The Hound of the Baskervilles (1932 film)

Gainsborough Pictures' first sound film of The Hound of the Baskervilles, directed by Gareth Gundrey with Robert Rendel as Holmes, was shot on Dartmoor in early 1931, and its unit went to Foggintor Quarry near Princetown for the moorland scenes with the Hound, the fights and a car crash.

The mining history in this record

Gainsborough's Hound of the Baskervilles was the first sound adaptation of Conan Doyle's novel, made on a budget of £25,000 with a screenplay by Edgar Wallace, Gareth Gundrey directing and Bernard Knowles at the camera. Robert Rendel played Sherlock Holmes, Frederick Lloyd Dr Watson and John Stuart Sir Henry Baskerville. The unit went to the novel's own country. On 28 February 1931 Lustleigh station on the Great Western Railway stood in for Baskerville station, where Holmes and Watson arrive. The Bioscope reported on 18 March 1931 that, with sunshine replacing the rain and mist, Gundrey had finished the scenes laid in the Moretonhampstead district and moved his base to Ashburton for work at Combestone Tor; the unit would then go to Tavistock 'for further moorland scenes on Foggintor, with fights, in which appear the Hound itself, and a spectacular car crash'.

Foggintor, the granite quarry between Princetown and Tavistock, offered a ready-made wilderness of rock faces, spoil and ruined cottages. Legendary Dartmoor's account of the quarry names it as a location for the film, and the same company came back in 1937 to Foggintor, the neighbouring Swelltor quarry and Yellowmead Farm for scenes in Owd Bob, Robert Stevenson's sheepdog drama with Will Fyffe, released in January 1938.

The film opened in London on 10 April 1932 and in New York four days later, running 72 minutes; the American Film Institute's catalogue also records a London opening in July 1931.

People

Gareth Gundrey, director. Edgar Wallace, screenwriter. Robert Rendel, Sherlock Holmes. Frederick Lloyd, Dr Watson. John Stuart, Sir Henry Baskerville. Bernard Knowles, cinematographer. Ian Dalrymple, editor.

Legacy today

For many years only the silent picture negative was thought to survive, and the AFI catalogue still records the soundtrack as lost with only the opening minutes extant. In 1991, however, the Rank Organisation gave a complete set of negatives and soundtracks to the British Film Institute, and the film is held intact in the BFI National Archive. Foggintor is now a flooded ruin of rock faces, spoil tips and roofless cottages on the moor near Princetown.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each tagged with how solidly it's grounded and attached to the source(s) that support it. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• In March 1931 the Gainsborough unit moved from Ashburton to Tavistock for moorland scenes on Foggintor, with fights, the Hound itself and a car crash. (contemporary account) ^1,2
• Lustleigh station on the Great Western Railway was used as Baskerville station, where Holmes and Watson arrive, on 28 February 1931. (documented fact) ^2,3
• The film was directed by Gareth Gundrey for Gainsborough Pictures from a screenplay by Edgar Wallace, with Robert Rendel as Holmes, Frederick Lloyd as Watson and John Stuart as Sir Henry Baskerville. (documented fact) ^4,3,5
• It was the first sound film of the novel, made on a budget of £25,000. (documented fact) ^3,5
• The film was released in London on 10 April 1932 and in New York on 14 April 1932, running 72 minutes. (documented fact) ^4,3,5
• In 1991 the Rank Organisation gave a complete set of negatives and soundtracks to the British Film Institute, and the film survives intact with sound. (documented fact, disputed) ³
• The soundtrack is lost and only silent footage of the opening minutes survives. (unverified claim, disputed) ⁵
• In 1937 Gainsborough returned to Foggintor, the neighbouring Swelltor quarry and Yellowmead Farm for scenes in Owd Bob, Robert Stevenson's film with Will Fyffe, released in London on 26 January 1938. (later recollection) ^1,6
• Foggintor is a flooded ruin of rock faces, spoil tips and workers' cottages on the moor near Princetown. (contemporary account) ⁷

Mines

• Foggintor Quarry — Devon
  The disused quarry was the location for the film's moorland scenes with the Hound, the fights and the car crash, reported by The Bioscope in March 1931.

Regions

Devon

Real-world mining concepts used here

Granite, Spoil Heap

Sources

1. (secondary) Foggintor — Legendary Dartmoor
2. (primary) Down in Devon (The Bioscope, 18 March 1931) — The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia
3. (secondary) The Hound of the Baskervilles (1932 film) — Wikipedia
4. (secondary) The Hound of the Baskervilles (movie 1932) — The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia
5. (secondary) The Hound of the Baskervilles (1932) — AFI Catalog of Feature Films
6. (secondary) Owd Bob (1938 film) — Wikipedia
7. (observational) Foggintor Quarry, Dartmoor (photograph, 2016) — Geograph

Record created: 17 October 2026 · Last researched: 20 October 2026