Main Cast: Richard Roxburgh, Ian Hart, Richard E. Grant, Matt Day
Release Year: 2002
Country: UK
Run Time: 100 minutes
Plot
Probably the most filmed of all Sherlock Holmes stories, Arthur Conan Doyle's 1901 novel The Hound of the Baskervilles was given another go-round with this BBC television production. Richard Roxburgh, best known as the libidinous nobleman in the 2001 theatrical feature Moulin Rouge, is cast as The Great Detective, with Ian Hart as Holmes' friend, assistant and chronicler Dr. John Watson. The game is afoot when Holmes and Watson head to gloomy Baskerville Manor near the forbidding Grimpen Moor, the new home of young Sir Henry Baskerville (Matt Day). A number of curious events have led the detectives to the conclusion that Sir Henry's life is in danger -- that, in fact, he may at any time be torn asunder by a gigantic, vicious hound. Is this the fulfillment of "The Baskerville Curse," brought about by villainous debauchery of Sir Henry's ancestor, or is the would-be murderer a human being, using the legend of the Hound as a smoke-screen? Taking quite a few liberties with the original, The Hound of the Baskervilles was a nonetheless entertaining "shorthand" version of the Doyle classic. Making its British broadcast debut on December 26, 2002, the film was curiously premiered over Canadian television some five weeks earlier, on November 18. In the United States, The Hound of the Baskervilles was first seen as part of PBS' Masterpiece Theatre anthology on January 19, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Ron Cook - Barrymore; Geraldine James - Mrs. Mortimer; Daniel Webb - Insp. Lestrade; Jim Norton - Coroner; John Nettles - Dr. Mortimer; Peter Roberts - Sir Charles Baskerville; Malcolm Shields - Knight; Liza Tarbuck - Mrs. Barrymore; Neve McIntosh - Miss Stapleton; Paul Kynman - Selden; Casper Zafer - Warder 1; Tom Freeman - Father Christmas; Richard Hawley - Clayton
Credit
Charmian Adams - Art Director, James Keast - Costume Designer, David Attwood - Director, Paul Tothill - Editor, Rebecca Eaton - Executive Producer, Allan Cubitt - Executive Producer, Gareth Neame - Executive Producer, Greg Brenman - Executive Producer, Steve Christian - Executive Producer, Sally Woodward Gentle - Executive Producer, Robert Lane - Composer (Music Score), Donal Woods - Production Designer, James Welland - Cinematographer, Christopher Hall - Producer, Rupert Ryle-Hodges - Producer, Allan Cubitt - Teleplay By, Arthur Conan Doyle - Book Author
The basic plot is fundamentally the same as the original Doyle story, but there are radical changes in many details, including the addition of a much more violent ending and three more deaths. The more notable changes include:
The initial examination of Dr. Mortimer's walking stick is absent. Dr. Mortimer himself is portrayed as being in his early or mid 50's, instead of the young man in his 30's from the book.
We see Selden at the beginning, and the protagonists know of him before coming to Dartmoor. Also, two policemen drown in the mire whilst chasing the escaped murderer.
A major character from the book, Laura Lyons, is completely absent, and Sir Charles is having an affair with Beryl Stapleton.
Holmes uses cocaine throughout the film. In the Doyle canon, Holmes periodically uses cocaine, but never in The Hound. Holmes usually only took cocaine when he lacked a problem to solve which is not the case here.
Sir Henry spots his brown boot hidden under a cabinet in his room at the Northumberland hotel in the book, whereas in the film it is handed back to him by a porter.
Dr. Mortimer is portrayed as somewhat untrustworthy, lying to Holmes about his inheritance.
A hidden passageway in Baskerville Hall is invented.
Mrs Barrymore covers for her husband's candle-waving activities by pretending that he is cheating on her, rather than admitting that he is signalling to her convict brother.
Selden, the convict, breaks into Baskerville Hall and fights with Sir Henry.
The time of year is Christmas and a Christmas party is added.
Holmes breaks into Stapleton's house.
Borrowing from the 1939 film adaptation, Mrs. Mortimer is a medium who hosts a séance.
Stapleton is the anthropologist instead of Mortimer, who has a much smaller role. Stapleton was a naturalist in the book, a butterfly collector. The doctor had been the one excavating a body in a barrow. In the book there was a character called Frankland who was obsessed by enforcing little used laws to get people into trouble (not intentionally) and he was planning to get the doctor in trouble with the law for not having Next-of-kin permission to open the grave. Frankland was not included. In the book Watson discovered Holmes not only after seeing him on the tor, but also after Frankland saw a boy taking food to Holmes, through his roof-mounted telescope.
Stapleton calls the Hound with a dog whistle when Sir Henry joins them for dinner. In the book, the hound is not seen until the end.
Sir Henry is badly injured by the hound at the end of this film and is never seen in the close of the film. In the book, he is more or less unharmed.
At a dinner party, elements of A Study in Scarlet are used in conversation.
Beryl is abused by Stapleton throughout the film and hanged by him at the end. In the book, she survives, though the abuse stands (she shows her bruises to Holmes)
In the book, the original hound of legend was the result of a contract between Hugo Baskerville and the devil, made after a madam escapes being kidnapped by Hugo. In the film, the hound belonged to Hugo's wife, who killed Hugo after he beat her to death.
In the book and in earlier films, the legend told of the Droit de seigneur abuse by an aristocrat, which was a relevant class concern in the 19th Century. In the 2002 film, the legend was concerned with marital infidelity.
Stapleton shoots Watson, Holmes gives chase and falls into the Grimpen Mire; Watson shoots Stapleton just as the latter is about to shoot the helpless Holmes. This is instead of Stapleton simply running away and drowning in the mire in his death alone.
In the book, the hound was kept in an old mine out in some hills on the moor that had virtually become islands after the mire had closed round them.
