Review of The Hound Of The Baskevilles (BBC TV Movie, 1968)

According to family legend, Sir Hugo Baskerville, a noted 18th century wastrel, lusted after a servant girl whom he attempted to take advantage of on the grounds of his ancestral home. Subsequently he was found dead with his throat ripped out as if by a wild animal while the servant girl was discovered dead of ‘fright' nearby. Thereafter there was believed to be a curse on the family due to Sir Hugo's misdeeds, the curse taking the form of many violent and early deaths in the family. Meanwhile, the legend persisted that a huge hound roamed the grounds of the family home, ready to strike at the first opportunity.

Sir Charles Baskerville, the current resident of the family home, is obsessed with the legend and advises his evening's skeptical guests, Dr. Mortimer, Mr. Stapleton and Squire Franklin, that he will not walk on the moor due to his concern that he will be attacked and killed by the hound. After they leave, he receives a note. Although it is late at night he throws the note on the fire and goes outside. He walks to the gate at the edge of the moor and waits. He gradually becomes frightened and starts to run back to the house. Sounds like animal baying cause Sir Charles to gasp and clutch at his chest. He screams and Dr. Mortimer, who was still in the process of leaving, hears him and runs to see what is wrong. He finds Sir Charles dead with a look of pure terror on his face.

Dr. Mortimer enlists the help of Sherlock Holmes (Peter Cushing) to find out what happened to Sir Charles. Holmes and his sidekick, Dr.Watson (Nigel Stock), agree to meet with Sir Henry Baskerville (Gary Raymond) Sir Charles' nephew and heir to the Baskerville estate, at his hotel in London where he is stopping after coming back from abroad on his way to his ancestral home. Sir Henry has been in other parts of the world but is willing to return and take over the family seat. He seems amused by the legend about the hound and certainly shows no fear of it. However, he is perplexed because at the hotel where he is meeting Holmes, Watson and Dr. Mortimer, one of his new boots that he put out for polishing has gone missing.

Holmes suggests that Sir Henry take a walk about London. Holmes and Watson follow close behind and see that Sir Henry is being followed but are not able to identify the person following Sir Henry because the person is in a buggy and gets away. Sir Henry then finds, upon his return to his room, that he has received an anonymous note warning him not to come to his family home. Further, his new boot is back but someone has come into his room and taken one of his older boots. Holmes is very disturbed by this turn of events and tells Watson to accompany Sir Henry to his home and not let him out of his sight. Holmes claims he cannot come with Sir Henry, because he another matter to attend to.

On the way to the Baskerville home, Sir Henry mentions that there were three brothers, Charles, Henry's father and another brother who died of Yellow Fever in South America. He explains to Watson that there is a substantial amount of money attached to the estate and that he is the last of the line so the "title dies with me". As they approach the estate there are soldiers everywhere and they are informed that a convict named Seldon has escaped from the local prison and is being sought. That night, after Sir Henry endures the prattle of Squire Franklin about his many lawsuits, he and Watson both separately hear the sound of a woman crying. They confirm this with each other the next day and ask the manservant, Barrymore, about this but he claims this is impossible as the only woman there is his wife, the housekeeper.

Watson decides to take a walk alone while Sir Henry does paperwork and is almost killed when a rock falls from a cliff above him. Mr. Stapleton arrives and says he saw the man who tried to kill Watson. They introduce themselves and Stapleton invites Watson over to his home. There, Watson is alone for a moment and a woman comes into the room and begs him to leave the Baskerville estate. Stapleton returns and introduces her to Watson as his sister, Beryl (Gabriella Licudi). When the woman realizes that Watson is not Sir Henry, as she had thought initially, she follows him after he leaves and asks him to forget what she said.

That night Watson hears a sound and, upon looking out his room door, sees Barrymore at a window apparently signaling someone outside with a lamp. Barrymore then leaves the house with a package and Watson goes out to see what he is doing. He walks to the gate where Sir Charles had been and then hears a strange noise and a rustling in the bushes. He runs back to the house and gets safely inside.

The next day Sir Henry does not want Watson to accompany him as he is meeting someone. Watson follows him and sees him meeting with Beryl Stapleton. He then sees that Stapleton is there too and is apparently enraged that Sir Henry is making improper advances to his sister. He suggests that Sir Henry is trying to exercise his "droit de seigneur" (his rights as Lord of the Manor-much as his ancestor Sir Hugo had) by going after his sister. Sir Henry is affronted and leaves. Stapleton follows him to the house and apologizes, explaining that his sister is all he has and he overreacted at the thought of losing her. Sir Henry replies that he has known Beryl for "no more than a week" in response to which Stapleton suggests that Sir Henry is in love with her and he replies "Perhaps I am." Sir Henry accepts Stapleton's apology and an invitation to dinner the following week.

That night Watson and Sir Henry wait to see if Barrymore signals from the window again and catch him at it. He and his wife then admit that they are signaling her brother, Seldon, the escaped convict. Although he is a murderer, they feel they cannot deny his requests for help in the form of food and clothing, even though they fervently wish he would be recaptured or leave the area. Upon hearing this, Sir Henry wants to bring Seldon in. He and Watson go out and Seldon throws a rock at Watson, who ducks. They see another man on the moor but cannot otherwise identify him because of the darkness. They do not capture Seldon. Upon returning to the house, Barrymore mentions that he had retrieved a note from the fire the night Sir Charles died. It is a note asking Sir Charles to meet the writer at the gate that night. It is signed "L.L.". They determine that this is Laura Lyons, the daughter of Squire Franklin. She was known to have married an artist named Lyons but the marriage went bad.

The following day Watson visits Laura Lyons and finds out that she was set up in a typesetting business with money from Sir Charles and Mr. Stapleton. She had been told that she could get a divorce from her husband with a certain amount of money and so she had written to Sir Charles to meet with her because she wanted to ask him for the money but then she did not keep the appointment because the money became available from another source. So, she never went to meet Sir Charles at the gate after all.

Barrymore advises Watson that Seldon has reported seeing another man on the moors. Watson goes to investigate and finds a cave with pieces of paper with notes on them. It turns out that Holmes has been hiding in the cave doing his own investigation. As they are comparing their finding, they hear a scream and an animal's howl. They run out of the cave and find a body they think is Sir Henry but upon closer investigation discover it is Seldon in some of Sir Henry's old clothes that Barrymore had provided him. Holmes says they will soon know the killer because he will come to see if he has been successful. At that point Stapleton shows up. He manages to hide his disappointment that it is Seldon, as opposed to Sir Henry who is dead.

Holmes and Watson pay another visit to Laura Lyons where they learn that she had been promised marriage by Stapleton. But Holmes has figured out that the woman Stapleton claims is his sister is actually his wife. This accounts for his rage in finding Sir Henry talking to her. Stapleton is, in fact, the son of the other brother of Sir Charles, the brother who had died in South America. He will be the heir if Sir Henry is out of the way. Laura Lyons admits that it was Stapleton who suggested she contact Sir Charles to meet about getting money for her divorce so they could marry but then told her not to keep the appointment because his pride would not permit her to get the money from another man.

Sir Henry is scheduled to have dinner with the Stapletons that evening. Holmes tells him he will have to go there alone because he and Watson have to get back to London. Sir Henry seems upset at the fact that they are both leaving but goes along to dinner on his own. Holmes instructs Sir Henry to take a carriage to the Stapleton house, but then send the carriage back and walk home. He advises Sir Henry to stay on the path on his walk home to avoid the moor.

Meanwhile, Stapleton has been fighting with his wife because she is trying to talk him out of his plan to kill Sir Henry and then come forth to claim the money associated with the Baskerville title. He is enraged that she is questioning his ten year plan to remove the two heirs that have stood in his way. He accuses her of being in love with Sir Henry and she says she had never even seen him when she sent the note, thus inadvertently revealing that it was she who sent the note to the hotel in London warning Sir Henry to stay away from his ancestral home. When Stapleton hears this, he strikes her.

That night Sir Henry dines with Stapleton who apologizes for his "sister's" absence, claiming she is not feeling well, when in fact he has gagged her and tied her to the bed upstairs. Holmes and Watson are nearby at an inn, not in London as they had told Sir Henry, waiting to catch Stapleton trying to kill Sir Henry. The innkeeper mentions that there is a great deal of fog that evening. Holmes realizes that Sir Henry may actually lose his way on the walk home and be in terrible danger. He and Watson rush to the path from Stapleton's home. Sir Henry has been attacked by the giant hound and is fighting for his life when Holmes arrives and kills the hound to save Sir Henry's life. Stapleton of course shows up to check on his dog's handiwork and is confronted by Holmes. In trying to get away, he loses his footing on the moor and sinks into the mire, to his death.

Can you tell from the interminable description of the plot that I LOVED this movie? It's a fantastic story. No wonder Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was so popular a writer. And this is supposed to be one of his best stories. It's involving from the first minute and unfolds in a surprising but believable way. One couldn't ask for a finer actor to play Holmes than Peter Cushing. And Nigel Stock is an excellent Watson. All the supporting players are wonderful too although Ms. Licudi wears an anachronistic 1960s hairdo which I always find irritating. The only fault I can find with it is that it was made for television and is on tape instead of film. This always gives a movie a cheap look, despite any other excellent qualities a project may possess.

Also, the ending is a bit abrupt. Stapleton sinks into the mire and suddenly the credits roll. I would have liked to see Sir Henry recuperating and being reunited with the widow Stapleton with ensuing romance. Possibly this is because Gary doesn't get to do much romancing in his projects and my imagination ran away with me at the end of this film. I should add that ordinarily I would be very upset at any movie in which a dog is injured or killed but the poor hound was trained by the evil Stapleton to kill and so I could forgive Holmes for ending his sad little life, especially since he was in the process of killing Sir Henry at the time.

When Sir Henry is first seen, he is bellowing "What kind of establishement is this?" because his new boot is missing from outside his room. So, for a minute it looks like Sir Henry might be a bit of jerk. But the character is quite complex. He is effortlessly charming with Holmes and everyone else he meets. He is pleasantly patient with Sir Franklin, despite the man's boring stories. He starts out amused by the hound legend but becomes touchingly anxious as he realizes that he may actually be in danger "from some darker force."

He is enchantingly smitten with Ms. Stapleton and quite icy with Mr. Stapleton when he feels he has been insulted. But he readily forgives him once Stapleton gives his (totally untrue) explanation for his actions. He is almost childishly eager to capture Seldon but then agrees to "leave the matter alone" when he is unsuccessful and Barrymore is upset with his possibly telling the police about the aid he and his wife have provided to Seldon. In other words, he truly is a decent gentleman. I absolutely love the character. He makes Sir Henry endearingly vulnerable, but not a wimp. Probably the only character Gary has played that I like more is Sergeant Moffitt on Rat Patrol.

Gary was absolutely made to wear turn of the last century garb. Everything he wears in this looks incredible on him. He has suits, and a cape and a smoking jacket. These outfits are perfect for his long lean figure. He looks absolutely exquisite for the entire film. And his face is so handsome in this film it's mesmerizing. There is one scene where he and Watson are waiting to see if Barrymore signals at the window again and Gary is holding a candle-lamp in his hands so that the light is cast up towards his face. It's breathtaking to see. I think this film is the most beautiful he's ever looked.

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