The Hound of the Baskervilles Week: The Hound of the Baskervilles 1959

Hello again to Day 2 of The Hound of the Baskervilles Week and what could be cooler than a Sherlock Holmes story given life to the screen? How about a Hammer Films Production of it??   That’s right kiddies I just finished enjoying the hell out of this oh so impressive cast, location and period piece so this should be a slippery slope for Rathbone’s inception.  The year is 1959, filmed in the UK as it should be and our intrepid twosome about to receive a visitor in the night urging their assistance in a family endeavor.  This is The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Sharp dressed Sith.

Sherlock Holmes: I must insist upon one thing. Under no circumstances are you to go out onto the spoilers at night.

However would you find a man that could fit the physical and mental aptitudes that make up a wiry man with a hawkish nose and a cunning intellect that few could rival?   Well with Basil Rathbone setting a pretty high bar how about Peter Cushing?   Yes, I thought that would grab your attention.

Holmes (Peter Cushing of Horror of Dracula, The Curse of Frankenstein, Doctor Who and the Daleks, The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, Shock Waves and Star Wars) and Watson (Andre Morell of The Bridge on the River Kwai, Ben-Hur, The Message and The Great Train Robbery) have tucked in for the night when Mrs. Hudson informs the gents a Doctor Mortimer would like a word with them on a matter of most urgency.  Holmes relaxed in his smoking dressing gown (robe for the Yanks) greets Mortimer (Francis De Wolff of A Christmas Carol, Ivanhoe, Moby Dick and From Russia with Love) exclaims that his best friend’s nephew is the target of a family curse where he to set foot in his inherited estate.  Holmes takes this concern in with leisure but ever a sound mind as Mortimer tells the story of his dearest departed friend Sir Charles Baskerville dying under the guise of a heart attack. Claiming a curse was placed on the house of Baskerville due to the actions of Charles’ ancestor Sir Hugo that a large horrendous beast from the pits of Hell is known to roam the lands of Baskerville in search of Hugo’s descendants for only their blood will slake its thirst.

Daleks are a tricky adversary, you know. 

Sir Henry (Sir Christopher Lee of Horror of Dracula, The City of the Dead, Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace, Dracula Has Risen from the Grave, The Man with the Golden Gun and Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring) meets with the gentlemen only after an attempt on his life with a deadly tarantula and Holmes is certain this was foul play.  Telling Watson to go ahead with Sir Henry, Holmes proceeds to the region hours behind them to better snoop about.

I have many reasons to have enjoyed this movie.  One, this is my favorite Holmes story.  Two, this Hammer film spared no expense from the elegant costuming, sets and location to the amazing score of music that captures the scenes from moment to moment. Three, Peter Cushing is Holmes and embodies all the requirements for such a iconic character with style and grace.   Lastly, Hammer Film legendary director Terrance Fisher (Horror of Dracula, The Mummy, The Brides of Dracula, The Curse of the Werewolf, Island of Terror and Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed) is helming this project with the same gravitas that was seen in his earliest movies.   This is also the first adaptation of this story seen in color. An 

imaginative twist on the theme will keep Hammer fans and new onlookers riveted.  

Sir Henry, why do you gaze at my neck so?