The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)

Touches You

good back-story, and good acting

As Good As It Gets

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

The only Sherlock Holmes film starring both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Peter Cushing is perfect in the role as Sherlock and it's an refreshing change to see Lee in the role of the secondary protagonist instead of the antagonist. The colour is richly made and can still hold up nowadays in quality, for a hammer horror film it is probably one of the better ones.. The use of tension is very well done and subtle, and the film can actually frighten you at times.The plot (whilst believable) is also very confusing at times and the pacing can be slow to continue in some places, noticeably the middle where I think they sidetrack the main plot line a bit. Overall the film is an excellent edition to the collection of any major Hammer film fans, notable for it being the only Sherlock Holmes film made by Hammer and one of their first films in Technicolor.

There have been many adaptations of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of The Baskervilles over the years, but this 1959 version from Hammer studios has got to rank as one of the best, largely thanks to the impeccable casting of Peter Cushing, who is on top form as legendary detective Sherlock Holmes, and André Morell, whose Watson is far from the bumbling oaf of the earlier Universal Studios series. It doesn't hurt either to have fellow Hammer stalwart Christopher Lee on standby as Sir Henry Baskerville, and with wonderfully atmospheric direction from Terence Fisher, and sumptuous production design throughout, there is much here to enjoy.Fisher opens his movie with the origin of the Baskerville curse, as told to Holmes and Watson by Doctor Richard Mortimer (Francis De Wolff), who has come to Baker Street for help after his friend, Sir Charles Baskerville, is discovered dead on the moors, apparently the victim of a terrifying beast. Holmes learns how wicked Hugo Baskerville supposedly doomed further generations of his family by hunting down and murdering an innocent young woman, thus invoking a terrible hound from Hell that lurks under the moors.Of course, Holmes knows that there must be a logical answer to the mysterious deaths that have plagued the Baskervilles, and with help from Watson, he eventually discovers the truth, but only after plenty of danger involving a deadly tarantula, the perilous Grimpen mire, a dilapidated tin mine, and the hell hound itself.While the plot does deviate somewhat from Conan Doyle's novel, most notably with the introduction of Spanish babe Cecile (Marla Landi) as love interest for Sir Henry, any liberties taken with the source material do little to spoil what is an extremely entertaining movie.8/10, although Miles Malleson's very amusing turn as dippy entomologist Bishop Frankland almost nudged my rating to a 9.

An absolutely brilliant film which is deservedly regarded as one of the jewels in Hammer's crown. Peter Cushing and André Morell are perfectly cast as Holmes and Watson while Christopher Lee is as wonderful as ever as Sir Henry Baskerville. The film has an extremely strong supporting cast including Francis de Wolff, John Le Mesurier, Marla Landi, Ewen Solon and Miles Malleson. From what I can gather (having never read the novel), it takes some liberties but the storyline is essentially the same.This was originally to have been the first in a series of Hammer Sherlock Holmes films but apparently the idea was dropped because the audience didn't want a Hammer series without monsters. That's a terrible shame as I'd have loved more films of this calibre starring Cushing and Morell. However, I'm glad that they chose the best known and one of the most popular stories to adapt for their only Holmesian outing. While this was the only time that he ever played Holmes on film, Cushing reprised his role on television in 1968 and 1984. I also liked the fact that Christopher Lee played a good guy and that he and Cushing were on the same side for once. This is the first film that I've seen them both in which neither of them tried to kill the other even once!

I've always had a soft spot for this Hammer entry, it was one of their best films – it had it all: melodrama, action, romance, (alleged) horror, story, and fair acting. And they managed supremely well to disguise the fact it was low budget…it was, wasn't it?Aristocratic Sir Henry Baskerville (Christopher Lee) comes back to olde Devon(shire) to claim his inheritance but is threatened by noisy mysterious evil forces; snooty Sherlock Holmes - excellently played by Peter Cushing - and snooty Dr. Watson are employed by snooty Dr. Mortimer to protect him. Conan Doyle perfectly portrayed a world in which everyone knew their places rigidly, after all the same as these characters he didn't consider himself working class even though he worked for a living. At one point poor old concerned buggy-driver Sam Kydd was chastised by Mortimer to hold his tongue who meekly agreed it was only his (innate) foolishness. Favourite bits from many: the warm and atmospheric colour and production values to savour generally – it helped bring Dartmoor to life whether real or on set; Sir Hugo's manic thwarted lust as befitted a master; Holmes' wild spider-mashing; wild Cecile trying to lure Watson to his death; finding Baskerville still alive after a dramatic chase on the moors; the boozy waffling bishop played by the always dependable Miles Malleson.I liked Jeremy Brett's ponderous version too but overall prefer Basil Rathbone's take from 20 years earlier - however this was marvellous cinema too. And although liberty-taking especially in its pace and Lee's fruitless romance, it conjures up the spirit of the book wonderfully well.