Sherlock Holmes (1939 film series) nitrate film. The UCLA Film and Television Archive restored the series, putting the films onto modern polyester film, in a process that was jointly paid for by UCLA, Warner Bros. and Hugh Hefner. In 1938 Basil Rathbone was cast as Sherlock Holmes for the 20th Century Fox adaptation of "The Hound of the Baskervilles"; Nigel Bruce was chosen to play Dr. John Watson. Darryl F. Zanuck, Gregory Ratoff and Gene Markey made the choice of Rathbone as Holmes during a conversation at a party in Hollywood. Filming began on 29 December 1938 under the direction of Sidney Lanfield and the
Sherlock Holmes (2010 film) Sherlock Holmes (2010 film) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, also known simply as Sherlock Holmes, is a British-American 2010 steampunk mystery film directed by Rachel Lee Goldenberg and produced by independent American film studio The Asylum. It features the Sherlock Holmes characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, though it follows an original plot. The film details an unrecorded case in which eccentric detective Holmes and his companion Dr. Watson investigate a series of unusual monster attacks and a plot to destroy London. Gareth David-Lloyd plays Dr. John Watson and Ben Syder, making his film debut, plays Sherlock Holmes.