, which serves no purpose. The howling on the moors is as spine-tingling as it should be, and the hound is ferocious, but the ending of the book with Holmes chasing Stapleton and the man falling prey to the Grimpen Mire were oddly altered so that Stapleton actually goes back and tries to poison Sir Henry!
The hound not being kept on an island in the Mire means Holmes gets stuck in the 'cage' and it all goes a bit wrong. The attack on Sir Henry was well played, although he did seem to survive it for quite a long time! I did like the way Hugo Baskerville's story was told, showing the events superimposed over the turning pages of the manuscript. In this version he didn't come across as the evil and cruel kidnapper and fiend of the book, and seemed a rather jolly sort, but I suppose the censorship of the time couldn't go into too much detail.
On the whole I liked the look of the production, the sets were pretty good, and Holmes' costume as the wandering pedlar was fun, though you can't disguise that regal nose, however, I didn't feel it was one of the better versions, taking a few too many liberties with what was a very strong story in its own right. The later films tended to have their own narratives, so there was less to complain about when the writing differed from the books, so perhaps this suffers because of its source.
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