The Hound of the Baskervilles (1978)

Director:

Paul Morrissey

Writers:

Peter Cook (screenplay), Dudley Moore (screenplay),

Stars:

Spike Milligan, Henry Woolf, Dudley Moore

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Spike Milligan	...	Policeman
Henry Woolf	...	Shopkeeper
Josephine Tewson	...	Nun
Prunella Scales	...	Glynis
Jessie Matthews	...	Mrs. Tinsdale
Lucy Griffiths	...	Iris (as Lucy Griffith)
Dana Gillespie	...	Mary Frankland
Roy Kinnear	...	Selden the Axe Murderer
Kenneth Williams	...	Sir Henry Baskerville
Max Wall	...	Arthur Barrymore
Terry-Thomas	...	Dr. Mortimer
Irene Handl	...	Mrs. Barrymore
Hugh Griffith	...	Frankland
Joan Greenwood	...	Beryl Stapleton
Denholm Elliott	...	Stapleton

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

private detective | supernatural | place name in title | nun | ghost | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Horror | Mystery

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

November 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Hund von Baskerville

Company Credits

Production Co:

Michael White Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Cinematographer John Wilcox became terminally ill during production and was replaced by Dick Bush.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Nun: Monsieur le Doctor Watson, what is keeping Monsieur Holmes so long?
Doctor Watson: Oh, reassurez-vous yourselves sisters, your holy relic will be with you momentarily.
Nun: But we have been waiting almost one hour!
Doctor Watson: Mr. Holmes is a very busy man sister. Monsieur Holmes is an, erm, tres occupée sister.
Nun: But tomorrow is the festival of St Beryl, already thousands of blind cripples are flocking to the chapel hoping to kiss the relic. In the name of all the flocking blind cripples, I beseech you...

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Connections

Referenced in The Many Faces of Sherlock Holmes (1985)

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Soundtracks

"Twelve String Ties"
(uncredited)
Music by John Churston (pseudonym of H.M. Farrar)
De Wolfe Music Ltd

User Reviews

The Hound must have worms

British humour has such a rich hierarchy of anarchists, loonies, clowns and mad geniuses that it would be very hard to establish any kind of 'A Division.' But undoubtedly Peter Cook and Dudley would be in there. Their work with Beyond and Fringe and later 'Not Only but Also' and 'Derek and Clive' is unimpeachable and they had impressive solo CVs. But in 1978 some kind of evil curse seemed to be floating about given that this year also saw the release of 'Sergeant Pepper The Movie' Renaldo and Clara AND the 'Star Wars' Thanksgiving Special. Paul Morrisey decided to direct this Holmes and Watson spoof without making up his mind whether it would be sea-side English bawdiness in the Carry On style or Pythonesque anarchism. In the event the movie was neither, simply a burst whoopie cushion where every gag falls flat and a strong cast is completely wasted. Tragically Terry Thomas made his last movie appearance in this stink bomb, while Spike Milligan was only given three minutes. Max Wall, Roy Kinnear and Prunella Scales were hardly allowed rescue the movie while Kenneth Williams was inadvisedly slotted in as Henry Baskerville. Prancing around with his 'startled moose' expression and flared nostrils, this movie buries the myth that he was a great comic actor who was trapped by the mundane Carry On scripts. But it is Dud and Pete who really disappoint, affecting (for no apparent reason) Welsh and Stage Jewish accents with Moore playing Cook's insane mother, a potential comedy winner that instead simply irritates. Elsewhere, Denholm Elliot's urinating dog spraying Moore in the face simply causes the viewer to avert his or her eyes while reheated sketches from their 1960s show (i.e the one legged runner) only underscore the movie's lack of invention. Although Cook had problems with drink and depression by the late 1970s, the duo was also producing the much-praised punk humour of Derek and Clive at the same time. That said, it probably was a factor in their 'divorce' and Moore's flight to New York, Lisa Minelli and 'Arthur.' The look of the movie is cheap and shabby and at least a decade out of date. Moore was a fine pianist but his score is out of place in a comedy. It is wholly appropriate that the final credits end with the unseen audience pelting him with rotten fruit