Adaptations of Sherlock Holmes in five British films from 1931 to 1937. Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce played Holmes and Watson in "The Hound of the Baskervilles" which launched a 14-film series. Rathbone is regarded as the Holmes of his generation. Many other films have been comedies and parodies that poke fun at Holmes, Watson, their relationship and other characters. These have included Billy Wilder's "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes" with Robert Stephens and Colin Blakely as Holmes and Watson. More serious, non-canonical films were "A Study in Terror" (with John Neville and Donald Houston) and "Murder by Decree" (with Christopher Plummer and
Sherlock Holmes (1932 film) Sherlock Holmes (1932 film) Sherlock Holmes (a.k.a. Conan Doyle's Master Detective Sherlock Holmes) is a 1932 American Pre-Code film starring Clive Brook as the eponymous London detective. The movie is based on the successful stage play "Sherlock Holmes" by William Gillette, in turn based on the stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, and is directed by William K. Howard for the Fox Film Corporation. Brook had played Holmes previously in "The Return of Sherlock Holmes" and the "Murder Will Out" segment of "Paramount on Parade". Reginald Owen plays Dr. Watson, and Ernest Torrence is Holmes's arch-rival, Professor Moriarty. Reginald Owen played