#basil rathbone
Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson on German television
From April 17th 1969 to August 28th 1969 GDR television broadcast ten of the fourteen films starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson for the first time. Unfortunately, the films were shown in an abridged version, in the case of “Pursuit to Algiers” even in a version distorting the meaning. Basil Rathbone was dubbed by Walter Niklaus and Nigel Bruce by Alfred Bohl. The opening credits accompanied with Frank Skinner’s great theme music were largely translated into German, but the films were presented as an “English series”. This version is still broadcast on German television.
In August 1980 East German television began with an unabridged and much more true to the orignal re-dubbing of the Sherlock Holmes films (only “Pursuit to Algiers” and “Sherlock Holmes in Washington” were not re-dubbed) “The Hound of the Baskervilles” was dubbed for the first time in 1984. The opening credits were newly designed, again accompanied by Frank Skinner’s theme music. This time the films were correctly mentioned as crime films instead of a television series. The films were even retitled, for instance “The Woman in Green” (“Die Frau in Grün”) was broadcast under the title “Die weiße Blume des Vergessens” (“The White Flower of Oblivion”) The voice actors were Walter Niklaus and Hinrich Köhn. These versions are only included on the DVDs and have not been shown on televison since the fall of the Wall.
Only after the fall of the wall “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes”, “Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror” and “Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon” were dubbed. In 1992 a new dubbing of “The Hound of the Baskervilles” was made. The voice actors were again Walter Niklaus and Hinrich Köhn.
The fact that Walter Niklaus, who spoke lovingly about his American fellow actor Basil Rathbone and his immortal portrayal of the master detective Sherlock Holmes, worked for Rathbone as a voice actor between 1969 and 1996 is generally regarded as an absolute stroke of luck.
Here are the German opening credits for “The Hound of the Baskervilles” from 1984.
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Recollections of my youth: Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce and “The Hound of The Baskervilles”
My first encounter with the English master detective Sherlock Holmes took place in 1984. I was a young teen at that time and for the first time I watched the atmospheric classic “The Hound of the Baskervilles” starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. The film was dubbed and broadcast by the East German television.
Until then I had only heard of the famous characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle but never read any of the stories or novels, which were hard to come by in the GDR anyway nor I had watched a movie starring the two gentlemen from 221 B Baker Street.
I was immediately fascinated by the two brilliant actors, the atmosphere and the exciting story. Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce started my lifelong fascination for Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.
I received the East German paperback edition of the stories by Arthur Conan Doyle as a birthday present. My dear parents must have been moving heaven and earth to purchase these very hard to get by books. Of course I still have them, a bit well-thumbed but still treasured.
I’ve seen a lot of different actors as Holmes and Watson since then, but Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce will always have an altogether special place in my heart.
Forever in my heart: Basil Rathbone (13 June 1892 – 21 July 1967)
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