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Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes


Douglas

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I've only seen a few of the Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr Watson movies, but they've all been good. In fact, I thought that their THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES was better than the Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, as the Rathbone one had more mystery and suspense associated with it; especially in relation to The Hound itself.  

 

Has anyone seen most or all of the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes movies? 

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I probably saw a good deal of them. Channel 12 used to carry the classic Sherlock Holmes and Johnny Weismuller Tarzan movies every weekend when I was a kid. My family never missed a program.

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Yes, well I think that Johnny as Tarzan, are the only Tarzan movies I've seen! I know that others have played Tarzan, but I don't think I've seen them.

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There was a serious Tarzan movie a while back, called Greystoke.  I only saw it once, in the theater, but as I recall it was fairly good.

 

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Yes! With Christopher Lambert as Tarzan, I remember that now. It was a good movie and that played on Channel 12 too. I remember watching it a couple of times.

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  • 1 month later...

I saw "The Hound of the Baskervilles" with Basil Rathbone last night and rather enjoyed it actually. (I was unfamiliar with Sherlock Holmes in general until I saw the BBC version. I saw the BBC episode first, and then saw the movie last night, so it was interesting to make comparisions.)

 

I like Rathbone's Holmes. He is clever, offers a quick delivery, and his genius is very believable. IMO, he seems a bit less rough than BBC Holmes, but I do enjoy both incarnations.

 

I also like Nigel Bruce as Watson. I enjoy his assured attitude, his altering fondness and annoyance toward Holmes. He's got a very confident and assured demeanor, without, of course, coming across as arrogant.

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I like Rathbone's Holmes. He is clever, offers a quick delivery, and his genius is very believable. IMO, he seems a bit less rough than BBC Holmes, but I do enjoy both incarnations.

Rathbone was a very polished actor and brought a great deal of maturity to his Sherlock Holmes. Something that Gatiss and Moffat are hoping to bring out of their Sherlock as well. They have said that CB's version is young and largely untried but will grow and mature with age.

 

I also like Nigel Bruce as Watson. I enjoy his assured attitude, his altering fondness and annoyance toward Holmes. He's got a very confident and assured demeanor, without, of course, coming across as arrogant.

I was quite fond of Nigel Bruce. I think Hollywood could have served him better by making his Watson less of a comedic roll. But it was war time and people needed some comic relief. People went to the movies to escape the troubling times and Bruce could make them laugh.

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I like Rathbone's Holmes. He is clever, offers a quick delivery, and his genius is very believable. IMO, he seems a bit less rough than BBC Holmes, but I do enjoy both incarnations.

Rathbone was a very polished actor and brought a great deal of maturity to his Sherlock Holmes. Something that Gatiss and Moffat are hoping to bring out of their Sherlock as well. They have said that CB's version is young and largely untried but will grow and mature with age.

 

I also like Nigel Bruce as Watson. I enjoy his assured attitude, his altering fondness and annoyance toward Holmes. He's got a very confident and assured demeanor, without, of course, coming across as arrogant.

I was quite fond of Nigel Bruce. I think Hollywood could have served him better by making his Watson less of a comedic roll. But it was war time and people needed some comic relief. People went to the movies to escape the troubling times and Bruce could make them laugh.

 

 

I am rather looking forward to seeing Sherlock grow and mature with age. Seeing the progression over time will be fascianting, I think.

 

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  • 11 months later...

Basil did 14 movies as Sherlock Holmes. I'm getting into these and have the entire set on order. I adore him just as much as Jeremy Brett.

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Only 14?  That's amazing, considering that Rathbone and Bruce were the definitive Holmes and Watson for at least a generation.  Of course, those were 14 stand-alone movies, self-contained stories, so they each have a separate identity, whereas most episodes of Sherlock are part of a continuing story arc.  Still, by the time Series 4 is aired, there will be (counting the pilot) 14 episodes of Sherlock.  And I'd hate to think that would be the end.

 

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Maybe with Season 5 already in the process of being worked on even as they were starting work on Season 4 we might see another three episodes soon after Season 4?  Hopehopehope?

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  • 3 weeks later...

I received the Basil Rathbone boxset - very much impressed!

 

From 20th Century Fox:

The Hound Of The Baskervilles (1939)

 

The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes (based on William Gillette's 1899 play) (1939)

 

From Universal:

The Voice Of Terror (based on His Last Vow) (1942)

 

Sherlock Holmes And The Secret Weapon (based on The Adventure Of The Dancing Men) (1943)

 

Sherlock Holmes In Washington (original story) (1943)

 

Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (based on The Adventure Of The Musgrave Ritual) (1943)

 

The Spider Woman (based on The Adventure Of The Dying Detective, The Sign Of The Four and The Final Problem) (1944)

 

The Scarlet Claw (original story) (1944)

 

The Pearl Of Death (based on The Adventure Of The Six Napoleons) (1944)

 

House Of Fear (based on The Five Orange Pips) (1945)

 

The Woman In Green (based on The Adventure Of The Empty House) (1945)

 

Pursuit To Algiers (original story) (1945)

 

Terror By Night (original story) (1946)

 

Dressed To Kill (ordinal story, also known as Prelude To Murder) (1946)

 

The untimely death of director/producer Roy William Neill at the end of 1946 meant that was the end.

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Thanks for that information, Pawse.  Before Brett, I thought of Rathbone and Bruce as the quintessential Holmes and Watson, and was surprised recently to see that they hadn't made nearly as many movies as I had assumed.  So that's why.

 

That box set sounds interesting.  If you got it online, could you link to your source?

 

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I actually managed to pick Basil up (as it were! :P ) from a market trader. Brand new for just over £20. Fully remastered and cleaned up. Not much in the way of extras, just some stills and a short documentary on restoring the movies.When it's opened up, there are 7 discs with two movies on each one and 4 color cards relating to 4 of the movies. On the front of the opened box is Basil and on the back is Nigel.

post-1354-0-46928100-1408433894_thumb.jpg

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Unrelated, but I have this one on order from Amazon. It's part of a BBC series from 1964 to 1968. The first set is with Douglas Wilmer as Sherlock and Nigel Stock as Watson (1964-1965). The second set is with Peter Cushing as Sherlock and Nigel Stock again as Watson (1968).

 

There were, in total, 28 episodes. 10 are missing and 2 are partly missing.

 

This one focuses on Peter, and contains just 5 episodes.

post-1354-0-60147700-1408434468_thumb.jpg

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I received the Basil Rathbone boxset - very much impressed!

 

From 20th Century Fox:

The Hound Of The Baskervilles (1939)

 

The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes (based on William Gillette's 1899 play) (1939)

 

From Universal:

The Voice Of Terror (based on His Last Vow) (1942)

 

Sherlock Holmes And The Secret Weapon (based on The Adventure Of The Dancing Men) (1943)

 

Sherlock Holmes In Washington (original story) (1943)

 

Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (based on The Adventure Of The Musgrave Ritual) (1943)

 

The Spider Woman (based on The Adventure Of The Dying Detective, The Sign Of The Four and The Final Problem) (1944)

 

The Scarlet Claw (original story) (1944)

 

The Pearl Of Death (based on The Adventure Of The Six Napoleons) (1944)

 

House Of Fear (based on The Five Orange Pips) (1945)

 

The Woman In Green (based on The Adventure Of The Empty House) (1945)

 

Pursuit To Algiers (original story) (1945)

 

Terror By Night (original story) (1946)

 

Dressed To Kill (ordinal story, also known as Prelude To Murder) (1946)

 

The untimely death of director/producer Roy William Neill at the end of 1946 meant that was the end.

 

 

What is the quality like?  We have most if not all of those but a couple the print quality is very bad even though they were meant to be remastered when they were released a few years back.

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I received the Basil Rathbone boxset - very much impressed!

 

From 20th Century Fox:

The Hound Of The Baskervilles (1939)

 

The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes (based on William Gillette's 1899 play) (1939)

 

From Universal:

The Voice Of Terror (based on His Last Vow) (1942)

 

Sherlock Holmes And The Secret Weapon (based on The Adventure Of The Dancing Men) (1943)

 

Sherlock Holmes In Washington (original story) (1943)

 

Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (based on The Adventure Of The Musgrave Ritual) (1943)

 

The Spider Woman (based on The Adventure Of The Dying Detective, The Sign Of The Four and The Final Problem) (1944)

 

The Scarlet Claw (original story) (1944)

 

The Pearl Of Death (based on The Adventure Of The Six Napoleons) (1944)

 

House Of Fear (based on The Five Orange Pips) (1945)

 

The Woman In Green (based on The Adventure Of The Empty House) (1945)

 

Pursuit To Algiers (original story) (1945)

 

Terror By Night (original story) (1946)

 

Dressed To Kill (ordinal story, also known as Prelude To Murder) (1946)

 

The untimely death of director/producer Roy William Neill at the end of 1946 meant that was the end.

What is the quality like? We have most if not all of those but a couple the print quality is very bad even though they were meant to be remastered when they were released a few years back.

The quality is absolutely gorgeous! :wub:
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  • 2 weeks later...

That poster lists George Zucco (who played Moriarty), which reminds me that in Sherlock: The Casebook, Jim-from-IT's business card is shown, with his name given as Jim Zucco.  Cute in-joke!

 

According to IMDb, the plot is thus:

 

Professor Moriarity has a scheme for stealing the crown jewels from the Tower of London. To get Holmes involved, he persuades a gaucho flute player to murder a girl.

 

... which is presumably where Moftiss got the Tower of London scene for "Reichenbach" (though I don't recall the gaucho flute player).

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the funniest bit in that film is when Ida Lupino makes that stirring speech in the pub about being as English as you are.... in a blatantly American accent!!

 

and as for Moriarty's hate/hate relationship with his manservant...! hehe

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