A Sherlock that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle found compelling! (well that is the modern tagline I would put on the film anyway). Doyle saw the film in the theater and said the following about it:
Mr. Ellie Norwood, whose wonderful personification of Holmes has amazed me. One seeing him in The Hound of the Baskervilles I thought I had never seen anything more masterly. {quote from Alan Barnes 2011 book Sherlock Holmes on Screen}
The Hound of the Baskervilles has always been listed has Doyle's one true Sherlock Holmes horror story. It, from the beginning of it's film history (which began in 1914), has been promoted as a horror mystery. The ghostly backstory of family transgression, the supernatural nature of the hound in the story (most definitely equated with a "hounds of hell"), the brooding haunted nature of a moor, a house isolated with strange lights seen but not explained--they are are all deep horror tropes/themes. The fact that it is a Sherlock Holmes mystery means that eventually it will out as all explainable through human action; though the truth is no less horrifying. Furthermore, the inspiration for the story came from actual legends from Dartmoor (see this Wikipedia entry--damn spooky stuff!).
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| Ellie Norwood as Holmes [public domain Stoll picture still] |
The film was released in August of 1921 in London; it was the production of Stoll Pictures, had/has a length of 5500 feet on five reels and shot on locations in southwest Surrey (though several sources have incorrectly claimed that it was shot on Dartmoor, where the story is set). It was eventually internationally released, with a wide distribution in 1923 across the United States. It was the very first British adaptation of the novel.
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| Still of the hound from the film [Stoll Pictures] |
The B.F.I. is reportedly working on a full restoration; the work is expected to be completed some time in 2023 (as part of a series). Eagerly awaited here!
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