Hammer Film Productions is best known for their Gothic horror movies, but among their most films is The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959), starring Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes, André Morell as Dr. Watson, and Christopher Lee as Sir Henry Baskerville and based on the novel by Arthur Conan Doyle. While it strays a bit from the novel, it remains one of the most respected adaptations of the novel, as well as a favourite of Hammer fans.
In The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959), Sherlock Holmes (Peter Cushing) is hired to investigate the strange death of Sir Charles Baskerville by his friend and physician Dr. Richard Mortimer (Francis de Wolff), and in doing so tells Holmes the legend of the hound of the Baskervilles, a hellhound who had killed Sir Hugo Baskerville (David Oxley) centuries earlier. Although skeptical, Holmes agrees to investigate and soon encounters deaths attributed to the legendary hound.
As mentioned earlier, The Hound of the Baskervilles was based on the novel of the same name by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It was in 1893 that Conan Doyle killed off his most famous creation, Sherlock Holmes, in "The Final Solution." Nonetheless, the character remained phenomenally popular. It was then that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the novel The Hound of the Baskervilles, which takes place earlier than "The Final Solution." The novel was based on legends surrounding Squire Richard Cabell. Following Squire Richard Cabell's death on July 5, 1677, there were claims of a pack of hounds howling at his tomb. Some inspiration may have also come from Black Shuck, a ghostly dog in Surrey, as well as legends of other hellhounds elsewhere in England. The novel had been adapted several times before Hammer's version, the most notable being 20th Century Fox's 1939 version starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.
Eliot Hyman, the head of Associated Artis Productions (a.a.p.), was responsible for financing Hammer's hit movie The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) as well as Dracula. His son Kenneth Hyman had acquired the film rights to The Hound of the Baskervilles with plans of mounting his own production. Kenneth Hyman worked as a sales officer for his father's company, a.a.p., but really wanted to become a producer. He met James and Michael Carreras of Hammer Film Productions by chance in New York City. They made an offer to him, not entirely serious, to come to the United Kingdom where he could learn film production. Kenneth Hyman then went to United Kingdom with the film rights to The Hound of the Baskervilles in hand, as well as financing. Even with the film rights in hand, as well as £102,000 in financing, there would be come difficulties with regards to The Hounds of the Baskervilles (1959). Because of union rules, any work Kenneth Hyman did on the film would have to be uncredited. The Doyle estate required that Arthur Conan Doyle's son Adrian be hired as a technical consultant.
Jimmy Sangster, who had written the screenplays for The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and Dracula (1958), was busy writing the script to Jack the Ripper (1959), so former camera operator Peter Bryan was charged with writing the screenplay. The director on The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) is a name familiar to Hammer Film Productions. Terence Fisher had directed The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Dracula (1958), and The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958). The cinematographer would be familiar to Hammer fans as well. Jack Asher had shot The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and Dracula(1958), among other movies.
In the mind of Michael Carreras, there was no doubt as to who should play Sherlock Holmes, although for some time Hammer Film Productions stayed mum on casting for some time after the film had been announced. It was on August 1, 1958, that Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee were signed, with Mr. Cushing playing Holmes and Christopher Lee playing Sir Henry Baskerville. Peter Cushing had been a fan of Sherlock Holmes as a lad, and already had extensive knowledge of the famous detective even before he was signed to to the movie. André Morell was cast as Dr. Watson. He had appeared in Hammer's movie The Camp on Blood Island (1958) and would later appear in such Hammer movies as Shadow of the Cat (1961), Cash on Demand (1961), and The Plague of the Zombies (1966). Just as Peter Cushing strove for an accurate portrayal of Sherlock Holmes, so was André Morell eager that his Dr. Watson be nearer to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original from the Canon than Nigel Bruce's somewhat bumbling portrayal in the American "Sherlock Holmes" movie series.
Although it is one of the most respected versions of the novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) would depart from the novel in several ways. Among the most notable were changes to the legend of the hound of the Baskervilles itself. Among the other changes were ones made to Sir Henry Baskerville, the character of Cecile Stapleton, and Dr. Mortimer. Some of the changes were made from the novel to make the film more like Hammer's horror movies. This did not sit well with the Conan Doyle estate. Peter Cushing, a Sherlock Holmes super-fan if ever there was one, had no objections to the changes.
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) premiered in London on March 28, 1959 and it went into general release in Britain on May 4, 1959. It was released in the United States on May 4, 1959. For the most part, the film was received positively by critics. The review in The Daily Express referred to it as "a merry little romp." The Daily Cinema wrote that it was a "Beautifully made, gripping, product." The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) received good reviews in the United States too. Variety's staff wrote, ""It is difficult to fault the performance of Peter Cushing." Unfortunately, while did better than most films, The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) did not perform as well at the box office as Hammer had hoped, and a series of Sherlock Holmes movies produced by Hammer never emerged.
Despite this, Peter Cushing would play Sherlock Holmes again. In 1968, he starred in a BBC television series Sherlock Holmes that included a two-part adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles. He played Sherlock Holmes again in the 1984 TV movie The Masks of Death.
The Hammer version of The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) was historic as not only the first colour version of the novel, but the first Sherlock Holmes movie ever shot in colour. Upon its release, the Sherlock Holmes Society deemed it "the greatest Sherlock Holmes movie ever made." The Sherlock Holmes Society of London are not alone in their evaluation of The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959). Time Out counted it as one of the best Hammer films ever made. Peter Cushing is often counted as one of the best ever Sherlock Holmes on screen. The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) is both one of Hammer's best films and one of the greatest, if not the greatest, Sherlock Holmes movie ever made. It is disappointing that Hammer chose not to make more Sherlock Holmes movies.
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