1182 replies to this topic

[marktmurphy]

Listening to the BBC Radio versions of the tales on headphones is great fun - the performances and productions are top-notch. Only the Granada TV versions with Jeremy Brett come close. Last week I caught a showing of Silver Blaze and was very impressed with the adaptation; the last scene where Holmes sniffily dines and explains the case (complete with Brett inserting a surreptitious and very funny sheep's bleating) is wonderful.

I did quite enjoy his line where he wondered about the 'curious case of the dog in the night time'. Ah! So that's where it comes from!

[DLibrasnow]

It's very setbound and cheap and Terence Rigby is an appalling Watson.

So are the Peter Cushing shows from the 1960s that I saw recently on DVD. Although apparently the HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES BBC production with Cushing was the first one to be filmed on the actual moors.
I haven't seen the Baker version.

[hartley_bond]

So are the Peter Cushing shows from the 1960s that I saw recently on DVD.

The difference is that the Cushing shows were adapted well and Nigel Stock didn't spend the entire program talking through his moustache the entire program.

Edited by hartley_bond, 29 January 2005 - 11:22 PM.

[hartley_bond]

TOP 10 JOHN H WATSONs:
1. Michael Williams


2. Edward Hardwicke


3. David Burke


4. James Mason

[hartley_bond]

5. Andrew Sachs


6. John Moffatt


7. Andre Morell

[hartley_bond]

8. Sir Ralph Richardson


9. Ian Hart


10. Crawford Logan

[DLibrasnow]

So are the Peter Cushing shows from the 1960s that I saw recently on DVD.

The difference is that the Cushing shows were adapted well and Nigel Stock didn't spend the entire program talking through his moustache the entire program.

Agreed. I thought Nigel Stock made a great Watson to Cushings Holmes.

[hartley_bond]

WHO WOULD MAKE A GOOD HOLMES?

This is my casting suggestions for a future series of Holmes productions:
SHERLOCK HOLMES - TOBY STEPHENS (Five Little Pigs)


JOHN H WATSON - Ewan McGregor (Big Fish)


GILES LESTRADE - Nicholas Bell (The Games)


MYCROFT HOLMES - Sam Neill (The Dish)


MARTHA HUDSON - Judi Dench (The Hound of the Baskervilles)


JAMES MORIARTY - Ian Richardson (House of Cards)


SIR HENRY BASKERVILLE - Hugh Jackman (Paperback Hero)


IRENE ADLER - Catherine Zeta Jones (Catherine The Great)


JABEZ WILSON - Robbie Coltrane (From Hell)


SEBASTIAN MORAN - Anthony Hopkins (Nixon)


LEON STERNDALE - Brian Blessed (The Hound of the Baskervilles)
http://www.olivertob...s/arthur_06.jpg

Edited by hartley_bond, 30 January 2005 - 03:30 AM.

[hartley_bond]

MARY MORSTAN-WATSON - Susannah Harker (House of Cards)


SIR JAMES DAMERY - Patrick Stewart (Moby Dick)


CHARLES AUGUSTUS MILVERTON - David Suchet (Death on the Nile)


LORD CANTLEMERE - Edward Fox (The Hollow)


BOB CARRUTHERS - James Fox (Death on the Nile)

[zencat]

I just watched the Richard Roxburgh The Hound of the Baskervilles (2003) and it blew me away. I really think this is one of the best adaptations of this story (which has never been one of my favorites, despite its classic status). Ian Hart's Watson -- a very different Watson -- steals the show.

[hartley_bond]

I just watched the Richard Roxburgh The Hound of the Baskervilles (2003) and it blew me away. I really think this is one of the best adaptations of this story (which has never been one of my favorites, despite its classic status). Ian Hart's Watson -- a very different Watson -- steals the show.

I agree completely. It was bashed heavily upon it's release, but I've always loved it. Although I think it could've been improved by Roxbrugh and E Grant swapping roles, Hart was an excellent Watson (intelligent, witty, knows how to handle his gun, Nettles was terriffic as Doc Mortimer and Matt Day was the most interesting Sir Henry since Christopher Lee. The script by Allan Cubbit was excellent, although it's original form of two hours suited it better. My second favourite adaptation of The Hound to date.

[zencat]

...Although I think it could've been improved by Roxbrugh and E Grant swapping roles...

Ha! I was thinking exactly the same thing as I was watching it, hartley_bond.

[hartley_bond]

Ha! I was thinking exactly the same thing as I was watching it, hartley_bond. thumbup.gif

You are wise for one who has only lived one liftime.
Maybe Grant could play Holmes in the Beebs next Holmes production since Everett seems to be giving up acting.

[DLibrasnow]

My second favourite adaptation of The Hound to date.

Which is your favorite?

My favorite version of 'Hound of the Baskervilles' is the 1939 version with Rathbone and Bruce (largely due to the effects of nostalgia).

My second favorite version is the 1968 television version with Peter Cushing as Holmes and Nigel Stock as Watson. I only saw it recently but I thought it far better than the Hammer version that Cushing had made a decade earlier.

[hartley_bond]

Which is your favorite?

The BBC version with Clive Merrison and Michael Williams. Dripping with atmosphere, fantastic performances and a great script.

[zencat]

Which is your favorite?

The BBC version with Clive Merrison and Michael Williams. Dripping with atmosphere, fantastic performances and a great script.

I've never seen that version. Is it on DVD?

[hartley_bond]

I've never seen that version. Is it on DVD?

http://www.amazon.co...7126066-6476431

[Jim]

Which is your favorite?

The BBC version with Clive Merrison and Michael Williams. Dripping with atmosphere, fantastic performances and a great script.

I've never seen that version. Is it on DVD?

You won't see it because it is BBC radio.

[DLibrasnow]

Interesting. I was wondering how I had missed it also.

[Brett Sinclair]

They've just released the Basil Rathbone collection on DVD here in the U.K,i can't wait to get my mits on it.
IMO Nigel Bruce is the best ever Watson,he always brings a smile to my face.

[hartley_bond]

IMO Nigel Bruce is the best ever Watson

I'll have to disagree with you there. I find Nigel Bruce to be absolutely appalling and one of the worst Watsons ever. He perpetrated the image of Watson as an old, idiotic buffon and he mumble so much he was almost unintellegable half the time.

[hartley_bond]

That being said, I really liked Rathbone in the role. Though hardly representitive of Doyle's Holmes, his portrayal of a more classic gentile Holmes was captivating.

[Brett Sinclair]

IMO Nigel Bruce is the best ever Watson

I'll have to disagree with you there. I find Nigel Bruce to be absolutely appalling and one of the worst Watsons ever. He perpetrated the image of Watson as an old, idiotic buffon and he mumble so much he was almost unintellegable half the time.

You have a very good point,i cant deny any of what you said but i still like him and he always makes me laugh.It must be my very silly sence of humor

[DLibrasnow]

IMO Nigel Bruce is the best ever Watson

I'll have to disagree with you there. I find Nigel Bruce to be absolutely appalling and one of the worst Watsons ever. He perpetrated the image of Watson as an old, idiotic buffon and he mumble so much he was almost unintellegable half the time.

You have a very good point,i cant deny any of what you said but i still like him and he always makes me laugh.It must be my very silly sence of humor

I like Bruce as Watson for the simple reason that I grew up watching the Basil Rathbone Holmes movies on BBC2 every Friday dinnertime.

[hartley_bond]

Bruce's portrayal of Watson as a mumbling twit is not one that I find particularly endearing. His only redeeming factor is his chemistry with Rathbone. Still, there are other Holmes and Watson combinations that have far better chemistry:

[DLibrasnow]

I like the movie MURDER BY DECREE, but I'm not sure I thought Plummer and Mason shared much chemistry.

As I said, I grew up on Bruce's Watson so I have fond nostalgic memories of him as the good doctor.

I'd be interested in learning who people view as the best Moriarty. I think Anthony Andrews was particularly great in HANDS OF A MURDERER.

[zencat]

I know Bruce's Watson gets a bad rap...but I like him and accept his interpretation as a comic foil for Holmes. It's Hollywood's Watson and I think it worked in the context of that series. Rathbone and Bruce did have real chemistry.

[DLibrasnow]

Agreed Zencat. For many years I didn't like the more serious Watson's. Then I started reading the books and now appreciate both Bruce's take on the character and those who decided to make him less of a buffoon.

[hartley_bond]

I'd be interested in learning who people view as the best Moriarty.

Orson Welles, followed closelyby George Zucco. I also realy liked Michael Pennington and Eric Porter.

[DLibrasnow]

Orson Welles?