Overrated and overhyped

How sad is this?

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Dr Watson (Nigel Bruce) investigate the myth of the supernatural hound of the Baskervilles. Sir Henry Baskerville (Richard Greene) returns home to take up residence in the family estate on the moors of western England. Unfortunately a beast is set upon killing Sir Henry. It's up to Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watsons to deduce who or what is trying to commit this murder most foul, and to prevent it. This was the first time Rathbone and Watson had performed together as the detective duo, for me they are the go-to icons of the roles, and here they are brilliant. This isn't the typical bumbling portrayal of Dr Watson, this is something that the studios and Nigel Bruce evolved over time. Rathbone is as charming and engaging as ever, suave and solid as a lead. The film is only about 80 mins long and has a nicely enjoyable pace to it. There have been lots of versions of this Sir Athur Conan Doyle story, this for me is the best. The setting delivers an eerie atmosphere and is tastefully done, despite being shot in Hollywood. A great black and white film from the 1930's that never fails to fill a lazy Sunday afternoon with fun and nostalgia.

This is my favourite of all the Sherlock Holmes tales and this is an excellent film version of it. It pairs the superb partnership of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, surely the best ever Holmes and Dr Watson. Here they investigate reports of a beast roaming the estate of a rich heir. The setting is suitably atmospheric with the fog shrouded set of the moors evoking a real sense of menace. The tale twists and turns with various suspects thrown into the mix. It's a relatively fast paced film and always entertaining with a number of expertly filmed scenes especially the one with the hound. If you only ever watch one Sherlock Holmes film then this is the one to watch.

When the picture opened with that great, spooky, fog enshrouded scene, it immediately brought to mind the 1941 film "The Wolf Man". As I was thinking about that, who should appear out of the darkness but a man who rather resembled a wolf man who we later find out is an escapee from Nottingham Prison. I had a pretty good chuckle over that one.Watching these old Rathbone/Bruce team-ups well out of chronological order, I never gave a thought to the idea that the Dr. Watson character was anything more than a somewhat bumbling sidekick. In this first film of the franchise however, still at Fox studios, Nigel Bruce's Watson is considerably more reserved and professional in his manner with the legendary detective. It was an interesting take on the character, though the comedic approach seemed to work as well in the later stories to relieve some of the tension of Holmes' cases.With a minimal number of characters, the mystery behind the murder on the moor, (say, that would have been a cool title, too) is given away a bit too handily and the viewer winds up knowing who it is even before Holmes, though it will take his logical explanation in the final scene to explain Stapleton's (Morton Lowry) motive. The build up to the finale is made more intriguing with the presence of Lionel Atwill's Dr. Mortimer, a dabbler in the occult, and his wife (Beryl Mercer) who has the psychic abilities of a medium and actually conducts a séance in the story.Without ever mentioning it, the strange rock formations on the moor where some of the action takes place have a strong resemblance to Stonehenge, and just the name 'Great Grimpen Mire' heralds a formidably dangerous mystery about to unfold. Indeed, the picture treads ominously close to a horror story whenever Dr. Frankland (Barlowe Borland) expounds on his theories about John Stapleton, who has no reservation about claiming the man is a body snatcher.

Sidney Lanfield directed this film adaptation of the classic Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novel that stars Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Doctor John Watson. Here, the plot involves a murder plot being planned against the heir(played by Richard Greene) of the Baskerville estate, an American hoping to come into his inheritance, but someone else has plans to usurp his title, involving a local legend about a huge hound that has cursed the family for generations. Is the supernatural at work, or is it of human origin? Good cast, especially Basil Rathbone, though muddled story and lack of a music score hurt it. The novel was much superior, but this version is acceptable.