The Hound of the Baskervilles: Read and Watch

The Hound of the Baskervilles

In London, 1889, Sherlock Holmes and John Watson are visited by a Dr James Mortimer, asking for the aid of Holmes, beginning by reading him a legend that has run in the Baskerville family since the time of the English Civil War, when Sir Hugo Baskerville kidnapped a farmer's daughter. When the girl escaped Hugo pursued her, swearing a curse upon himself in his mad rage. Hugo's companions witnessed the girl dead of fear and Hugo killed by a demonic hound that is said to have haunted Dartmoor ever since, causing the premature death of many Baskervilles. Mortimer further explains that his friend, the philanthropic baronet Sir Charles Baskerville, who took the legend very seriously and had a weak heart, had resided at Baskerville Hall after amassing a fortune in South Africa. When the baronet's body was found in a yew alley, with an expression of horror on his face, the death was attributed to cardiac arrest; however Mortimer had noticed large canine paw prints near the body. Sir Charles had been the eldest of three Baskerville brothers and Sir Henry, the Canadian son of the deceased second brother, is Sir Charles' heir. The rather immoral third brother, Rodger, died of yellow fever in South America in 1876. Mortimer, the executor of Sir Charles' will, fears it might not be wise to bring Sir Henry to Dartmoor in light of the possible supernatural dangers.
Though Holmes dismisses the legend as a fairy tale he meets Sir Henry when the new baronet arrives in London. It transpires that strange things are already happening to Sir Henry; one of his old boots has been stolen, he has received an anonymous letter warning him against the moor, and someone has been following him in a hansom. Mortimer reveals that Sir Henry's inheritance is about
£740,000 (equivalent to £82,000,000 in 2025); in view of these high stakes Holmes asks Watson to act as Sir Henry's bodyguard and to investigate things on Dartmoor. Upon arriving in Dartmoor, Watson, Mortimer and Sir Henry learn that Selden, a convicted murderer, has escaped from Princetown Prison and is loose on the moor. At Baskerville Hall they are introduced to John and Eliza Barrymore, the married butler and housekeeper. Watson sends detailed accounts of his investigations to Holmes, particularly focusing on the local residents. The Stapleton siblings stand out; Jack is over-friendly, drops hints about the hound, and warns Watson against attempting to cross the dangerous Grimpen Mire. His sister, Beryl, without his knowledge, repeatedly tries to get Sir Henry to flee back to London. Another neighbour, Mr Frankland, is a perpetual busybody and troublemaker, including threatening to bring a lawsuit against Dr Mortimer for excavating nearby barrows. Sir Henry falls in love with Beryl Stapleton, though her brother strongly objects to the romance.
Barrymore repeatedly sends candlelight signals to someone on the moor. Following Barrymore one night, Watson and Sir Henry discover that Selden is Mrs Barrymore's younger brother and that she and her husband have been leaving food out for him. During an unsuccessful attempt to catch Selden Watson sees a strange man standing on a tor.

Watson and Sir Henry learn from Barrymore that Frankland's estranged daughter, Laura Lyons, had once written to Sir Charles. After a failed attempt to interrogate Laura, Watson investigates the man on the tor and discovers that it is Holmes, who has been investigating in secret to hide his direct involvement. Holmes reveals that Jack Stapleton is the murderer, and Beryl is actually his wife, abused and forced into posing as his sister; however, Holmes does not have enough proof to convince the authorities. Holmes and Watson fear they hear Sir Henry fleeing from a baying hound, and falling from a cliff; they find the dying man is Selden; Barrymore had given Selden Sir Henry's discarded clothes, and Stapleton's hound, having been set on the trail with Sir Henry's stolen boot, had confused the scent. At Baskerville Hall, Holmes reveals to Watson that the portrait of Sir Hugo Baskerville bears a remarkable resemblance to Stapleton.
Holmes decides to use an unwitting Sir Henry as bait; he orders him to visit Stapleton that evening, and then walk across the moor on foot. Holmes and Watson then pretend to leave for London, but instead hide near Stapleton's house with Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard. Despite thick fog, they manage to kill the hound when Stapleton unleashes it after Sir Henry. They go to Stapleton's house to find he has bound his wife to a column and vanished into the mire, where he is presumed to have drowned.
After Sir Henry and Dr Mortimer depart on a sea voyage, to repair the baronet's shattered nerves, Holmes explains to Watson that Stapleton was really Rodger Baskerville II, the secret son of Sir Charles' youngest brother. A physical and spiritual throwback to Sir Hugo, Rodger II had bought a savage black hound and painted it with phosphorus to make it look diabolical; either by fright or direct attack, he hoped the dog would remove all the other heirs so that he could inherit the Baskerville fortune. He had promised Laura to help her divorce her estranged husband and then marry her himself and thus perasuaded her to lure Sir Charles out of his house on the night of the murder. Intending to save Sir Henry, Beryl had sent the anonymous letter to him to thwart her husband's further schemes. Holmes remarks that he considers Stapleton one of his most cunning adversaries.

The Hound of the Baskervilles

Dr. Richard Mortimer recounts to Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson in Baker Street the legend of the Hell hound that killed the devilish Sir Hugo Baskerville in retaliation for his misdeeds, including murdering the daughter of a servant. He asks Holmes to investigate the death of his friend Sir Charles Baskerville, in Dartmoor, from heart failure, in the moor surrounding his estate, Baskerville Hall, with a look of horror on his face. Mortimer fears for the life of Sir Henry, Sir Charles' nephew and heir, who's just come from South Africa to take possession of his inheritance and of Baskerville Hall.
Although sceptical, Holmes and Watson agree to meet Sir Henry who complains that one of his boots is missing. Mortimer tells them that the Baskerville estate is worth about £1,000,000. A peculiar threat from a dangerous tarantula convinces Holmes that Sir Henry's life is in danger. Claiming that he cannot come to Baskerville Hall himself, Holmes dispatches Watson to Dartmoor with Mortimer and Sir Henry. Holmes tells Sir Henry not to go out onto the moor after dark.
On their way to Baskerville Hall, the trio learns that Selden, a convicted murderer, has escaped Dartmoor Prison and is hiding on the moor. At Baskerville Hall, Mr. Barrymore, the butler, and Mrs. Barrymore, the housekeeper show them around the mansion. One of two portraits of Sir Hugo is missing, and the Barrymores say it was mysteriously stolen months before. The next day, Sir Henry and Watson meet Bishop Frankland, a bishop and keen entomologist. Watson gets trapped in a patch of mire in the Grimpen Mire and is saved by a farmer named Stapleton and his daughter Cecile, a girl who bewitches Sir Henry.
That night, Watson and Sir Henry investigate a light on the moor. They briefly encounter a strange man who flees in the shadows, and a distant hound howls, provoking in Sir Henry a mild heart attack. Watson spots a man on a hill in the distance while helping Sir Henry back to Baskerville Hall. Watson discovers it to be Holmes, who has concealed his own arrival to investigate more freely.
Selden, wearing Sir Henry's clothes, is slaughtered by the unseen hound. Holmes and Watson find his body mutilated in a ritual, and the legendary curved dagger of Sir Hugo. The Barrymores confess to have helped Selden, who was their relative, by supplying food and clothes each time he signaled with a light from his hideout. Holmes is convinced that neither the Barrymores nor Selden are connected to the death of Sir Charles. He also figures that the tarantula found in London was stolen from Bishop Frankland.
After surviving personal danger in an abandoned tin mine while looking for evidence of a hound, Holmes is able to deduce who unleashed the hound in pursuit of Sir Charles. Holmes explains about questioning Barrymore about the missing portrait; it was stolen because it revealed the fingers on Sir Hugo's right hand were webbed just like Stapleton's. Finding the dagger stolen, Holmes and Watson follow Sir Henry and Cecile to the moor. Cecile takes Sir Henry to the ruins where Holmes and Watson hear Cecile reveal her intentions to a horrified Sir Henry, revealing that she and her father are also descendants of Sir Hugo, planning to claim the inheritance as their own once Sir Henry is dead. The hound appears and attacks Sir Henry, until Holmes shoots it, causing it to back off. With Sir Hugo's curved dagger, Stapleton attempts to attack Watson, who shoots and wounds him. The wounded hound attacks Stapleton and fatally mauls him. Holmes shoots and kills the hound. Sir Henry is unscathed from the mauling as Holmes reveals the hound to be an ordinary dog wearing a mask to make it look more terrifying. Cecile tries to flee across the moor, only to fall into the Grimpen Mire and sink to her death as Holmes and Watson take a shocked Sir Henry back to Baskerville Hall. Back in Baker Street, Holmes and Watson are given by Sir Henry the stolen portrait of Sir Hugo that was found on the Stapleton farm.