Watching the Detectives: Basil Rathbone is Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles
What better way to start a series on celluloid sleuths than with the most famous fictional detective of them all?
This was Rathbone’s first appearance in the role he would become famous for and while the focus of the story is more on Watson during the films middle section, it’s Rathbone’s commanding presence that is the films enduring image. He’s not exactly the Holmes of the books, he’s a little too affable for that, but he captures the essence of the character.
Nigel Bruce’s bungling Watson is a world away from the literary creation but so endearingly buffoonish that it’s easy to forgive. In this first entry in the series he’s far less comic relief than he would become in later entries (although he has his moments) and manages to carry the films second act.
For me there are three great Holmes’, Rathbone in the ‘30s and ‘40s, Peter Cushing in the ‘50s and ‘60s (and a final appearance in 1984’s Masks of Death) and Jeremy Brett in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Brett was the closest to Arthur Conan Doyle’s books but all have their charm.
Of course as well as being the greatest fictional detective Holmes is also one of fictions great junkies and surprisingly, given this was made in 1939, they manage to squeeze a reference to that in right at the end. “Oh, Watson, the needle!” calls Holmes and Watson grabs his medical bag and follows him out the door. It’s my favorite moment in this terrific film.
