Search - The Hound of the Baskervilles on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Violence, Questionable for Children, Adult Language Movie Release: 1978 DVD Release: 12/07/2004 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV,Pan and Scan - Closed Captioned Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 25 mins Studio: MGM Total Copies: 1 Genres: Comedy, Parody/Spoof, Crime Comedy

The concept behind the 1977 Hound of the Baskervilles involved having "underground" director Paul Morrissey bring an irreverent slant to the original Sherlock Holmes mystery. The film thus casts Peter Cook and Dudley Moore as Holmes and Watson, with such reliable British performers as Terry-Thomas, Joan Greenwood, Denholm Elliott, Hugh Griffith, Spike Milligan, and Roy Kinnear in cameos. Producer Michael White took on the project; it mirrored his previous experience of combining spoofery and fidelity to source material with Monty Python's Jabberwocky. Examples of the film's zaniness include the casting of a lovable Irish wolfhound as the "deadly" Baskerville mastiff and having Holmes and Watson speak in thick provincial accents. For its American release, Hound of the Baskervilles was whittled down to 78 minutes, with several of its scenes out of sequence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Peter Cook - Sherlock Holmes
Dudley Moore - Dr.Watson/Mr. Spiggot/Mrs. Ada Holmes
Denholm Elliott - Stapleton
Joan Greenwood - Beryl Stapleton
Terry-Thomas - Dr. Mortimer

A must to avoid, the 1977 Hound of the Baskervilles is a misfire all down the line. The concept of having "underground" director Paul Morrissey bringing an irreverent slant to the original Sherlock Holmes mystery had potential. So did the notion of casting comedians Peter Cook and Dudley Moore as Holmes and Watson, with such reliable British performers as Terry-Thomas, Joan Greenwood, Denholm Elliott, Hugh Griffith, Spike Milligan and Roy Kinnear in cameos. But the results are horrendous, despite the fact that producer Michael White had done a perfectly acceptable combination of spoofery and fidelity to source material in Monty Python's Jabberwocky. The one joke that works is the casting of a lovable Irish wolfhound as the "deadly" Baskerville mastiff. What doesn't work in this film could fill a book; one can only refer to the initial mistake of having Holmes and Watson speak in thick provincial accents, which might be good for a single joke but not for an 85-minute feature. For its American release, Hound of the Baskervilles was whittled down to 78 minutes, with several of its scenes out of sequence; no one noticed, no one cared. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide