''The Masks of Death'' is a 1984 British mystery

television film 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 for ...

directed by

Roy Ward Baker Roy Ward Baker (born Roy Horace Baker; 19 December 1916 – 5 October 2010) was an English film director. His best known film is ''A Night to Remember (1958 film), A Night to Remember'' (1958) which won a Golden Globe for Golden Globe Award for ...

and starring

Peter Cushing Peter Wilton Cushing (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor. His acting career spanned over six decades and included appearances in more than 100 films, as well as many television, stage, and radio roles. He achieved recognition ...

as Sherlock Holmes and

John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portra ...

Doctor Watson John H. Watson, known as Dr. Watson, is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson first appeared in the novel '' A Study in Scarlet'' (1887). The last work by Doyle ...

Plot

In 1913, Sherlock Holmes, virtually in retirement, is persuaded by Inspector Alec MacDonald of Scotland Yard to take on a baffling case. Three dead bodies have been found in London's East End, all with no discernible cause of death, but the expressions on their faces suggest that they all died in a state of terror. Holmes, accompanied by Dr Watson, begins an investigation, but before he can make any real progress he is visited by the British Home Secretary and a German Diplomat, Count Udo von Felseck, who tell Holmes that a German envoy, on a secret mission to Britain, has disappeared from Felseck's house in Buckinghamshire. Unless Holmes can track him down, war between the two countries will become imminent. Holmes considers the possibility that the two matters are related and that someone is not telling him the truth.

Cast

as Sherlock Holmes *

* Anne Baxter as

Irene Adler Irene Adler is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A former opera singer and actress, she was featured in the short story " A Scandal in Bohemia", published in July 1891. Adler is one of the ...

* Ray Milland as Home Secretary * Anton Diffring as Count Udo von Felseck * Gordon Jackson as Inspector Alec MacDonald *

Susan Penhaligon Susan Penhaligon (born 3 July 1949) is a British actress and writer known for her role in the drama series ''Bouquet of Barbed Wire'' (1976), and for playing Helen Barker in the sitcom '' A Fine Romance'' (1981–1984). She appeared in the so ...

as Miss Derwent * Marcus Gilbert as Anton von Felseck *

Jenny Laird Phyllis Edith Mary Blythe (13 February 1912 – 31 October 2001), known professionally as Jenny Laird, was a British stage, film and television actress. Early life and education Born in Manchester, Laird and her parents moved to the south, a ...

as Mrs. Hudson * Russell Hunter as Alfred Coombs *

James Cossins James Cossins (4 December 1933 – 12 February 1997) was an English character actor. Born in Beckenham, Kent, he became widely recognised as the abrupt, bewildered Mr Walt in the ''Fawlty Towers'' episode " The Hotel Inspectors" and as Mr Wats ...

as Frederick Baines *

Eric Dodson Eric Norman Dodson (1 December 1920 – 13 January 2000) was an English actor born in Peterborough, Northamptonshire, who played many roles in films and on television. After amateur acting he joined the Royal Air Force in 1941. Following trai ...

as Lord Claremont *Georgina Coombs as Lady Claremont *Dominic St Clair as Boot Boy

Production

Development

Executive producer Kevin Francis had previously attempted to raise funds for a new version of ''

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 ...

''. Francis intended to cast Peter Cushing as Holmes, which would be Cushing's third take on the Doyle tale after the 1959 Hammer production and the two-part production for the 1968 television series, and feature a stop-motion dog created by

Ray Harryhausen Raymond Frederick Harryhausen (June 29, 1920 – May 7, 2013) was an American-British animator and special effects creator who created a form of stop motion model animation known as "Dynamation". His works include the animation for '' Mi ...

. While funding for the proposed film collapsed, it led to Francis discussing an original tale with writer Anthony Hinds.

Casting

This is Peter Cushing's final portrayal of Sherlock Holmes. He first donned Holmes' deerstalker in Hammer's ''

'' (1959). Later, he took over from Douglas Wilmer in the BBC television series '' Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes'' in the late 1960s. Cushing considered Sherlock Holmes to be his favorite role but his age, Cushing being in his 70s, required the part to be written for a much older Holmes.

Filming

Filming began in the summer of 1984 at

Twickenham Film Studios Twickenham Studios (formerly known as Twickenham Film Studios) is a film studio in St Margarets, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, that is used by various motion picture and television companies. It was established in 1913 by Ralph ...

with location work at Buckinghamshire and London.

Unproduced sequel

There were plans for a follow-up titled ''The Abbot's Cry'' but the film never materialized due to Cushing's declining health.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Masks Of Death, The Sherlock Holmes films 1984 television films 1984 films British television films British mystery films Films directed by Roy Ward Baker Films set in 1913 Sherlock Holmes pastiches Films scored by Malcolm Williamson 1980s British films