From spy to villain

Before Peter Lorre and Sidney Greenstreet, the screen villain moviegoers most loved to hate was Basil Rathbone. He had a knack for acting, but World War I interrupted his rise to fame. He was trained as a Shakespearean actor before he was noticed by Hollywood.

He portrayed Louis XI in “If I Were A King,” and appeared in costume romps like “David Copperfield,” “Romeo and Juliet” and “Anna Karenina,” with Greta Garbo. But, it was in 1939 when he was cast in his most popular starrers: “The Hound of Baskerville” and “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.”

Contrasts

But, Rathbone got tired of playing the British sleuth after appearing in 16 feature films—not to mention the 200-plus radio serials he starred in as Holmes! He also appeared on Broadway, portraying one of the lead characters in “The Heiress.”

He was twice nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, but he lost both times to Walter Brennan. They were contrasts in type and manner: Rathbone came through as a gentleman with evil intentions, while Brennan was a simple man who spoke in a colloquial manner.

I recall being teased as the Basil Rathbone of our gang, I tried to mimic his voice, but all I could muster were his famous lines as Sherlock Holmes, like “Elementary, my dear Watson.” Many of his villainous characters were so cruel that we had nightmares over their evil schemes. Truly, Rathbone was a villain nonpareil!