The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)

Country of Origin: USA
Year of Production: 1939
Running Times: 79 mins 39 sec (UK - theatrical) 79 mins 41 sec (UK - video) 80 mins
Format: black and white 35mm
Ratio: 1.37:1
Sound: mono

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Twentieth Century Fox
Executive Producer: Darryl F. Zanuck
Associate Producer: Gene Markey

SCRIPT
Script: Ernest Pascal
Novel: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

DIRECTION
Director: Sidney Lanfield

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Peverell Marley

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: Robert Simpson

MUSIC
Music: David Buttolph, Charles Maxwell, Cyril J. Mockridge, David Raksin (all uncredited)
Musical Director: Cyril J. Mockridge

SOUND
Sound: W.D. Flick, Roger Heman
Sound System: Western Electric Noiseless Recording

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Costume Designer: Gwen Wakeling

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Art Directors: Richard Day, Hans Peters
Set Decorator: Thomas Little

CAST
Richard Greene (Sir Henry Baskerville)
Basil Rathbone (Sherlock Holmes)
Wendy Barrie (Beryl Stapleton)
Nigel Bruce (Dr Watson)
Lionel Atwill (Dr James Mortimer)
John Carradine (Barryman)
Barlowe Borland (Frankland)
Beryl Mercer (Mrs Jenifer Mortimer)
Morton Lowry (John Stapleton)
Ralph Forbes (Sir Hugo Baskerville)
E.E. Clive (Cabby)
Eily Malyon (Mrs Barryman)
Lionel Pape (coroner)
Nigel De Brulier (convict)
Mary Gordon (Mrs Hudson)
Ian Maclaren (Sir Charles)
John Burton (Bruce - uncredited)
Denis Green (Jon - uncredited)
Ivan F. Simpson (Shepherd - uncredited)
Evan Thomas (Edwin - uncredited)
Peter Willes (Roderick - uncredited)
Harry Cording (bit part - uncredited)

PLOT SUMMARY

Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are called to Dartmoor to investigate threats against the life of Sir Henry Baskerville. They learn of a family curse, involving a huge, ghostly hound, that appears to be coming true. They uncover a plot to steal Baskerville's inheritance that dates back generations.

The first of the Rathbone Holmes' and one of the best. As with all screen versions, this one takes considerable liberties with the original story, but a combination of Rathbone's towering performance, a first rate supporting cast and Lanfield's direction, which makes atmospheric use of creepy 'locations' built on studio sets sees it through. For many, it remains the best adaptation of the story.

UK
Theatrical Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox
Video Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (7778)

USA
Theatrical Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox
Video Distributor: Fox Home Entertainment

Finland
Rating: K-16

UK
Rating: A (1939); PG (1990)

1939
March
31: USA - theatrical release
31: UK - rated A by the BBFC (for theatrical release)

April
Day Unknown: UK - theatrical release

September
24: Finland - theatrical release

October
2: Denmark - theatrical release

1982
January
8: UK - television broadcast (on BBC2)

1985
September
2: UK - television broadcast (on BBC2)

1987
December
11: UK - television broadcast (on BBC2)

1990
July
18: UK - rated PG by the BBFC (for video release)

November
29: UK - video release (Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (7778))

1993
March
10: USA - video distributor (Fox Home Entertainment)

1995
February
25: UK - television broadcast (on BBC2)

September
19: UK - video deleted (Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (7778))

1997
January
10: UK - television broadcast (on BBC1)

2001
October
17: UK - television broadcast (on Carlton Cinema)
18: UK - television broadcast (on Carlton Cinema)

Der Hund von Baskerville - German title

SEQUELS
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)
Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942)
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1942)
Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943)
Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943)
Spider Woman (1944)
The Scarlet Claw (1944)
The Pearl of Death (1944)
The House of Fear (1945)
Pursuit to Algiers (1945)
The Woman in Green (1945)
Terror by Night (1946)
Dressed to Kill (1946)

REMAKE OF
Der Hund von Baskerville (1914)
Das Dunkle Schloß (1915)
Der Hund von Baskerville, 3. Teil (1915)
Der Hund von Baskerville, 4. Teil (1915)
Der Hund von Baskerville (1920)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1920)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1921)
Der Hund von Baskerville (1929)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1932)
Der Hund von Baskerville (1936)

REMAKES
Der Hund von Baskerville (1955)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1972)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1978)
Priklyucheniya Sherloka Kholmsa i doktora Vatsona: Sobaka Baskervilej (1981)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1982)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1983)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1988)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (2000)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (2002)

SEE ALSO
Famous Movie Dogs (1940)

MAGAZINES

Catholic Film News vol.1 no.10 (August 1939) p.8 (UK)
review

Classic Images no.287 (May 1999) pp.26-27 (USA)
illustrated article (The Twentieth Century-Fox Sherlock Holmes Films by William M. Apple)

Film Weekly vol.22 no.560 (8 July 1939) p.31 (UK)
review

Kinematograph Weekly no.1670 (20 April 1939) (UK)
review

Monthly Film Bulletin vol.6 no.65 (31 May 1939) p.94
credits, review (by D.E.B.)

Motion Picture Herald vol.134 no.13 (1 April 1939) (USA)
review

BOOKS

John Carradine: The Films by Tom Weaver (Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Co (1999))
article

KEYWORDS

sherlock holmes; dogs; hounds; moors; quicksand; detectives; book into film

Last Updated: 15 October, 2008