The Hound of the Baskervilles | |
---|---|
Genre |
|
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 origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Executive producer | Sy Weintraub |
Producer | Otto Plaschkes |
Cinematography | Ronnie Taylor |
Editor | Malcolm Cooke |
Running time | 100 minutes |
Production company | Mapleton Films |
Original release | |
Network | HBO |
Release | November 3, 1983 |
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.
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.
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]
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]