THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES (1939)

One night, on the Grimpen Mire, a dismal foggy moor in Dartmoor, Sir Charles Baskerville is running from the sound of a howling dog. He falls to the ground dead. At the post-mortem, Dr. Mortimer (Lionel Atwill) says it was a heart attack, though we see him hesitate in his pronouncement. When a news story appears that Charles' heir, Sir Henry (Richard Greene), is coming from Canada to take over the estate, esteemed detective Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) tells his friend Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) that the Baskerville men have a habit of dying young and violently. That evening, Mortimer shows up and asks Holmes for assistance; like Holmes, he too fears for Henry's safety. He relates the story of the Baskerville curse: many years ago, the decadent Hugo Baskerville abducted a young woman with the apparent intention of sexual assault (by himself and possibly with his drinking buddies). She escapes but dies from a fall on the moors, and Hugo is torn to pieces by a supernaturally strong hound. The curse apparently continues to the present day, and Mortimer tells Holmes that he found hound pawprints near the dead body of Sir Charles. Holmes isn't so sure that the threat to Henry is from a ghost dog, but he agrees to get involved. After Henry arrives, odd things happen: one of his boots is stolen from his hotel room, and Holmes witnesses someone try to shoot Henry on the streets. Holmes sends Watson off with Henry and Mortimer to Baskerville Manor while he attends to some business in London. At the mansion, Watson immediately becomes suspicious of Barryman, the butler, who is caught one night signaling someone on the moors with a candle from a window. He also meets the neighbors: young, working-class John Stapleton; his stepsister Beryl whom Henry takes an interest in; Mortimer's wife who has an interest in the occult; and Mr. Frankland, a cranky old man who is constantly threatening people with frivolous lawsuits. Watson sends Holmes letters keeping him up to date on developments until a sinister looking tramp arranges a secret meeting with Watson on the moors. No spoilers here; suffice to say that soon, Holmes shows up, secrets are uncovered, a hound (real, not a ghost) attacks Henry, and all is revealed.

I have mentioned the Rathbone/Bruce Sherlock Holmes movies here on the blog before, but I’ve only ever done a full review on one (SPIDER-WOMAN). This is the first of fourteen made between 1939 and 1946 and, though they are all fun to watch, this is probably the best of the batch. That's partly because it had an A-film budget (which most of the later ones did not have), partly because it's based on a particularly strong Conan Doyle story, and partly because the template was new. Holmes' uncanny ability to figure out obscure clues, his moody violin playing, Watson's doddering comic relief, the cramped quarters at 221B Baker Street. Even if the plot itself is a bit anemic (the menace to Henry rarely feels truly dangerous until the end), the atmosphere is perfectly Gothic, and the Grimpen Mire set, though obviously artificial, works perfectly. Rathbone will always be the best Sherlock Holmes to me, and Bruce will always be the best Watson, though I do understand those fans who don't like the comic aspect of his character which is not present in the original stories. By the end of the series, Rathbone may have been phoning it in a bit, but here he's still fresh and interesting. Greene (top-billed because Fox was pushing him as a heartthrob) is fine, and Atwill keeps us on our toes, as he was usually a heavy so we're not sure if Mortimer is to be trusted—Atwill would play Holmes' arch nemesis Moriarty in a later movie. Wendy Barrie (Beryl), John Carradine (Barryman), Eily Malyon (Mrs. Barryman) and Beryl Mercer (Mrs. Mortimer) give fine support. Morton Lowry as John Stapleton is a bit of a weak link, partly because his role is underwritten. [DVD]

I also watched a recently restored German silent version of the same story, DER HUND VON BASKERVILLE (1929). There are several differences. Almost the entire film takes place at Baskerville Hall and the surrounding moor. There is little mention of the original curse. The film has a much more "old dark house" atmosphere to it, with secret passages, dark and gloomy interiors, and prying eyes seen through statue faces. The actor playing the villain plays him as creepy from the beginning and a grinning madman by the end. American actor Carlyle Blackwell (above left) is fine as Holmes, a little lighter in tone than Rathbone. Watson (Geroge Seroff) is not exactly comic relief, but instead an almost snarky observer, and I like him quite a bit that way. The characters of Mortimer and Frankland are present but not really important to the plot. A character from the novel but not in the 1939 film, Laura Lyons, is present here and crucial to a late plot development. The moor set is not quite as impressive as in the American film, but the spooky house makes up for that. The title hound is effective and the climax is more action-filled than in the '39 film. Interesting for comparison. The film had been thought lost and the restoration story, told in an accompanying featurette, is interesting. The modern score is nicely moody. [Blu-ray]