I've seen 17 of the (at least) 23 different film adaptations of the "HOUND", and, crazy enough, this was only the 2nd one I ever saw-- on the same day I first saw the 1959 Hammer version! Little did I know how MANY better ones were waiting for me in the decades to come. It had been 51 YEARS since I saw this when it was first-run, and I was very much looking forward to seeing it again, and to compare it against the others. Having now done so... OY! There was just something about early-70s US TV that seemed utterly determined to remove all style, excitement and fun that had been present in most 60s TV, and I'm afraid this is a perfect example of that. It looks and feels exactly like what it is... by which I mean, every frame of this film just screams "70s US TV", and not in a good way.
The thing that caught my attention the most was the numerous elements from the novel that were NOT featured in most other films. This includes Cartright being sent on a mission to scour various hotels in search of the person who sent the warning notes, or the entire MAJOR subplot involving Laura Lyons, her bad marriage, estrangement from her father, her friendship with Stapleton & her desire to obtain a divorce. There's also the way Holmes explains various details of the case to Watson on their return to Baker Street at the end. The first and last of these I have only ever seen elsewhere in the 1981 Russian TV version! There's also Holmes recruiting Lestrade to arrest the culprit at the end, which I've only seen in the '81 Russian version and the '82 Tom Baker version.
There's also such odd bits as the villain intending to shoot Sir Henry in front of a clothing shop in London, which turned up in the 1983 Ian Richardson version, or Holmes accompanying Watson to Dartmoor, and only later pretending to leave so he can investigate without anyone knowing he's around-- which was one of the major changes of the 1967 Italian TV version! Mortimer saying his dog had died came from the 1939 Rathbone version. It goes on like this.
What really stands out is how the entire film feels awkwardly structured, photographed and edited, even more awkwardly dialogued (not one line seems to have come unchanged from the novel), and acted in a fashion that suggests the director told everybody to "hold back" and "tone it down". So many background characters are total ciphers, and those who should not be, like Beryl (the usually-gorgeous Jane Merrow), Lestrade (Alan Caillou not displaying one ounce of his usual character onscreen), Mortimer (Anthony Zerbe seemed to be on downers for his entire performance) and, for God's sake, Stapleton (William Shatner, who hardly has ANY screen-time at all, and barely even registers when he is on-camera!).
The worst thing I can say is... it doesn't FEEL like a Holmes film!
At least Stewart Granger got to display some character (though his Holmes does not seem to have any genuine warmth toward his best friend), and Bernard Fox is like a slightly-smarter and less-blustery Nigel Bruce. Arthur Mallet as the cabbie also has a nice moment, though the scene is ruined when Holmes names the fake detective rather than allowing the cabbie to do so himself. Writer Robert E. Thompson and director Barry Crane are the clear culprits here. Both apparently did nothing but TV in their entire careers, and the only long stretch I see by Crane is 15 episodes of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE-- but, all in the years after Landau & Bain left the show. Hmm.
The best thing I can say about this is, it's NOWHERE near as awful as the Ross Martin CHARLIE CHAN pilot, but, if memory serves, nowhere near as good as the Robert Conrad NICK CARTER pilot. On the other hand, it's at least a HUNDRED times better than the unwatchable, UNFUNNY Peter Cook-Dudley Moore atrocity.
As of this writing, this TV film is available on DVD-R from a whole variety of mail-order outfits who specialize in rare, out-of-print items. DVD Lady, The Rare Movie Collector, The Film Collectors Society Of America, True TV Movies, Rare Flix, and Loving The Classics. I got the latter, mainly because it came with a plastic box rather than just a paper sleeve. Their copy was recorded off what I believe was a UK "Mystery" series that seems to have been hosted by Christopher Lee (though I could only see him for about half a second right at the end). In addition, Pidax, an outfit in Germany, has put out a Region 2 DVD which appears to be the only "official" release I've seen anywhere online. However, the only 2 sellers I've seen it available from, DO NOT ship to the US! Annoying, to say the least.
The thing that caught my attention the most was the numerous elements from the novel that were NOT featured in most other films. This includes Cartright being sent on a mission to scour various hotels in search of the person who sent the warning notes, or the entire MAJOR subplot involving Laura Lyons, her bad marriage, estrangement from her father, her friendship with Stapleton & her desire to obtain a divorce. There's also the way Holmes explains various details of the case to Watson on their return to Baker Street at the end. The first and last of these I have only ever seen elsewhere in the 1981 Russian TV version! There's also Holmes recruiting Lestrade to arrest the culprit at the end, which I've only seen in the '81 Russian version and the '82 Tom Baker version.
There's also such odd bits as the villain intending to shoot Sir Henry in front of a clothing shop in London, which turned up in the 1983 Ian Richardson version, or Holmes accompanying Watson to Dartmoor, and only later pretending to leave so he can investigate without anyone knowing he's around-- which was one of the major changes of the 1967 Italian TV version! Mortimer saying his dog had died came from the 1939 Rathbone version. It goes on like this.
What really stands out is how the entire film feels awkwardly structured, photographed and edited, even more awkwardly dialogued (not one line seems to have come unchanged from the novel), and acted in a fashion that suggests the director told everybody to "hold back" and "tone it down". So many background characters are total ciphers, and those who should not be, like Beryl (the usually-gorgeous Jane Merrow), Lestrade (Alan Caillou not displaying one ounce of his usual character onscreen), Mortimer (Anthony Zerbe seemed to be on downers for his entire performance) and, for God's sake, Stapleton (William Shatner, who hardly has ANY screen-time at all, and barely even registers when he is on-camera!).
The worst thing I can say is... it doesn't FEEL like a Holmes film!
At least Stewart Granger got to display some character (though his Holmes does not seem to have any genuine warmth toward his best friend), and Bernard Fox is like a slightly-smarter and less-blustery Nigel Bruce. Arthur Mallet as the cabbie also has a nice moment, though the scene is ruined when Holmes names the fake detective rather than allowing the cabbie to do so himself. Writer Robert E. Thompson and director Barry Crane are the clear culprits here. Both apparently did nothing but TV in their entire careers, and the only long stretch I see by Crane is 15 episodes of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE-- but, all in the years after Landau & Bain left the show. Hmm.
The best thing I can say about this is, it's NOWHERE near as awful as the Ross Martin CHARLIE CHAN pilot, but, if memory serves, nowhere near as good as the Robert Conrad NICK CARTER pilot. On the other hand, it's at least a HUNDRED times better than the unwatchable, UNFUNNY Peter Cook-Dudley Moore atrocity.
As of this writing, this TV film is available on DVD-R from a whole variety of mail-order outfits who specialize in rare, out-of-print items. DVD Lady, The Rare Movie Collector, The Film Collectors Society Of America, True TV Movies, Rare Flix, and Loving The Classics. I got the latter, mainly because it came with a plastic box rather than just a paper sleeve. Their copy was recorded off what I believe was a UK "Mystery" series that seems to have been hosted by Christopher Lee (though I could only see him for about half a second right at the end). In addition, Pidax, an outfit in Germany, has put out a Region 2 DVD which appears to be the only "official" release I've seen anywhere online. However, the only 2 sellers I've seen it available from, DO NOT ship to the US! Annoying, to say the least.