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 and Dr. Watson Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson () is a 1979 Soviet film adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's novels about Sherlock Holmes. Directed by Igor Maslennikov it is the first of a 5-part TV film series (divided into 11-episodes) "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson". The film is divided into two episodes – "The Acquaintance" (, based on "The Adventure of the Speckled Band") and "Bloody Inscription" (, based on "A Study in Scarlet"). The movies are made close to the plot of the books, but have some notable, and sometimes quite humorous differences, e.g.