The Hound of the Baskervilles (1983 film)

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The Hound of the Baskervilles
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1983 film).jpg
Genre
  • Mystery
  • thriller
Based on The Hound of the Baskervilles
by Arthur Conan Doyle
Written by Charles Edward Pogue
Directed by Douglas Hickox
Starring Ian Richardson
Donald Churchill
Martin Shaw
Theme music composer Michael J. Lewis
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producer Sy Weintraub
Producers Otto Plaschkes
Eric Rattray (associate producer)
Alan Rosefielde (associate producer)
Cinematography Ronnie Taylor
EditorMalcolm Cooke
Running time100 minutes
Production companyMapleton Films
Original release
Network HBO
ReleaseNovember 3, 1983 (1983-11-03)

The Hound of the Baskervilles (a.k.a. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles [1] ) is a 1983 British made-for-television mystery thriller film directed by Douglas Hickox, starring Ian Richardson 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 .

Contents

Plot

Sherlock Holmes is given news of the late Sir Charles' death, and the legend of the hound which is said to have killed the evil Sir Hugo Baskerville in retaliation for his brutal and violent rape of a beautiful farm girl. Holmes prepares to save Sir Charles.

Cast

Production

In 1982, American producer Sy Weintraub partnered with English producer Otto Plaschkes to make six television films of Sherlock Holmes stories. [2] Charles Edward Pogue was enlisted to pen the screenplays [2] but only The Sign of the Four and The Hound of the Baskervilles were ultimately filmed before Granada Television's Sherlock Holmes series premiered in 1984. [2] A proposed third film, Hands of a Murderer (originally entitled The Prince of Crime [1] ) was eventually made with Edward Woodward as Sherlock Holmes and John Hillerman as Dr. John H. Watson. [1]

In an interview with Scarlet Street , Ian Richardson explained:

"That was the fly in our ointment. Initially, an unseen fly. You see, when Sy Weintraub was planning the films, he was unaware that the copyright on the Holmes stories was about to expire in England and he had to go through a great deal of legal negotiations with the Conan Doyle estate in order to gain permission to use them. However, he was totally ignorant of Granada's plans to film a series with Jeremy Brett...Weintraub was furious, because he'd paid a lot of money to get permission from the estate and here was Granada saying, 'Thank you - but we're going to do it.' So Weintraub took them to court. He had a very good case, apparently; but eventually there was an out of court settlement for an extraordinary sum of money - something like two million pounds - which was enough for Weintraub to cover his costs on both The Sign of Four and The Hound of the Baskervilles, and make a profit, too. And so he wrapped the project up." [2]

Denholm Elliott was cast as Dr. Mortimer having previously portrayed Stapleton in the comedy spoof version of the Hound starring Dudley Moore and Peter Cook. [1] He also appeared with "Hound" co-star Connie Booth in the spoof The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It . [1] Booth herself would later appear in 1987s The Return of Sherlock Holmes . [1]

Differences from novel

Reception

Cinema Retro called the film "a cracking piece of entertainment...with lush production values that completely belie its TV movie origins." [4] Matthew Bunson 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." [5] Dr Lenera praised the production but criticised the violence, particularly the rape scene, calling it "quite a grim affair, at least for a 1983 TV production". [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

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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 set largely in Dartmoor, Devon in England's West Country and follows Holmes and Watson investigating the legend of a fearsome, diabolical hound of supernatural origin. This was the first appearance of Holmes since his apparent death in "The Final Problem", and the success of The Hound of the Baskervilles led to the character's eventual revival.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Barnes, Alan (2011). Sherlock Holmes on Screen. Titan Books. pp. 256–259. ISBN   9780857687760.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Sherlock Holmes Society of London Archived 29 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  3. 1 2 3 The hound of the Baskervilles: another adventure of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Christopher Frayling
  4. Greaves, Tim (10 May 2016). "Reviews: "The Hound of the Baskervilles" (1983) and "The Sign of Four" (1983) Starring Ian Richardson; Blu-Ray Releases from Second Sight". Cinema Retro . Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  5. Bunson, Matthew (1997). Encyclopedia Sherlockiana: an A-to-Z guide to the world of the great detective. Macmillan. p. 128. ISBN   0-02-861679-0.
  6. "THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES [1983]: on Blu-ray, DVD, download and on-demand 25th April". Horrorcultfilms.co.uk. 20 April 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2024.