''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' (a.k.a. ''Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles'') is a 1983 British

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made fo ...

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Douglas Hickox Douglas Arthur Hickox (10 January 1929 – 25 July 1988) was an English film and television director. Biography Hickox was born in London, where he was educated at Emanuel School. He started in the film industry at age 17, working at Pinewood ...

, starring

Ian Richardson Ian William Richardson (7 April 19349 February 2007) was a Scottish actor. He portrayed the Machiavellian Tory politician Francis Urquhart in the BBC's '' House of Cards'' (1990–1995) television trilogy. Richardson was also a leading S ...

as Sherlock Holmes and Donald Churchill as Dr. John H. Watson. It is based on Arthur Conan Doyle's 1902 novel ''

The Hound of the Baskervilles ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' is the third of the four crime novels by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serialised in ''The Strand Magazine'' from August 1901 to April 1902, it is se ...

''.

Production

In 1982, American producer Sy Weintraub partnered with English producer

Otto Plaschkes Otto Plaschkes (13 September 1929 – 14 February 2005) was a British film producer. Early life Plaschkes was born in Vienna. His father, a butcher, was from Bratislava and his mother from Budapest. Plaschkes left for England at the age of ten, a ...

to make six television films of Sherlock Holmes stories.Sherlock Holmes Society of London

Charles Edward Pogue Charles Edward Pogue Jr. (born January 18, 1950) is an American screenwriter, playwright and stage actor. He is best known for writing the screenplays of ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' (1983), ''Psycho III'' (1986), '' The Fly'' (1986) and ' ...

was enlisted to pen the screenplays but only ''

The Sign of the Four ''The Sign of the Four'' (1890), also called ''The Sign of Four'', is the second novel featuring Sherlock Holmes by British writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle wrote four novels and 56 short stories featuring the fictional detective. Plot ...

'' and ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' were ultimately filmed before Granada Television's '' Sherlock Holmes'' series premiered in 1984. A proposed third film, '' Hands of a Murderer'' (originally entitled ''The Prince of Crime'') was eventually made with Edward Woodward as Sherlock Holmes and

John Hillerman John Benedict Hillerman (December 20, 1932 – November 9, 2017) was an American actor best known for his starring role as Jonathan Quayle Higgins III on the television series '' Magnum, P.I.'' that aired from 1980 to 1988. For his role as ...

as Dr. John H. Watson. In an interview with ''

Scarlet Street ''Scarlet Street'' is a 1945 American film noir directed by Fritz Lang. The screenplay concerns two criminals who take advantage of a middle-aged painter in order to steal his artwork. The film is based on the French novel ''La Chienne'' (literal ...

'', Ian Richardson explained: Denholm Elliott was cast as Dr. Mortimer having previously portrayed Stapleton in the

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

spoof version of the Hound starring

Dudley Moore Dudley Stuart John Moore CBE (19 April 193527 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. Moore first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writ ...

and

Peter Cook Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English actor, comedian, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishme ...

. He also appeared with "Hound" co-star

Connie Booth Connie Booth (born 2 December 1940) is an American-born actress and writer. She has appeared in several British television programmes and films, including her role as Polly Sherman on BBC Two's ''Fawlty Towers'', which she co-wrote with her t ...

in the spoof ''

The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It ''The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It'' is a 1977 comedy film directed by Joseph McGrath and starring John Cleese. It is a low-budget spoof of the Sherlock Holmes detective series, as well as the mystery genre in gener ...

''. Booth herself would later appear in 1987s '' The Return of Sherlock Holmes''. A large part of Martin Shaw's American accent was dubbed by another actor in post-production.

Cast

as Sherlock Holmes * Donald Churchill as Dr. John H. Watson *

Martin Shaw Martin Shaw (born 21 January 1945) is an English actor. He came to national recognition as Doyle in ITV crime-action television drama series '' The Professionals'' (1977–1983). Further notable television parts include the title roles in '' ...

as Sir Henry Baskerville *

Nicholas Clay Nicholas Anthony Phillip Clay (18 September 1946 – 25 May 2000) was an English actor. Early life Clay was born in Streatham, London on 18 September 1946, the son of a professional soldier in the British Army's Royal Engineers. The famil ...

as Jack Stapleton/Sir Hugo Baskerville *

Glynis Barber Glynis Barber (born Glynis van der Riet; 25 October 1955) is a South African actress. She is known for her portrayals of Sgt. Harriet Makepeace in the British police drama '' Dempsey and Makepeace'', Glenda Mitchell in ''EastEnders'', DCI Grac ...

as Beryl Stapleton *

Brian Blessed Brian Blessed (; born 9 October 1936) is an English actor, presenter, writer and mountaineer. Blessed is known for portraying PC "Fancy" Smith in ''Z-Cars'', Augustus in the 1976 BBC television production of '' I, Claudius'', King Richard I ...

as Geoffrey Lyons *

Eleanor Bron Eleanor Bron (born 14 March 1938) is an English stage, film and television actress, and an author. Her film roles include Ahme in the Beatles musical ''Help!'' (1965), the Doctor in '' Alfie'' (1966), Margaret Spencer in '' Bedazzled'' (1967), a ...

as Mrs. Barrymore *

Edward Judd Edward Judd (4 October 1932 – 24 February 2009) was a British actor. Biography Born in Shanghai, he and his English father and Russian mother fled when the Japanese attacked China five years later. His career was at its peak in the 1960s ...

as Barrymore *

as Laura Lyons *

Denholm Elliott Denholm Mitchell Elliott, (31 May 1922 – 6 October 1992) was an English actor, with more than 125 film and television credits. His well-known roles include the abortionist in '' Alfie'' (1966), Marcus Brody in ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' (19 ...

as Dr. Mortimer *

Ronald Lacey Ronald William Lacey (28 September 1935 – 15 May 1991) was an English actor. He made numerous television and film appearances over a 30-year period. His roles included Harris in ''Porridge'' (1977), Frankie in the Bud Spencer comedy '' Ch ...

Inspector Lestrade Detective Inspector G. Lestrade, or Mr. Lestrade ( or ), is a fictional character appearing in several of the Sherlock Holmes stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. Lestrade's first appearance was in the first Sherlock Holmes story, the novel '' ...

David Langton David Muir Langton (born Basil Muir Langton-Dodds; 16 April 1912 – 25 April 1994) was a British actor who is best remembered for playing Richard Bellamy in the period drama '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. Early years David Langton was born Basi ...

as Sir Charles Baskerville * Cindy O'Callaghan as Maid *

Francesca Gonshaw Francesca Gonshaw (born 25 November 1959) is an English former actress who appeared in television, theatre and cinema productions in the 1980s. From 1982 to 1987, she appeared as Maria Recamier in the BBC's Allo 'Allo!'' television situati ...

as Young Girl in Mire

Differences from novel

*The story's prologue retelling the Baskerville legend differs from the novel with the inclusion of a scene where Lord Baskerville rapes the fugitive girl after catching her, and the girl surviving when Baskerville is fatally mauled by the Hound. *A sniping attempt which does not occur in the original novel is made against Sir Henry. *Inspector Lestrade is assigned the task of arresting Seldon. Unlike previous versions of the story, he is revealed to be the policeman who arrested Seldon. *

's character Geoffrey Lyons never appears in the novel.The hound of the Baskervilles: another adventure of Sherlock Holmes
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Christopher Frayling In the film version, Lyons is presented as an imposing suspect who is at one point falsely imprisoned for strangling his wife. Holmes' solution to the case ultimately frees him. *The film's Geoffrey Lyons performs the feat of bending a

fire iron A fire iron is any metal instrument for tending a fire. Types There are three types of tools commonly used to tend a small fire, such as an indoor fireplace fire or yule log: the spade, the tongs and the poker itself. These tools make it possi ...

as an intimidation tactic which was originally performed by Dr. Grimesby Roylott in "

The Adventure of the Speckled Band "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" is one of 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the eighth story of twelve in the collection ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes''. It was originally published in '' Strand Ma ...

". *Laura Lyons dies in the film, strangled by the murderer to protect his identity. She does not die in the novel. *Stapleton's demise in the bog is included as a part of the film's climax. He ambushes Holmes, Watson and Beryl outside the Hound's lair, but is chased by Holmes into the moor; he stumbles into the mire and sinks to his doom, despite Holmes' attempts to save him. The novel does not depict Stapleton's demise; he simply disappears on the moor and is assumed to have drowned in the mire.

Reception

Cinema Retro ''Cinema Retro'' is an English magazine devoted to "celebrating films of the 1960s & 1970s". Founded in 2005 by Lee Pfeiffer and Dave Worrall, it is subtitled "the Essential Guide to Cult and Classic Movies". The 64-page full-colour magazine is p ...

'' called the film "a cracking piece of entertainment...with lush production values that completely belie its TV movie origins."

Matthew Bunson Matthew Bunson (born 1966) is an American author of more than fifty books, a historian, professor, editor, Roman Catholic theologian, Senior Contributor for EWTN, the Catholic multimedia network, Senior Fellow at the St. Paul Center for Biblical T ...

in ''The Enclyclopedia Sherlockiana'' praised the "first rate" production and Ronald Lacey's performance as Lestrade but felt that Richardson's interpretation of Holmes was "a bit too amiable."

References

External links