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
Adaptations of Sherlock Holmes 1976 "The Return of the World's Greatest Detective" policemen Sherman Holmes suffers from a blow to the head resulting in him thinking he is Sherlock Holmes. John Cleese starred as Holmes' grandson - Arthur Sherlock Holmes - in the comic TV special "The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It" (1977). Arthur Lowe played Dr. William Watson, the original doctor's grandson. Between 1979 and 1986, Soviet television produced a series of five television films at the Lenfilm movie studio, "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson". The series were split into eleven episodes and starred