A solid interpretation of THOTB done for the superb Granada series. The foremost reasons to watch this are: Jeremy Brett, surely the definitive Holmes of his generation; Edward Hardwicke's wonderful interpretation of Dr. Watson (you can actually believe him as a doctor, unlike most portrayals of Watson as Moronic Sidekick, getting his foot stuck in a mop bucket), and some good location shooting on the moors, so the whole thing doesn't feel studio-bound. That alone ranks it level with the Rathbone version. But there's not much else to get excited about, which is a shame. The script suffers from unnecessary monkeying, the supporting cast is fairly bland, with the exception of Kristoffer Tabori, who makes a likable Sir Henry Baskerville, and is a good scene partner with Edward Hardwicke through the middle section of the film. The hound in this one is pretty lame; by now special effects should have been better. They saved money by not recreating the Sir Hugo legend and by changing the novel's ending, removing Lestrade's eleventh hour appearance and substituting Dr. Mortimer. I'd forgive that if they had spent the money on the hound, but it's basically no different than in the 1939 and 1959 versions, just a big dog, except that it glows in the dark via some kind of post-production green Ghostbusters effect in two shots, then it doesn't glow for two or three shots, then it's back to glowing in two shots. All this is during the attack on Sir Henry, so it doesn't exactly work. Still and all, it has Jeremy Brett in it, and that makes it worth a look.
Review of The Hound of the Baskervilles
