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 of the Empty House" that Holmes had faked his own death. He was assisted with the plot by a 30-year-old "Daily Express" journalist named Bertram Fletcher Robinson (1870–1907). His ideas came from the legend of Richard Cabell (d.1677), of Brook Hall, in the parish of Buckfastleigh, Devon, which was the fundamental inspiration for the Baskerville tale of a hellish hound and a cursed country squire. Cabell's tomb survives in the village of Buckfastleigh. Squire Richard Cabell lived for hunting and was what in those days was described as a 'monstrously evil man'. He gained this reputation for, amongst other things,