Film

The Hound of the Baskervilles

Name: The Hound of the Baskervilles
Genre: Mystery, Crime, Horror, Thriller
Released: 1939
Cast: Richard Greene, Basil Rathbone, Wendy Barrie, Nigel Bruce, Lionel Atwill

Other titles called The Hound of the Baskervilles: the 1959 film.

Basil Rathbone's definitive Holmes investigates a cursed family and a supernatural hound on the moors. This 1939 film is atmospheric Gothic mystery that builds dread through fog and shadow rather than jump scares. Essential for anyone discovering why Holmes endures, and a masterclass in how to adapt literature without betraying it.

TMDb rating

3.6

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love a tidy, old-fashioned whodunit where fog-bound moors, a sinister legend and a sharp detective's deductions carry the suspense more than gore does.

Skip it if you want modern pacing or grit; this 1939 black-and-white picture moves at a stately, stage-bound clip and its creaky studio moors may feel more quaint than eerie.

What it asks of you: Around eighty minutes, so it is brisk for a mystery, but it wants patience with dialogue-heavy scenes and rewards close attention to clues and who is where.

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The wildcard

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The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog poster

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