Baker Street Irregulars discussion

What in your opinion is the best film version of The Hound of the Baskervilles -
So far, I saw
1939 - Basil Rathbone
1959 - Peter Cushing
1982 - Tom Baker
1988 - Jeremy Brett
2000 - Matt Frewer
2002 - Richard Roxburgh

Not favorite Holmes so much but which movie do you think did the best job of filming Conan Doyle's story?

No way! I just listened to a fantastic podcast comparing Hound adaptations.

https://www.adaptorperishcast.com/pod...

My own?

1. Brett
2. Cushing
3. Rathbone

I recently rewatched the Rathbone and didn't like it nearly as well as I did as a kid; Cushing I loved much more. And Brett is always a marvel.

Deapite the changes in the story to each, my top 3 favorites are:

1. Cushing (1959 Hammer, not his BBC version)
2. Roxburgh
3. Carlyle Blackwell (1929 Der Hund Von Baskerville)

I thought the Brett version was incredibly poorly made and cast, despite being close to novel. I’ve even seen this commented on elsewhere. It’s mostly Brett’s fanatical fan base who say it’s the best. The Baker one was also closely based, and slightly better, but like all bbc productions of that time, it suffers from being filmed on video (making it look like live tv)

I’d put the Rathbone version as the fourth best. For Cushing’s, I thought the changes brought out more of a gothic feel and horror than was in the novel, which improved it. Despite its reputation, the novel isn’t really that gothic.

I have to say, I don't think any of the filmed versions I've seen have been very good. Part of that is the fault of the tale, because Holmes is absent for most of it, so there always seems to be a struggle to inject him into the story. And, though I'm not a fan of the extent to which CGI is used in many films, it would help to have an impressive-looking one. Sadly, the final attack on Sir Henry always makes me think of that scene in "Ed Wood" with the rubber octopus, where Wood tells Bela Lugosi - "Shake his legs around - like he's killing you."

The Hounds I've seen: 1939 (Rathbone), 1959 (Cushing), 1972 (Stewart Granger), 1983 (Ian Richardson), 1988 (Jeremy Brett) and 2002 (Richard Roxburgh) I did listen to the Adapt or Perish podcast; one of the hosts was shocked by the use of the word "bitch" in the '59 version, but somehow Cushing's use of a vulgar slang term seemed to have escaped her - maybe the censors. I do agree that there are some disturbing elements to the Richardson version, though he was a decent Holmes.

J. wrote: "I have to say, I don't think any of the filmed versions I've seen have been very good. Part of that is the fault of the tale, because Holmes is absent for most of it, so there always seems to be a ..."

Lol-ing about the Ed Wood reference. I agree that while I do enjoy watching the Brett version, it's not the strongest entry in the Granada series and its hound is rather surprisingly bad.

Perhaps playing up the supernatural elements of the story so much are part of the problem, since they tend to look Scooby-Doo-ish. A genuinely looking vicious dog, a killer on the loose, possibly scary and untrustworthy neighbors in a remote setting, and quicksand can all be terrifying without lots of bad special effects.