Basil Rathbone - and the Hollywood Baskervilles - guest post by Elizabeth Crowens

Today, a guest post from Elizabeth Crowens, whose new book (above) has just been published by an excellent American firm, Level Best Books.

'Growing up as a child in the Midwestern United States, we didn’thave cable channels with over one hundred channels or a variety of streamingservices. All we had were the three major network stations on an analoguetelevision set, and when my hometown had access to PBS programming, we set upan antenna to get a fourth channel. We got very few British shows except for oldHammer horror films during Saturday afternoon television after the cartoonswere over or midnight showings. In short, a very limited viewing selection comparedto now, and as a kid with a limited allowance, going to a matinee at a localtheater entailed a car ride and didn’t happen all that often, especiallywithout a parent chaperone.

Back then, my only exposure to Sherlock Holmes was the BasilRathbone films, co-starring Nigel Bruce as Doctor Watson. I’m almost embarrassedto admit that I wasn’t even aware of Jeremy Brett’s masterful interpretation ofHolmes in the Granada Television series until years later. When I studiedfilmmaking and film history and lived in larger cities like New York and LosAngeles, did I realize that the fictional character of Sherlock Holmes won theGuinness Book of World Records for having more actors portray him in all media,including film, theater, television, and animation. The only other fictionalcharacter who surpassed Holmes was Dracula, but he is classified more as asupernatural creature rather than a fictional human.

When it came to developing the concept for Hounds of theHollywood Baskervilles, my first book in the Babs Norman Golden Age ofHollywood Mystery series, I needed to give my rookie private detective partnerstheir first big celebrity client. Since I had previously written three novelsin an alternate history series exploring the Spirtualist and paranormalinterests of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, I was familiar with the Sherlockian canonand many of Conan Doyle’s other works, including ghost stories, so it madesense that if I started my new series in 1940, I should carry over the Holmestheme and have Basil Rathbone hire my detectives.
Next, of course, I had to watch as many of Basil’s films as I could.Being as prolific as he was, he had quite a filmography, including asignificant number of projects where he played the villain rather than the hero,such as The Adventures of RobinHood, The Mark of Zorro, and Captain Blood. I discovered Basilhad significant experience on the New York stage, preferring Shakespeare,before getting his lucky break in Hollywood.
When I made a deep dive into his biographical andautobiographical material, I soon discovered that Basil was also a seriousanimal lover. At any given time, he owned five dogs, several cats, andcanaries. One of his dogs, a Cocker Spaniel named Leo, left an indelibleimprint. Basil’s best friend, Jack Wiltern, was walking Leo along with twoother Westies. While crossing a busy street in Los Angeles, a speeding car hitJack and the dogs. Leo broke his leg. The Westies made it to the curb unharmed,but Jack later died of his injuries. Mentioning this true and tragic story in my novel,I also had Leo disappear. Basil became distraught every time he thought of hismissing dog, because it also reminded him of his dear friend’s deadly incident.Thus my premise was born...'