The Hound of the Baskervilles

Starred review from November 24, 2014
Of all Doyle’s stories about the redoubtable Sherlock Holmes and his faithful friend and chronicler Dr. John Watson, arguably the best known is their investigation into what appears to be a homicidal “gigantic hound” pursuing the Baskerville clan. There have been numerous film, radio, and television adaptations, but rarely has one been as flat-out entertaining as this radio-like full-cast performance, directed by Alexis Jacknow and recorded before a live audience. Much of this is due to the clever script by Pichette and Wright, which includes most of Doyle’s original plot but manages to be as humorous as it is thrilling and, though set in Victorian times, ends with a refreshingly contemporary noirish twist. Assisted by splendid sound effects, the cast performs with energy, enthusiasm, and invention. For example, Moira Quirk portrays the 221B Baker Street housekeeper, Mrs. Hudson, with an amusingly flippant attitude. Seamus Dever is a sharp-witted and sharp-tongued Holmes, but, as in the novel, the character spends quite a bit of time observing events from afar (and is therefore often away from the mike). In his absence, Watson and potential victim Sir Henry Baskerville carry the plot, with Geoffrey Arend presenting the good doctor as a capable and humane straight man considerably out-charmed by actor James Marsters’s Sir Henry. The production also features comments by Leslie S. Klinger, editor of the Edgar Allan Poe Award–winning New Annotated Sherlock Holmes.

sallh - Habiba Sallam Hound of Baskervilles Book Review A book that is small in size can never meet the beauty standards of literature and possess its richness in metaphorical comparisons. However, this rule was broken in crime thriller novel written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and titled The Hound of the Baskerville. Sherlock Holmes along with his assistant Watson, notable for their talent in solving mysteries are called upon the moor by James Mortimer to investigate the murder of his patient and family friend. The victim was believed to be murdered by the supernatural hound following the Baskerville curse. This curse is a legend that runs through the family originating from the evil act of Sir Hugo’s when he kidnapped a girl. Upon arrival at the moor after his uncle's tragic murder, Sir Henry Baskerville decides to come back and investigate this curse with Holmes and Watson. To solve the mystery, the all collect different peices of the puzzle after meeting several suspects. One specific suspect was Stapleton whom they were able to track his history and find out that he lied about his sister who was actually his wife. At this point, Holmes digs in and even recognizes that Stapleton actually resembles Hugo's portrait, which might mean a desire for the Baskerville wealth. It has come to Watson that the Barrymore's who were the family servants found a letter signatured LL who was Laura Lyons. They decided to visit her and told her about Stapleton's marriage who spilled the beans about the hound and helped them resolve the curse. Fortunately, Stapleton trained his hound to attack the Baskerville whom was given Sir Henry’s belongings to smell but the younger sibling of the Mrs. Barrymore was dressed in Sir Henry’s clothes. The hound was found killed later when Stapleton instructed the hound to attack Sir Henry, when he was invited to the household. As a naturalist Stapleton treated others as animals as he treated his wife whom he beat after disrespecting and not participating in his plans . After spending a lot of time on the moor and on this case Sherlock Holmes and Watson are winners once again.