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The Hound of the Baskervilles (1983 film)

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Wikipedia article




'The Hound of the Baskervilles' (a.k.a. 'Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles') 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'.

Production



In 1982, American producer Sy Weintraub partnered with English producer Otto Plaschkes to make six television films of Sherlock Holmes stories.[http://www.sherlock-holmes.org.uk/world/irichardson.php Sherlock Holmes Society of London] Charles Edward Pogue was enlisted to pen the screenplays 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. A proposed third film, 'Hands of a Murderer' (originally entitled 'The Prince of Crime') was eventually made with Edward Woodward as Sherlock Holmes and John Hillerman as Dr. John H. Watson.

In an interview with 'Scarlet Street', Ian Richardson explained:

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. He also appeared with "Hound" co-star Connie Booth in the spoof 'The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It'. Booth herself would later appear in 1987s 'The Return of Sherlock Holmes'.

A large part of Martin Shaw's American accent was dubbed by another actor in post-production.

Cast



*Ian Richardson as Sherlock Holmes

*Donald Churchill as Dr. John H. Watson

*Martin Shaw as Sir Henry Baskerville

*Nicholas Clay as Jack Stapleton/Sir Hugo Baskerville

*Glynis Barber as Beryl Stapleton

*Brian Blessed as Geoffrey Lyons

*Eleanor Bron as Mrs. Barrymore

*Edward Judd as Barrymore

*Connie Booth as Laura Lyons

*Denholm Elliott as Dr. Mortimer

*Ronald Lacey as Inspector Lestrade

*David Langton as Sir Charles Baskerville

*Cindy O'Callaghan as Maid

*Francesca Gonshaw as Young Girl in Mire

Differences from novel



*The story's prologue retelling the Baskerville legend differs from the novel with the inclusion of a scene where Lord Baskerville rapes the fugitive girl after catching her, and the girl surviving when Baskerville is fatally mauled by the Hound.

*A sniping attempt which does not occur in the original novel is made against Sir Henry.

*Inspector Lestrade is assigned the task of arresting Seldon. Unlike previous versions of the story, he is revealed to be the policeman who arrested Seldon.

*Brian Blessed's character Geoffrey Lyons never appears in the novel.[https://books.google.com/books?id=wcI4tCeZOIQC&pg=PT247&lpg=PT247&dq=ian+richardson+hound+of+the+baskervilles&source=bl&ots=ZQo_549WLi&sig=qAPQ0sGEBjg388YEHidTVRXI4o4&hl=en&ei=4cVNTciXMIbGlQewrOU0&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CEcQ6AEwBzgU#v=onepage&q=ian%20richardson%20hound%20of%20the%20baskervilles&f=false The hound of the Baskervilles: another adventure of Sherlock Holmes] by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Christopher Frayling In the film version, Lyons is presented as an imposing suspect who is at one point falsely imprisoned for strangling his wife. Holmes' solution to the case ultimately frees him.

*The film's Geoffrey Lyons performs the feat of bending a fire iron as an intimidation tactic which was originally performed by Dr. Grimesby Roylott in "The Adventure of the Speckled Band".

*Laura Lyons dies in the film, strangled by the murderer to protect his identity. She does not die in the novel.

*Stapleton's demise in the bog is included as a part of the film's climax. He ambushes Holmes, Watson and Beryl outside the Hound's lair, but is chased by Holmes into the moor; he stumbles into the mire and sinks to his doom, despite Holmes' attempts to save him. The novel does not depict Stapleton's demise; he simply disappears on the moor and is assumed to have drowned in the mire.

Reception



The scene where Baskerville (Nicholas Clay) rapes the girl (Francesca Gonshaw) was criticised for its graphic nature, especially with the scene intercutting the act with the girl's horse struggling and drowning in the mire.

See also



*'The Sign of Four' (1983 film)

References




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