The Hound of the Baskervilles (1978)

Director:

Paul Morrissey

Writers:

Peter Cook (screenplay) &
Dudley Moore (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

November 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Mystery

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Nun | Sherlock Holmes | 1880s | Animal | Curse

Cast

Peter Cook	...	Sherlock Holmes
Dudley Moore	...	Doctor Watson / Mr. Spiggot / Mrs. Ada Holmes / Piano Player
Denholm Elliott	...	Stapleton
Joan Greenwood	...	Beryl Stapleton
Hugh Griffith	...	Frankland
Irene Handl	...	Mrs. Barrymore
Terry-Thomas	...	Dr. Mortimer
Max Wall	...	Arthur Barrymore
Kenneth Williams	...	Sir Henry Baskerville
Roy Kinnear	...	Selden the Axe Murderer
Lucy Griffiths	...	Iris (as Lucy Griffith)
Dana Gillespie	...	Mary Frankland
Penelope Keith	...	Massage Receptionist
Jessie Matthews	...	Mrs. Tinsdale
Prunella Scales	...	Glynis

Runtime:

85 min | USA:78 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:6 | Finland:K-12 | UK:PG | Australia:PG

Company:

Michael White Productions

Trivia:

Cinematographer John Wilcox became terminally ill during production and was replaced by Dick Bush.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Nun: Monsieur le Doctor Watson, what is keeping Monsieur Holmes so long?
Doctor Watson: Oh, reassurez-vous yourselves sisters, your holy relic will be with you momentarily.
Nun: But we have been waiting almost one hour!
Doctor Watson: Mr. Holmes is a very busy man sister. Monsieur Holmes is an, erm, tres occupée sister.
Nun: But tomorrow is the festival of St Beryl, already thousands of blind cripples are flocking to the chapel hoping to kiss the relic. In the name of all the flocking blind cripples, I beseech you...

Movie Connections:

Version of Priklyucheniya Sherloka Kholmsa i doktora Vatsona: Sobaka Baskerviley (1981) (TV)

Amusing, if not overly consistent, parody of the Holmes canon

I viewed this film recently after a long battle trying to obtain a copy on video. All in all, it was worth the effort. Peter Cook is hilarious as Sherlock Holmes, not the typical portrayal of the super sleuth that we know and love. At the onset, Cook is wearing women's clothes while conversing with a potential client (but only because Watson wasn't supposed to admit any clients)! Dudley Moore plays two roles, one as a confused Watson, and also Sherlock Holmes' irascible mother. Highlights include Holmes putting out a help wanted ad for a "runner of errands" and getting only a one-legged man to apply; Denholm Elliott's pet chihuahua who happens to be quite incontinent, especially around poor Watson; and finally, a scene that appears to be inspired by the Exorcist and presumably penned by Andy Warhol's director Paul Morrissey. For fans of gross-out British humor and Monty Python fans, this film provides many laughs; others steer clear. My edict: 7 out of 10.