The Hound of the Baskervilles (1978)

Country of Origin: UK
Year of Production: 1978
Running Times: 85 mins
Format: Technicolor     35mm     Technovision
Ratio: 2.35:1
Sound: mono

CREDITS

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Michael White Productions
Executive Producers: Andrew Braunsberg, Michael White
Producer: John Goldstone
Associate Producer: Tim Hampton

SCRIPT
Script: Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Paul Morrissey
Novel: Arthur Conan Doyle

DIRECTION
Director: Paul Morrissey

PHOTOGRAPHY
Directors of Photography: Dick Bush, John Wilcox
Gaffer: Micky Thomas
Best Boy: Ron Green
Lighting: Lee Lighting Ltd

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editors: Glenn Hyde, Richard Marden

MUSIC
Music: Dudley Moore

SOUND
Re-Recording Mixer: Gerry Humphreys

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Costume Designer: Charles Knode

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Production Designer: Roy Smith
Set Decorator: Harry Cordwell

CAST
Peter Cook (Sherlock Holmes)
Dudley Moore (Doctor Watson / Mr Spiggot / Mrs Ada Holmes)
Denholm Elliott (Stapleton)
Joan Greenwood (Beryl Stapleton)
Terry-Thomas (Dr Mortimer)
Max Wall (Arthur Barrymore)
Hugh Griffith (Frankland)
Irene Handl (Mrs Barrymore)
Kenneth Williams (Sir Henry Baskerville)
Dana Gillespie (Mary Frankland)
Roy Kinnear (Ethel Seldon)
Prunella Scales (Glynis)
Penelope Keith (massage parlor receptionist)
Spike Milligan (policeman)
Lucy Griffiths (Iris)
Jessie Matthews (Mrs Tinsdale)
Geoffrey Moon (Perkins)
Rita Webb (elder masseuse)
Josephine Tewson (nun)
Anna Wing (Daphne)
Henry Woolf (shopkeeper)
Ava Cadell (maid)
Molly Maureen
Helena McCarthy
Vivian Neves
Jacquie Stevens

CAPSULE REVIEW

As misguided as any film could ever be, this appalling abomination besmirches Conan Doyle and trashes the reputation of the hitherto unassailable comedy legends of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. Morrissey may have watched all the Carry On films but clearly has no idea whatsoever what made them work. Crashingly unfunny and the very epitome of unsubtle, this is without doubt the worst adaptation of the novel and among one of the worst films to feature Holmes and Watson ever made.

AVAILABILITY

Sweden
Theatrical Distributors: Succéfilm AB

UK
Theatrical Distributors: Hemdale Film Distribution Ltd
DVD Distributors: CDA Entertainment

USA
Theatrical Distributors: Atlantic Releasing Corp.
Video Distributors: Atlantic Video Inc

CENSORSHIP HISTORY

Finland
Rating: K-12

UK
Rating: PG

TIMELINE

1978
October
Day Unknown: UK - theatrical release

1980
December
25: Finland - theatrical release

1981
July
22: USA - theatrical release

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Il cagnaccio dei Baskervilles - Italian title
Der Hund von Baskerville - West German title
El sabueso de los Baskerville - Venezuelan title
Ulvova koira - Finnish title

LINKS

SEE ALSO
Das Dunkle Schloß (1915)
The Exorcist (1973)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1920)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1932)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1972)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1982)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1983)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1988)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (2000)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (2002)
Der Hund von Baskerville, 3. Teil - Das unheimliche Zimmer (1915)
Der Hund von Baskerville, 4. Teil (1915)
Der Hund von Baskerville (1914)
Der Hund von Baskerville (1920)
Der Hund von Baskerville (1929)
Der Hund von Baskerville (1936)
Priklyucheniya Sherloka Kholmsa i doktora Vatsona: Sobaka Baskervilej (1981)

REFERENCES

MAGAZINES

Monthly Film Bulletin June 1978 pp.115?116 (UK)
credits, synopsis, review

Screen International 16 July 1977 p.8 (UK)
note

Screen International 1 October 1977 pp.6?7 (UK)
credits, review

Screen International 28 October 1978 p.25 (UK)
note

Variety 8 November 1978 (USA)
credits, review

KEYWORDS

animals, book into film, curses, detectives, dogs, ghosts, sherlock holmes, spoofs, the supernatural

Last Updated: 1 January, 2009