The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Written by Peter Bryan, based on the novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Directed by Terence Fisher
Starring Peter Cushing, Andre Morell, Christopher Lee, and Marla Landi
Features:

• Actor's Notebook: Christopher Lee
  
• Excerpts of the novel read by Christopher Lee
  

Sir Henry Baskervilles (Lee) has just inherited a new home from his uncle, who passed away seemingly at the hand of a 200-year-old curse on the family. See, Sir Hugo brought the curse on the family by torturing and killing the daughter of one of his servants. Sherlock Holmes (Cushing) and his trusty friend Dr. Watson (Morell) get involved with the case. Their job is to try to protect the new lord of the manor from anything or anyone that might be trying to take his life. Holmes doesn't believe that it is the demonic "Hound" of the legend that has come back to hunt him down, but that there is something more human, but just as evil behind the threat.

The writing for this film is solid and incredibly natural. It falls trippingly off the tongues of the principal cast members. Needless to say, the acting is also solid with Cushing, Morell, and Lee all turning in very believable performances. Cushing is out and out perfect as Holmes--his easy, sometimes overbearing, confidence is right on the mark. Morell and Lee are also just as perfect in their roles. I must admit that it was funny to see Christopher Lee playing the young romantic lead, since his most recent work has been playing darker roles. It also hit me about halfway through that it was neat to see these two Star Wars stars on screen together in this movie, but I'm a geek that way. If the movie has a weakness, it is the character of Cecile, played by Landi--who just can't bring the role what it needs.

The DVD is has some really neat features on it. The Actor's Notebook is a lengthy interview with Lee about his experience of making this movie with such a great cast and a great script. While I'm glad they have an interview with someone who was involved with the production caught on tape before, God forbid, we lose Christopher Lee--it just doesn't dive deep enough to make it really fantastic. The excerpts of the novel read by Lee are great, but what they really did for me was to make me long for a commentary track by Lee. I would love nothing more than to watch this film again with Lee's deep and powerful voice reminiscing about the making of this movie. It would have rocked my world. Instead, we get Lee's deep and powerful voice reading short pieces of the text while a slideshow of images passes by on the screen. Still, it is nice to have the trailer for this movie preserved on the DVD, too.

So, if you have never seen this film, definitely put it on the rental list, and if they ever come out with a DVD presentation that features Lee doing a commentary, add it to your collection.