The Hound of the Baskervilles starts late one night at 'Baskerville Hall' as Sir Charles Baskerville (Raymond Adamson) waits outside in his gardens, suddenly he hears a chilling howl coming from the moors... Dr. Mortimer (Neil Duncan) contacts contacts Sherlock Holmes (Jeremy Brett) & his assistant Dr. John Watson (Edward Hardwicke) & tells them of Sir Charles untimely death which he feels is suspicious, he talks about a 200 year old legend about a huge demonic hound that has terrorised the Baskerville family & that paw prints were found near Sir Charles body. Dr. Mortimer also says that the last remaining Baskerville Sir Henry (Kristoffer Tabori) is travelling from America to claim his inheritance. Upon arrival Sir Henry receives a threatening letter telling him to stay away from Baskerville Hall which he ignores & together with Dr. Watson & Dr. Mortimer travels to Devon & settle into Baskerville Hall. The list of suspects is long with the servants Mr. (Ronald Pickup) & Mrs. Barrymore (Rosemary McHale) acting strangely & the escaped murderer Selden (William Ilkley) running around the moors...
Made for British TV by Granada & directed by Brian Mills this adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles is the second version of this classic tale I have seen this year & both were almost exactly the same. The script by T.R. Bowen based on the novel by Arthur Conan Doyle retains all the basic story elements, it moves along at a nice pace & is involving although if you know anything about the well told tale then nothing here will come as a surprise which isn't a problem with this version in itself it's just that there are so many versions around which I would imagine don't differ that much. Holmes takes a back seat for a large chunk of the film & I thought the ending was somewhat underwhelming & felt a little rushed which was probably down to it's budget & tight TV shooting schedule. The film was obviously shot on location & you couldn't ask for more of the British countryside & the manor house used. The budget probably wasn't as high as the other one I saw as it looks a little basic at times, there is no extravagant production design & everything is kept quite simple yet still maintains it's effectiveness. The Hound itself has a silly green glowing special effect to it & isn't really in the film that much. The acting is strong throughout but I'm not sure about Brett as Holmes, don't really know why but I didn't like him that much. Overall it's a good solid engaging adaptation of what now must surely be a story told far too often as once you've seen one of them there isn't much interest in seeing any other. If you have never seen a Hound of the Baskervilles before than I can easily recommend this one but if you have I can't see the point in sitting through this. Good for Holmes virgins & completest's but old hat if your familiar with the story.
Made for British TV by Granada & directed by Brian Mills this adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles is the second version of this classic tale I have seen this year & both were almost exactly the same. The script by T.R. Bowen based on the novel by Arthur Conan Doyle retains all the basic story elements, it moves along at a nice pace & is involving although if you know anything about the well told tale then nothing here will come as a surprise which isn't a problem with this version in itself it's just that there are so many versions around which I would imagine don't differ that much. Holmes takes a back seat for a large chunk of the film & I thought the ending was somewhat underwhelming & felt a little rushed which was probably down to it's budget & tight TV shooting schedule. The film was obviously shot on location & you couldn't ask for more of the British countryside & the manor house used. The budget probably wasn't as high as the other one I saw as it looks a little basic at times, there is no extravagant production design & everything is kept quite simple yet still maintains it's effectiveness. The Hound itself has a silly green glowing special effect to it & isn't really in the film that much. The acting is strong throughout but I'm not sure about Brett as Holmes, don't really know why but I didn't like him that much. Overall it's a good solid engaging adaptation of what now must surely be a story told far too often as once you've seen one of them there isn't much interest in seeing any other. If you have never seen a Hound of the Baskervilles before than I can easily recommend this one but if you have I can't see the point in sitting through this. Good for Holmes virgins & completest's but old hat if your familiar with the story.