Basil Rathbone

Actors

Philip St. John Basil Rathbone MC (June 13, 1892 – July 21, 1967) was an English actor. He rose to prominence in the United Kingdom as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in more than 70 films, primarily costume dramas, swashbucklers and, occasionally, horror films. He frequently portrayed suave villains or morally ambiguous characters, such as Mr. Murdstone in George Cukor‘s David Copperfield (1935), with W.C. Fields; and Sir Guy of Gisbourne in Michael Curtiz and William Keighley‘s The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), starring Eroll Flynn and Olivia de Havilland.

His most famous role was that of Sherlock Holmes in fourteen Hollywood films made between 1939 and 1946 (co-starring Nigel Bruce as Dr. John Watson) and in a radio series. His later career included roles on Broadway, as well as self-ironic film and television work. He received a Tony Award in 1948 as Best Actor in a Play. He was also nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor (for Cuckor’s Romeo and Juliet (1936), starring Norma Shear and Leslie Howard; and Frank Lloyd’s If I Were King (1938), starring Ronald Colman and Frances Dee), and was honoured with three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Other notable film roles include Clarence Brown’s Anna Karenina (1935), starring Greta Garbo; Jack Conway’s A Tale of Two Cities (1935), starring Ronald Colman; The Garden of Allah (1936), with Marlene Dietrich and Charles Boyer; Archie Mayo’s The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938), starring Gary Cooper; Rowland V. Lee’s Son of Frankenstein (1939), co-starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi; Crossroads (1942), with William Powell, Hedy Lamarr, and Claire Trevor; The Court Jester (1955), with Danny Kaye, Glynis Johns, Angela Lansbury and Cecil ParkerWe’re No Angels (1955), starring Humphrey Bogart, Aldo Ray, and Peter Ustinov; The Black Sleep (1956), with Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, Lugosi, and Akim Tamiroff, and Tor Johnson; John Ford‘s The Last Hurrah (1958), with Spencer Tracy, Jeffrey Hunter, and Dianne Foster; Roger Corman‘s Tales of Terror (1962), with Vincent Price and Peter Lorre; and Jacques Tourneur’s The Comedy of Terrors (1963), starring Price, Lorre, Karloff, and Joe E. Brown.

Each review will be linked to the title below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(**seen rereleased in theaters)

  • Innocent (1921) – directed by Maurice Elvey
  • The Fruitful Vine (1921) – directed by Maurice Elvey
  • The School for Scandal (1923) – directed by Bertram Phillips
  • The Loves of Mary, Queen of Scots (1923) –  directed by Denison Clift – undetermined/uncredited
  • Trouping with Ellen (1924) – directed by T. Hayes Hunter – lost film
  • The Masked Bride (1925) – directed by Christy Cabanne – lost film
  • The Great Deception (1926) – directed by Howard Higgin – lost film
  • The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1929) – directed by Sidney Franklin
  • The Bishop Murder Case (1930) – directed by David Burton (stage direction) and Nick Grinde (screen direction)
  • This Mad World (1930) – directed by William C. deMille
  • A Notorious Affair (1930) – directed by Lloyd Bacon
  • The Flirting Widow (1930) – directed by William A. Seiter
  • The Lady of Scandal (1930) – directed by Sidney Franklin
  • The Lady Surrenders (1930) – directed by John M. Stahl
  • Sin Takes a Holiday (1930) – directed by Paul L. Stein
  • A Woman Commands (1932) – directed by Paul L. Stein
  • After the Ball (1932) – directed by Milton Rosmer
  • One Precious Year (1933) – directed by Henry Edwards
  • Loyalties (1933) – directed by Basil Dean
  • David Copperfield (1935) – directed by George Cukor
  • Anna Karenina (1935) – directed by Clarence Brown
  • The Last Days of Pompeii (1935) – directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack & Merian C. Cooper
  • A Feather in Her Hat (1935) – directed by Alfred Santell
  • Kind Lady (1935) – directed by
  • George B. Seitz
  • A Tale of Two Cities (1935) – directed by Jack Conway
  • Captain Blood (1935) – directed by Michael Curtiz
  • Private Number (1936) – directed by Roy Del Ruth
  • Romeo and Juliet (1936) – directed by George Cukor
  • The Garden of Allah (1936) – directed by Richard Boleslawski
  • Love from a Stranger (1937) – directed by Rowland V. Lee
  • Confession (1937) – directed by Joe May
  • Make a Wish (1937) – directed by Kurt Neumann
  • Tovarich (1937) – directed by Anatole Litvak
  • The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938) – directed by Archie Mayo
  • The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) – directed by Michael Curtiz & William Keighley
  • If I Were King (1938) – directed by Frank Lloyd
  • The Dawn Patrol (1938) – directed by Edmund Goulding
  • Son of Frankenstein (1939) – directed by Rowland V. Lee
  • The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) – directed by Sidney Lanfield
  • The Sun Never Sets (1939) – directed by Rowland V. Lee
  • The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939) – directed by Alfred L. Werker
  • Rio (1939) – directed by John Brahm
  • Tower of London (1939) – directed by Rowland V. Lee
  • Rhythm on the River (1940) – directed by Victor Schertzinger
  • The Mark of Zorro (1940) – directed by Rouben Mamoulian
  • The Mad Doctor (1941) – directed by Tim Whelan
  • The Black Cat (1941) – directed by Albert S. Rogell
  • International Lady (1941) – directed by
  • Tim Whelan
  • Paris Calling (1941) – directed by Edwin L. Marin
  • Fingers at the Window (1942) – directed by Charles Lederer
  • Crossroads (1942) – directed by Jack Conway
  • Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942) – directed by John Rawlins
  • Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1942) – directed by Roy William Neill
  • Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943) – directed by Roy William Neill
  • Above Suspicion (1943) – directed by Richard Thorpe
  • Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943) – directed by Roy William Neill
  • Crazy House (1943) – directed by
  • Edward F. Cline – cameo as Sherlock Holmes
  • The Spider Woman (1943) – directed by Roy William Neill
  • Bathing Beauty (1944) – directed by George Sidney
  • The Pearl of Death (1944) – directed by Roy William Neill
  • The Scarlet Claw (1944) – directed by Roy William Neill
  • Frenchman’s Creek (1944) – directed by Mitchell Leisen
  • The House of Fear (1945) – directed by Roy William Neill
  • The Woman in Green (1945) – directed by Roy William Neill
  • Pursuit to Algiers (1945) – directed by Roy William Neill
  • Terror by Night (1946) – directed by Roy William Neill
  • Heartbeat (1946) – directed by Sam Wood
  • Dressed to Kill (1946) – directed by Roy William Neill
  • The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949) – directed by Jack Kinney, Clyde Geronimi, & James Algar – narrator of The Wind in the Willows segment
  • Casanova’s Big Night (1954) – directed by Norman Z. McLeod
  • We’re No Angels (1955) – directed by Michael Curtiz
  • Svengali and the Blonde (1955) – directed by Alan Handley – TV movie
  • The Court Jester (1955) – directed by Melvin Frank & Norman Panama
  • The Black Sleep (1956) – directed by Reginald LeBorg
  • The Lark (1957) – directed by George Schaefer – TV movie
  • Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates (1958) –  directed by Sidney Lumet & George Schaefer – TV movie
  • The Last Hurrah (1958) – directed by John Ford
  • Victoria Regina (1961) – directed by George Schaefer – TV movie
  • The Black Cat (1961) – directed by Robert Braverman – short
  • Mystic Prophecies and Nostradamus (1961) – directed by Mark S. Gould
  • The Magic Sword (1962) – directed by Bert I. Gordon
  • Pontius Pilate (1962) – directed Gian Paolo Callegari & Irving Rapper – aka Ponzio Pilato – Italy/France
  • Tales of Terror (1962) directed by Roger Corman
  • The Comedy of Terrors (1963) – directed by Jacques Tourneur
  • Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965) – directed by Pavel Klushantsev – Curtis Harrington re-edited and shot new footage- original footage from the Soviet science fiction movie Planeta Bur (Planet of Storms)
  • Queen of Blood (1966) – directed by Curtis Harrington
  • The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966) – directed by Don Weis
  • Hillbillys in a Haunted House (1967) – directed by Jean Yarbrough
  • Autopsy of a Ghost (1968) – directed by Ismael Rodríguez – aka Autopsia de un fantasma – released posthumously
  • The Great Mouse Detective (1986) – directed by Burny Mattinson, David Michener, John Musker, & Ron Clements – archive sound, released posthumously