100 Great Scenes In Not So Great Films - 46 - The Bishop's Tarantula in Hound of the Baskervilles
It continues to be difficult to find films that are bad but have good, memorable scenes
I mean the Hammer Hound of the Baskervilles
The case for the prosecution:
(Some spoilers)
Hammer, how did you get this so wrong?
You're Hammer, you can make good-looking films (and did, everything else was wrong, but it looked sumptuous). On the acting side you had Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee (and Andre Morrell who is horribly underrated). And your were adapting "Hound of the Baskervilles", which is a classic for a reason.
Yet, this was terrible.
It's probably because they changed the murderer, the motive, the weapon (the hound remains but there are additions) and the characters of pretty much every named character, including Frankland, who becomes a Bishop.
Holmes becomes a bully and a boor - they had Peter Cushing who would have been perfect and did this to him!!! (When they give Cushing actually Sherlock Holmes things to do he is perfect - he's my second favourite Holmes due to those few scenes. My favourite is Ian Richardson - I can go on about the fact that he is perfect, even if his Holmes films are not.)
The scene itself:
Full film is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY_hD1Ptn7Y The scene I wish to discuss is 53.55 - 58.19 (arachnid and arthropod warning).
Why the scene is so good:
Even while it highlights the "change in character, plot and motive" problem, it's just the most charming character bit in the middle of nowhere. It helps that Miles Malleson is "befuddled curate" made flesh (he is as Revered Chasuble in The Importance of Being Ernest, the proper version), and it's a scene where Holmes isn't just being mean.
I mean the Hammer Hound of the Baskervilles
The case for the prosecution:
(Some spoilers)
Hammer, how did you get this so wrong?
You're Hammer, you can make good-looking films (and did, everything else was wrong, but it looked sumptuous). On the acting side you had Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee (and Andre Morrell who is horribly underrated). And your were adapting "Hound of the Baskervilles", which is a classic for a reason.
Yet, this was terrible.
It's probably because they changed the murderer, the motive, the weapon (the hound remains but there are additions) and the characters of pretty much every named character, including Frankland, who becomes a Bishop.
Holmes becomes a bully and a boor - they had Peter Cushing who would have been perfect and did this to him!!! (When they give Cushing actually Sherlock Holmes things to do he is perfect - he's my second favourite Holmes due to those few scenes. My favourite is Ian Richardson - I can go on about the fact that he is perfect, even if his Holmes films are not.)
The scene itself:
Full film is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY_hD1Ptn7Y The scene I wish to discuss is 53.55 - 58.19 (arachnid and arthropod warning).
Why the scene is so good:
Even while it highlights the "change in character, plot and motive" problem, it's just the most charming character bit in the middle of nowhere. It helps that Miles Malleson is "befuddled curate" made flesh (he is as Revered Chasuble in The Importance of Being Ernest, the proper version), and it's a scene where Holmes isn't just being mean.