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This is a page of the most frequently asked questions
that folks have e-mailed me. If you don't find the answer to your question below,
feel free to contact me.
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Where can I find a
videotape or DVD of "The Hound of the Baskervilles" (or "The
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," or other films from the Rathbone/Bruce
Sherlock Holmes series)? |
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MPI Home Video has released
all 14 of the Universal Sherlock Holmes films on DVD and VHS in 2003
and 2004.
The 12 Universal films have been restored by UCLA Film and Television
Archive (with financing from Hugh Hefner). Richard Valley
of
Scarlet Street Magazine
has written the liner notes for the DVDs, and David Stuart Davies
(author of Starring Sherlock Holmes, Titan Books, 2001) provided an audio commentary.
Special Alert
concerning DVDs of Sherlock Holmes films:
All 14 films
in the series have
been released on
REGION 1 DVDs late
in 2003 and early in 2004. The films have been digitally remastered,
so the quality is better than ANY of the tapes or DVDs previously
available.
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The digitally
restored films have been released by MPI Home Video. If you are
looking at a cheap DVD produced by another company, don't waste
your money! |
The films
are being released individually and in box sets. Two of the box sets
are available to order now at
Amazon.com and
Movies Unlimited :
Buy a DVD player (if you haven't
already), and then buy the new MPI DVDs! |
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Where can I find a
videotape of “The Stingiest Man in Town”? |
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Showcase Productions
Inc.,
the copyright owner of "The Stingiest Man in Town," continues to search for
a film or kinescope copy of that program. So far, NBC has not been able to
locate a print or negative in its vaults; also no copy has been located at
the Library of Congress. At one time Showcase Productions was very close to
obtaining a kinescope from a former Alcoa executive, but negotiations fell
through. If the company is able to obtain a kinescope, it will use state of
the art equipment and digital enhancement technology to restore the film,
and make videotapes commercially available. But at the present time no
videotape of "The Stingiest Man in Town" exists.
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Are any of the Sherlock Holmes radio programs which ran from 1939 to 1944 available on
audiocassette tape or CD? |
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Most of the radio shows
which have survived are from 1945-1946. Most of these are available to
purchase on audiotape at Amazon or Choices Direct (while supplies
last) or on eBay. I've only seen a
few episodes from the earlier years on some records that were released
in the 1970s. Will any of the earlier episodes
ever turn up? Who knows? Most of the episodes from 1945-1946 were not
known to exist until they were discovered in someone's attic in the
1980s. Someday someone may find tapes of episodes from the earlier
years. |
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The TV Guide
Movie Database lists Disney's "The Great Mouse Detective" as one of
Basil Rathbone's films, yet you don't list it on your Films page. Why
not? |
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Since Basil Rathbone died
in 1967, I think it's a stretch to include a film from 1986 among
Rathbone's films. In "The Great Mouse Detective" the character of
Sherlock Holmes has a cameo appearance, and the film cleverly featured
Basil Rathbone's voice from the record "The Red-Headed League." |
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Where can I find videotapes or DVDs of Rathbone's films that are
out-of-print, or TV shows that he was on? |
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Most tapes and DVDs that
are out-of-print are not readily available in stores, or from online
retailers. But there are many places that sell used, rare, and hard-to
find videos and DVDs. You just need to search for them and ask if they
have what you are looking for. Amazon
sells used items through their Marketplace. And of course there's
eBay, where you can find all sorts
of unusual items. Enterprising Rathbone fans, who have videotaped the rare films and TV shows that
have been broadcast in recent years, sell copies on eBay. |
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