The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939 film) described the film as an "excellent film version" of the novel." noting that the films elements "sustain the suspense until the exciting climax," and that "the atmosphere is extremely well contrived". Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce were praised for their roles, while "only Wendy Barrie seems lifeless as Beryl in a cast which is uniformly good." American Film Institute recognition The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939 film) The Hound of the Baskervilles is a 1939 mystery film based on the novel "The Hound of the Baskervilles" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It was directed by Sidney Lanfield and released by
The Hound of the Baskervilles and sole heir, Sir Henry Baskerville, who is the new master of Baskerville Hall. The death was attributed to a heart attack, but Mortimer is suspicious, because Sir Charles died with an expression of horror on his face, and Mortimer noticed "the footprints of a gigantic hound" about 50 yards from where Sir Charles lay dead. The Baskerville family has supposedly been under a curse since the era of the English Civil War when ancestor Hugo Baskerville allegedly offered his soul to the devil for help in abducting a woman and was reportedly killed by a giant spectral hound. Sir