Interesting facts about the Soviet film "The Hound of the Baskervilles" (10 photos). What breed was the Baskerville dog? Book Hound of the Baskervilles

Dog head representing the head of the Hound of the Baskervilles. Sherlock Holmes Museum, Baker Street, London.
Source: wikimedia.org

"It was not a pure bloodhound and it was not a pure mastiff; but it appeared to be a combination of the two - gaunt, savage, and as large as a small lioness" (ACD. The Hound of the Baskervilles) (It was a hungry, ferocious dog the size of a small lioness - not a purebred bloodhound or a purebred mastiff, but in appearance a mixture of both. - Translation: admin).
“It was not a purebred bloodhound, and also not a yard dog, but rather a cross between these two breeds; it was a long, as wild and terrible animal as a small lioness” (“The Hound of Baskerville”, A.T., 1902).
“It was not a purebred bloodhound and not a purebred mastiff, but seemed to be a cross between these two breeds, thin, wild and the size of a small lioness” (“The Hound of the Baskervilles”, E. Lomikovskaya, 1902).
“It was not a purebred bloodhound, but it was not a bloodhound either, but it seemed like a bastard, a mixture of these two breeds. She was thin, wild, and looked like a small lioness” (“The Legend of the Hound of the Baskervilles,” N. Mazurenko, 1903).
“It was a cross between a bloodhound and a great dane, ferocious, wild dog, equal in size to a small lioness” (“The Hound of Baskerville”, N. D. Obleukhov, 1903).
“It was some kind of mixed breed, the size of a small lioness” (unknown translator (“Secrets of the Grimpen Swamp”), 1915).

Robson notes in his comments that, according to experts, it is impossible to identify appearance a cross between a bloodhound and a mastiff, as Watson managed to do (Arthur Conan Doyle. The Hound of the Baskervilles: Another Adventure of Sherlock Holmes /Edited with an Introduction and Notes by W. W. Robson. - Oxford University Press, 2008. - 188 p. - ( Oxford World's Classics - p. 187).
To this comment by Robson it can be argued that this is most likely in situations real life you cannot “by eye” recognize a dog as a cross between a bloodhound and a mastiff, but in art world works of Conan Doyle, where live dog they smear it with phosphorus, and the snake descends without any problems along a freely hanging cord - you can.
We can put an end to this, but it is better to give two quotes here regarding the mastiff and bloodhound breeds.
Here is a quote about the mastiff breed.
“The first breed standard [mastiff] was published in Great Britain in 1888, and the current one was adopted in 2011 (Big Russian Encyclopedia, vol. 19., M., 2012. P. 322)” (That is, just a year before the year in which, by the will of the author, the action of the story “The Hound of the Baskervilles” takes place).
Here is a quote about the Bloodhound breed. "From the beginning of the 13th century, during the war of King Edward I (1272 - 1307), hounds began to be used as fighting dogs - to pursue the enemy. During the war between England and Ireland, bloodhounds often searched for fugitives. Those, apparently, were rare cases when they succeeded get away from these scary dogs, went down in history.
According to legend, the Scottish king Robert Bruce, pursued by hounds, only threw them off the scent by first running through streams and then climbing a tree.
At the beginning of the 18th century, when robbers from Scotland raided the northern counties, the population pursued them with packs of hounds. Bloodhounds were also kept as watchdogs. To find criminals and stolen livestock already in the 17th century. began to train these dogs. The bloodhound's instinct was trusted so much that a special “hot pursuit law” was even issued, according to which it was prescribed to unquestioningly open the animals in front of which the dog stopped while searching. And in the search for poachers (with killed game) and forest thieves, bloodhounds had no equal. In England in early XIX V. there was a society that kept a pack of these dogs to search for sheep thieves.
Bloodhound hunting also had its own dark history - like hunting for people. In 1795, 200 dogs were brought to the island of Jamaica to suppress the uprising of merrons (slaves). These bloodhounds made such an impression on the rebels that they laid down their arms.
The Spaniards used these hounds and bulldogs to track down runaway blacks. On the island of Cuba at one time similar dogs enjoyed terrible, bloody fame.

The so-called "Cuban Bloodhound" (the Cuban Bloodhound, 1881) is a cross between an English bloodhound and a mastiff.

Later, the need for such an evil and bloodthirsty dog disappeared. Bloodhounds began to be kept as bodyguard dogs. And then, over a number of generations, they turned into indoor dogs, about which they wrote: “They are obedient, polite, love children very much, and are not pugnacious with other dogs...” But magnificent hunting qualities Bloodhounds have survived to this day.
About the expression of this dog's muzzle they say: “The dog should seem an emblem of intelligence, greatness and strength”; “She has the appearance of a philosopher reflecting on the meaning of life” (Legends and true stories about dogs. The first tamed by man: Book for students / V. A. Korabelnikov, T. V. Korabelnikova, A. V. Korabelnikov. - M.: Enlightenment ; 1993. - 225 p.: ill.)"
To the above, we can add that the name “bloodhound” (blood or “blood” hound) reveals not only the purpose of the breed - searching for game by blood trail - but also characterizes the purity of the breed, “bloodliness”. It is known that in the distant past, almost no blood from other breeds was used in breeding Bloodhounds. But by the early 1800s. the purebred bloodhound becomes an isolated phenomenon (for example, as a search dog in the service of the law). This “bloodhound” gradually fades away, and the Bloodhound of the 19th century was by no means a breed in the modern interpretation of the concept of breed, but was simply a working dog with various features. In turn, the purebred Bloodhound becomes a rare and valuable dog. So, in 1889, a certain John Winchell from the American state of Vermont purchased two bloodhounds from the chief of the London police. English bloodhounds were valued at a thousand dollars each. These were the first bloodhounds brought to the United States.
If you rely on the Canon, then Stapleton was not interested in the “purity of the breed” of the dog. A quotation: “The dog he bought in London from Ross and Mangles, the dealers in Fulham Road. It was the strongest and most savage in their possession.” was the strongest and most untamed dog in their possession. - Translation: admin).
“He bought the dog in London, from Ross and Mangles, trading in Fulham Rod. It was the strongest and wildest of all they had” (“The Hound of Baskerville”, A.T., 1902).
“He bought a dog in London from Ross and Mangles on Fulham Rod. It was the strongest and most ferocious dog they had” (“The Hound of the Baskervilles”, E. Lomikovskaya, 1902).
“He went to London and acquired the strongest and most unusually ferocious dog from Ross and Mangles, on Fulham Road” (“The Legend of the Hound of the Baskervilles”, N. Mazurenko, 1903).
“The dog was bought in London from Ross and Mangles on Fulgham Street. It was the most huge and ferocious dog they ever had” (“The Hound of Baskerville”, N.D. Obleukhov, 1903).
Judging by this description that Holmes gave to the purchased dog, even the keen sense of the Bloodhound was, in the opinion of the buyer Stapleton, a secondary quality after the physical strength and wildness of the dog, which was supposed to play the role of the Hound of the Baskervilles. Besides, Stapleton bought the dog for business, and not for a show. And certainly not as a breeding dog. In terms of monetary value, a bloodhound of mixed blood, without documents, is much cheaper than a purebred, and such mestizos were widespread.

One of the most famous and exciting stories from the Soviet film epic about the adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson - the film “The Hound of the Baskervilles” - turns 35 in January 2016. This story is about the filming of this legendary film directed by Igor Maslennikov.

A calf auditioned for the role of a dog

It was impossible to make a mistake in the selection for this role - only the appearance of a real monster in the frame could explain the fear and horror of the inhabitants of Baskerville Hall, - said Victor Okovity, a combined filming artist. - Several four-legged applicants were looked at. They were looking for a type by trial and error - no one knew exactly what the dog should look like in the end. We tried dogs different breeds, they even offered a PEKINGNESE with an eye scratched out by a cat, while the other eye looked very crazy. We shot several takes with him, but we were not satisfied with the result. They came up with the idea of filming the CALF as the Baskerville dog, but quickly abandoned this idea. Then there was the option with DOG. It was covered with reflective tape, which is glued to road signs. They pasted the skeleton of a dog onto the animal and began filming it on black velvet. We looked at the filmed parts and burst out laughing - it turned out to be just a “running skeleton”.

After watching the video, director Maslennikov said that there was only one way out - to make a mask for the dog.

At first we thought of painting the whole dog with phosphorus, as written by Conan Doyle. They told the dog handlers about this, and they grabbed their heads, saying that this would spoil the dog’s sense of smell, not a single owner would allow their animal to be painted with chemicals,” the director recalls. - She will immediately lick all this phosphorus off herself...

And since the idea with the reflective tape was mine, I was assigned to make a muzzle for the dog,” says the artist Okovity. - I pasted light tape onto the black velvet. The dog in the frame was running with this on its head. And instead of phosphorus, we prepared a special foam mixture from washing powder and the reflective coating scraped off from the tape. I applied this mixture to a dog mask.

We had a lot of trouble with filming. Having put a reflective mask on the dog, it was necessary to simultaneously remove it and shine light on it. Special spotlights were installed behind the cameras. Prepared to record. But we didn’t take one thing into account: a dog will never run into a bright light. Animals generally do not run towards fire - this is the law of nature. The shoot was canceled again. We shot this shot six times!

The friendly Great Dane was turned into the creepy Hound of the Baskervilles...
I had no idea that it would be so difficult to work with animals on set. It would seem a simple episode - a bullet hits a dog. But the dog, like an artist, needs to “act out” being hit by a bullet fired from Lestrade’s revolver. It was necessary to show the dog’s aggressive reaction, but it turned out to be very peaceful by nature. Maslennikov suggested: let’s make a bullet out of tin wire and shoot at the dog so that it wakes up. Acting assistant Natasha Yashpan, an intelligent woman, shamed the director, saying, you are a St. Petersburger, how can you hurt a dog?!

Maslennikov, in order to prove that the bullets would only agitate the animal a little and nothing more, suggested shooting him in the leg. The pyrotechnician fired and hit Maslennikov in the... just above the thigh... well, you understand... We hear the director scream! Igor Fedorovich grabbed the soft spot, screaming loudly! In general, the reaction was the same, and everyone understood that it was forbidden to shoot a dog!!! Then they came up with this move: they put plywood under the dog and pulled it out sharply so that the dog would stumble. But he turned out to be cunning - sensing a trick, he ran up to the plywood and... jumped over it! I had to shoot more than seven takes until the exhausted Great Dane, tired of jumping, began to stumble.

By the way, in the last scene, actor Nikita Mikhalkov was afraid to film next to the Great Dane, so the dog and Mikhalkov were filmed separately, and then the shots were combined...

The group recalls that the dog had a hard time during the filming, but she bravely withstood everything and became the group’s favorite. According to actor Vasily Livanov, the dog turned out to have an amazing sweet tooth - she devoured the cake brought for Solomin’s birthday, along with the box, without leaving a single crumb.

They spent a long time conjuring the voice of the Hound of the Baskervilles,” says Asya Zvereva, the film’s sound engineer. - It is difficult to restore the “recipe” today. They used the voices of a lion, a bear, a dog, and stretched it all out. The work turned out to be so complicated that it had to be done in Moscow - there was no good equipment in Leningrad at that time.

Mikhalkov did not arrive alone
According to the director, they first tried actor Nikolai Gubenko for the role of Nikita Mikhalkov - Sir Henry. I tried to persuade him for a long time, but he refused at the last moment.

At this time, Mikhalkov was finishing the film “Kinfolk,” in which Svetlana Kryuchkova, who was involved in the film “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” starred. She and her husband (film cameraman Yuri Veksler) had the idea of inviting Mikhalkov to play the role of Sir Henry.

Mikhalkov, to everyone’s surprise, arrived at the Lenfilm studio not alone, but with his friend - screenwriter, artist, actor and director Alexander Adabashyan, 12 days before the start of filming. All 12 days the friends walked around Lenfilm, laughed, and discussed something. Filming began, and the actors looked at the director with irony. It got to the point that Mikhalkov began to command on the set.

In order to “neutralize” this “gop company”, it was necessary to find something for Adabashyan to do. And then the director came up with the idea: “Let Barrymore play!” This role remained vacant. So Adabashyan became a person subordinate to the director on the set, and he no longer had time to discuss with Mikhalkov whether the director was filming correctly.

The Barrymore spouses were played by Alexander Adabashyan and Svetlana Kryuchkova.
As a result, the melancholy Adabashyan in the film became a kind of shock absorber, a counterweight to the temperamental Mikhalkov. Their couple fit organically into the whole story. Alexander Adabashyan, who played Barrymore, heartily laying out oatmeal in the film, admitted that in life he eats this wonderful porridge every morning, and considers his role in the film to be stellar. Famous phrase"Oatmeal, sir!" became his calling card.
- I haven’t told anyone about this yet: it turned out that I came to audition for this film with... a huge black eye under my eye. Got into a fight! I won’t say with whom. But I had a classic look... Of course, the group was surprised, looked at me meaningfully, but took it. During filming, I no longer fought, but was completely immersed in work. According to the plot, we needed to create a contrast between old England and new wild America. Sir Henry (Nikita Mikhalkov) arrives from America and finds himself in a completely different environment. To show this, they came up with an outfit for him - a wolf fur coat, meat and wine on the table and, as a contrast, traditional English porridge. It turned out quite funny...

The porridge, which the props assistant cooked especially for the film, was so tasty that at the end of filming, another saucepan was brought to the pavilion for the film crew. At the same time, during breaks between filming, guards were assigned to the pot of porridge so that it would not be eaten ahead of time!

To make acting more fun, we actors came up with different tricks along the way. For example, I played together with Solomin and suggested that he add some spice to the relationship between our heroes: as if there is such a thing between Barrymore and Watson internal conflict- the doctor suspects the butler, and in retaliation he doesn’t give him any oatmeal. Such a “confrontation” between the heroes was not in the script; it was entirely our idea.

They say you and your co-stars drank heavily while filming?

They drank not during filming, but after. Everyone on camera was sober. So, when we were returning from filming, the train began to buzz so loudly that the passengers clearly did not sleep that night.

Nikita Mikhalkov, Adabashyan, Vasya Livanov used to lay it down, which infuriated the director,” admitted the combined filming artist Okovity. - But in general, the filming took place in a very cheerful family atmosphere. That's why the film turned out well.

The director was informed that Mikhalkov allegedly “persuaded” a bottle of cognac during his shift and did not eat anything. And during filming he was simply irrepressible. Once, he drove a horse to such an extent that it fainted: it lay with eyes closed, wasn’t breathing... Someone decided that it was all over. But Nikita was able to bring her to her senses.

The performer of the role of Dr. Watson, Vitaly Solomin, did not spare himself, literally working without closing his eyes. At the Maly Drama Theater in Moscow, where he played, at that time a performance was being prepared for the next party congress. Rehearsals took place daily and with strict attendance. In “Dog,” filming also took place every day. Solomin spent a week on the train, riding from Moscow to Leningrad and back. I haven't slept well in a week. Encouraging myself, every morning I stood in front of the mirror and said: “Wake up, talented one!!!”

Where was it filmed?
The county of Devonshire, in which the events of the novel “The Hound of the Baskervilles” unfold, was replaced by Estonian landscapes in Maslennikov’s film. The Kuistlemma bog played the role of the famous peat bogs of Dartmoor perfectly. Baskerville Hall was filmed in Tallinn, and two buildings served as locations. In the episode where Doctor Mortimer, performed by Evgeniy Steblov, tells the legend of the Baskerville family, Glen's castle appears. It was here that Hugo Baskerville's captive climbed down the ivy from the castle tower window. Baskerville Hall of the 19th century played the castle of Count A.V. Orlova-Davydova. Now it houses the Estonian History Museum.

We were just driving past, somewhere on a hill there was a little house,” recalls Arkady Tigai, the second director. - Suddenly Maslennikov yelled: “Stop, stop! Here he is!" We drove up - there was a real English house. Around the lawn. It was a perfect hit.

About fees

Honored artists (Solomin, Livanov, Mikhalkov, Yankovsky) received 50 rubles. per shift (about 15,000 rubles in today's money). For comparison: now the fee for top actors is about 600,000 rubles. in a day.

The rest of the artists received 30-40 rubles. per day (about 9,000 - 12,000 rubles with our money). Extras - 3 rubles. per day (about 900 rubles with our money).

Stories from filming
Actress Svetlana Kryuchkova, who plays Mrs. Barrymore, was pregnant during filming. As she herself stated, after reading the script, she was horrified:

I read my role and realized that I would be left without a child. My heroine is constantly crying! And her text is so scary - about a convict, about a brother. Something needed to be changed quickly. And I took a paradoxical path. I began to smile while saying this text. And the solution to the image was obtained. “So the murderer Selden is your brother?” I say, “Yes, sir!” - and I smile. And I begin to tell the story, part of which was invented by Adabashyan: “It was a real angel, he just fell into bad company...” - it was all completed and improvised. And also that story about the boy Henry, who really loves oatmeal...

One day, Mikhalkov and Kryuchkova teased Solomin.

Vitaly Solomin was very jealous of the fact that someone else was being filmed close-up, not him,” said Kryuchkova. - We were filming the scene in the tower when Barrymore signals to my brother and I rush in to protect him. The shandal with candles was in Solomin’s hands, and he kept turning my back to the operator. Mikhalkov came up and said in my ear: “Don’t argue with Solomin during the rehearsal, obey, and there will be filming, so you go in and take this shandal from his hands.” I did so. Solomin was confused and asked: “So the killer Selden is your brother?” I turned to Solomin, that is, with my back to the operator, and then suddenly turned to Mikhalkov, who was the owner, answered: “Yes, sir,” and said my monologue in close-up.

Evgeniy Steblov had to catch a train one evening. Everyone was in a hurry and working, shouting: “Hurry, Steblov is late!” Having filmed the scene of the fatal escape of the cocker spaniel Snoopy, the group rolled up the equipment, loaded into the car... and drove away. Only the puzzled and dirty Steblov remained in place - he was forgotten!

This year marks the 35th anniversary of one of the best films from the series “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson” - “The Hound of the Baskervilles”. The premiere of this television film took place on a Saturday evening in July on the first program of all-Union television. A wonderful production by Igor Maslennikov, a brilliant performance by the Livanov-Solomin duo, an interesting interpretation of the image of Henry Baskerville - all this made this film a favorite among millions of viewers.

By the time Maslennikov got ready to film The Hound of the Baskervilles, the two previous films had been such a success that it cost him nothing to assemble a great cast. New stars were added to Livanov and Solomin - Nikita Mikhalkov, Oleg Yankovsky, Evgeny Steblov, Irina Kupchenko, Alla Demidova, Sergey Martinson. The Moscow acting team enjoyed playing in Leningrad

“The fact that we took on “The Hound” was the fault of the viewer, who gave us no rest: “If we’ve already taken on Sherlock Holmes, then how can you pass by such a masterpiece as “The Hound of the Baskervilles”?” All this happened in the era , when viewers were still writing letters. There were whole bags of letters on the Central Television demanding a continuation. But I must admit, this time I didn’t have to be persuaded for long. “Mystical” numbers came into play. Before that, we made two films - two and three episodes each ". Then they thought like this: it would be nice to end the cycle with a two-part "Dog", with beautiful numbers - three films, seven episodes. But, as you know, this was not the end..."- said director Igor Maslennikov

If everything was clear with Holmes and Watson for a long time, then with the choice of actors for other roles it was not so simple.

Maslennikov wanted to invite Nikolai Gubenko to play the role of Henry Baskerville. I tried to persuade him for a long time, but for some reason he refused.

When filming began, cameraman Yuri Veksler had a heart attack. The director had to urgently look for a replacement for him. Dmitry Dolinin agreed to conduct the studio shooting, and Vladimir Ilyin then filmed the entire location.
Nikita Mikhalkov at that time was finishing the film “Kinfolk,” which starred Svetlana Kryuchkova, Wexler’s wife. So they came up with the idea of inviting Mikhalkov to play the role of Sir Henry. Actually, Maslennikov and Kryuchkova were not going to invite: she was pregnant and was about to give birth. In short, Veksler and Kryuchkova persuaded him, and Maslennikov called Mikhalkov. After this, the director came up with the idea to make Sir Henry a farmer. This is how a cheerful, funny, cheeky character in the American style appeared.

Mikhalkov arrived by an early train and immediately went to the studio, although filming was supposed to begin only in 12 days. He came not alone, but with the screenwriter, artist, actor and director Alexander Adabashyan, with whom he was friends then. And all these 12 days they hung around Lenfilm.
Of course, no one was waiting for Adabashyan.

“At first I couldn’t understand why Mikhalkov brought him. When we started filming, they began to discuss something among themselves, whispering. And then I realized: Mikhalkov doesn’t trust me as a director!”- said Maslennikov. - “I remember when Nikita came to the set for the first time, he began to thirst for blood with his characteristic scope. He is still a leader by nature and a director by vocation. He gave orders: “You go here, you go there!..” What was I supposed to do? "I'm not a despot or a dictator, but there must be one director on the set, otherwise nothing good will come of it. I had to point at them. And they realized that I was something. Mikhalkov was happy. Because, in addition, that he is a leader and a director, he is also an actor, and it is very important for an actor that he has a leader, that someone leads and guides him, and he doesn’t care about anything - the director will come up with everything, tell him everything. And here Nikita " swam" in this happiness: “Is this how it should be, tell me? This is how we should stand? Should I look there?” So with affection you can turn Mikhalkov into an obedient lamb."

In order to “neutralize” this gop company, it was necessary to find something for Adabashyan to do. And then Maslennikov came up with the idea: “Let Barrymore play!” No one has been cast for this role yet. So Adabashyan became a person subordinate to the director on the set, and he no longer had time to discuss with Mikhalkov whether he was filming correctly.

“As for Mikhalkov, Nikita has such an incredible temperament, he tears and throws everything around. The group reported to me that during his shift he “persuades” a bottle of cognac and does not eat anything. For this healthy body this is sheer nonsense. During the filming, he drove the horse to such an extent that it simply collapsed to the ground. She fainted: she lay with her eyes closed, did not move, did not breathe... I even thought: “That’s it, she died!” But Nikita began to fuss with her, after which she suddenly opened her eyes, gradually came to her senses - and off we go! He picked it up! Such a phenomenal person.

Many people reproached me for inviting him to the role: they say, it’s not in the style of the film. But it seems to me that his organic nature - his frantic, temperamental beginning - fit very well into this story. Adabashyan was a kind of shock absorber and counterweight for him. So I took advantage of their own intrigue - whispering behind my back - and drew both of them into the common game."

Adabashyan remembers his participation in the film with pleasure. Especially oatmeal, which he so passionately laid out in this film on the plates of young Baskerville and Doctor Watson. Famous phrase: "Oatmeal, sir!" became his calling card:

“According to the plot, we needed to create a contrast between old England and the new wild America. Sir Henry (Nikita Mikhalkov) comes from America and finds himself in a completely different environment. To show this, they came up with an outfit for him - a wolf fur coat, meat and wine on the table and as a contrast - traditional English porridge. It turned out quite funny...
The porridge, which the props assistant cooked especially for the film, was so tasty that at the end of filming, another saucepan was brought to the pavilion for the film crew. At the same time, during breaks between filming, guards were assigned to the pot of porridge so that it would not be eaten ahead of time!
To make acting more fun, we actors came up with different tricks along the way. For example, I played together with Solomin and suggested that he add some spice to the relationship between our heroes: it’s as if there is such an internal conflict between Barrymore and Watson - the doctor suspects the butler, and in retaliation he doesn’t give him any oatmeal. Such a “confrontation” between the heroes was not in the script; it was entirely our idea."

Oleg Yankovsky appeared in the role of Stapleton not only because of some kind of negative charm, but also as Maslennikov’s favorite actor - he had previously starred in several films

And here are the memories of Svetlana Kryuchkova:

“I read the role that Maslennikov offered me, and I realized that I would be left without a child. Because this heroine cries all the time. And her text is so terrible - about a convict, about a brother. I think we need to somehow save the child. Husband with a heart attack in intensive care (Yuri Veksler - author's note), we must take care of both this and that. And I took a paradoxical path. I began, while speaking this text, to smile, laugh. And the solution to the image, the solution to the role turned out. “So, the killer Is Selden your brother? I say, “Yes, sir!” - and I smile. And I begin to tell this whole story, part of which was invented by Sasha Adabashyan: “He was a real angel, he just fell into bad company ...” - this was all completed and improvised by us. And also that story about the boy Henry, who is very loves oatmeal...

Vitaly Methodievich was very jealous that someone was being filmed close-up, and not him, oddly enough, although he has a huge role and a wonderful artist, and what is there to be afraid of, and I have a small role. And, for example, that scene in the tower, remember when Barrymore signals to my brother and I rush in to protect him. And the chandelier with candles was in Solomin’s hands, and he kept turning my back to the operator. And Mikhalkov came up and said in my ear: “You know, don’t do this during the rehearsal, but now there will be filming, you go in and take this shandal from his hands.” I did just that, only during the shooting. Solomin was confused, he asked: “So the killer Selden is your brother?” And I turned to Solomin, that is, with my back to the operator, then turned to Mikhalkov, who is the owner, and said: “Yes, sir,” and thus ended up in a close-up shot. And in close-up she said her monologue. And Mikhalkov then laughed a lot and said: “Well done, professional.”

But the most difficult task was to find main character film - the notorious Hound of the Baskervilles. There is no mistake in casting this role - only the appearance of a real monster can explain the fear and horror of the inhabitants of Baskerville Hall:

"“It was impossible to make a mistake in casting this role - only the appearance of a real monster in the frame could explain the fear and horror of the inhabitants of Baskerville Hall,- said Viktor Okovity, a combined filming artist. - Several four-legged applicants were screened. They were looking for a type by trial and error - no one knew exactly what the dog should look like in the end. We tried dogs of different breeds, they even offered a Pekingese with an eye scratched out by a cat, the other eye looked very crazy. We shot several takes with him, but we were not satisfied with the result. They came up with the idea of filming a calf as the Hound of the Baskervilles, but quickly abandoned this idea. Then there was the option with a Great Dane. It was covered with reflective tape, which is used on road signs. They pasted the skeleton of a dog onto the animal and began filming it on black velvet. We looked at the filmed parts and burst out laughing - it turned out to be just a “running skeleton”.

After watching the video, director Maslennikov said that there was only one way out - to make a mask for the dog. “At first we thought of painting the whole dog with phosphorus, as written by Conan Doyle. We told the dog handlers about this, and they grabbed their heads, saying that this would spoil the dog’s sense of smell, not a single owner would allow their animal to be painted with chemicals,” the director recalls. “She he will immediately lick all this phosphorus off himself..."

“And since the idea with the reflective tape was mine, I was assigned to make a muzzle for the dog, says the artist Okovity. - I pasted light tape onto the black velvet. The dog in the frame was running with this on its head. And instead of phosphorus, we prepared a special foam mixture from washing powder and reflective coating scraped off from tape. I applied this mixture to a dog mask.
We had a lot of trouble with filming. Having put a reflective mask on the dog, it was necessary to simultaneously remove it and shine light on it. Special spotlights were installed behind the cameras. Prepared to record. But we didn’t take one thing into account: a dog will never run into a bright light. Animals generally do not run towards fire - this is the law of nature. The shoot was canceled again. We shot this shot six times!"

No one could have imagined that working with animals on set was so difficult. It would seem a simple episode - a bullet hits a dog. But the dog, like an artist, needs to “act out” being hit by a bullet fired from Lestrade’s revolver. It was necessary to show the dog’s aggressive reaction, but it turned out to be very peaceful by nature. Maslennikov suggested: let’s make a bullet out of tin wire and shoot at the dog so that it wakes up. Acting assistant Natasha Yashpan, an intelligent woman, shamed the director, saying, you are a St. Petersburger, how can you hurt a dog?!

Maslennikov, in order to prove that the bullets would only agitate the animal a little and nothing more, suggested shooting him in the leg. The pyrotechnician fired and hit Maslennikov in the... just above the thigh... well, you understand... Igor Fedorovich grabbed the soft spot, screaming loudly! In general, the reaction was the same, and everyone understood that it was forbidden to shoot a dog!!! Then they came up with this move: they put plywood under the dog and pulled it out sharply so that the dog would stumble. But he turned out to be cunning - sensing a trick, he ran up to the plywood and jumped over it! I had to shoot more than seven takes until the exhausted Great Dane, tired of jumping, began to stumble.
By the way, in the last scene, actor Nikita Mikhalkov was afraid to film next to the Great Dane, so the dog and Mikhalkov were filmed separately, and then the shots were combined

“And then during the dubbing they spent a long time conjuring the voice of the Hound of the Baskervilles, says the film’s sound engineer Asya Zvereva. - It is difficult to restore the “recipe” today. They used the voices of a lion, a bear, a dog, and stretched it all out. The work turned out to be so complicated that it had to be done in Moscow - there was no good equipment in Leningrad at that time."

In search of locations for filming The Hound of the Baskervilles, director Maslennikov went to Estonia. They also filmed the county of Devonshire, where the events of the novel The Hound of the Baskervilles unfold, and the peat bogs of Dartmoor. Baskerville Hall was filmed in Tallinn, and two buildings served as locations. In the episode where Doctor Mortimer, performed by Evgeniy Steblov, tells the legend of the Baskerville family, Glen's castle appears. It was here that Hugo Baskerville's captive climbed down the ivy from the castle tower window. Baskerville Hall of the 19th century played the castle of Count A.V. Orlova-Davydova. Now it houses the Estonian History Museum.

Sources

A calf auditioned for the role of a dog

The main highlight of the film “The Hound of the Baskervilles” was that same mysterious dog that terrified the heroes of the film and the audience. Filming the tailed artist turned out to be the most difficult task.
“It was impossible to make a mistake in the selection for this role - only the appearance of a real monster in the frame could explain the fear and horror of the inhabitants of Baskerville Hall,” said Victor Okovity, a combined filming artist. - Several four-legged applicants were looked at. They were looking for a type by trial and error - no one knew exactly what the dog should look like in the end. We tried dogs of different breeds, they even offered a Pekingese dog with an eye scratched out by a cat, but the other eye looked very crazy. We shot several takes with him, but we were not satisfied with the result. They came up with the idea of filming the CALF as the Baskerville dog, but quickly abandoned this idea. Then there was the option with DOG. It was covered with reflective tape, which is used on road signs. They pasted the skeleton of a dog onto the animal and began filming it on black velvet. We looked at the filmed parts and burst out laughing - it turned out to be just a “running skeleton”.
After watching the video, director Maslennikov said that there was only one way out - to make a mask for the dog.
- At first we thought of painting the whole dog with phosphorus, as written by Conan Doyle. They told the dog handlers about this, and they grabbed their heads, saying that this would spoil the dog’s sense of smell, not a single owner would allow their animal to be painted with chemicals,” the director recalls. - She will immediately lick all this phosphorus off herself...
“And since the idea with the reflective tape was mine, I was assigned to make a muzzle for the dog,” says the artist Okovity. - I pasted light tape onto the black velvet. The dog in the frame was running with this on its head. And instead of phosphorus, we prepared a special foam mixture from washing powder and reflective coating scraped off from tape. I applied this mixture to a dog mask.
We had a lot of trouble with filming. Having put a reflective mask on the dog, it was necessary to simultaneously remove it and shine light on it. Special spotlights were installed behind the cameras. Prepared to record. But we didn’t take one thing into account: a dog will never run into a bright light. Animals generally do not run towards fire - this is the law of nature. The shoot was canceled again. We shot this shot six times!

The friendly Great Dane was turned into the creepy Hound of the Baskervilles...

I had no idea that it would be so difficult to work with animals on set. It would seem a simple episode - a bullet hits a dog. But the dog, like an artist, needs to “act out” being hit by a bullet fired from Lestrade’s revolver. It was necessary to show the dog’s aggressive reaction, but it turned out to be very peaceful by nature. Maslennikov suggested: let’s make a bullet out of tin wire and shoot at the dog so that it wakes up. Acting assistant Natasha Yashpan, an intelligent woman, shamed the director, saying, you are a St. Petersburger, how can you hurt a dog?!
Maslennikov, in order to prove that the bullets would only agitate the animal a little and nothing more, suggested shooting him in the leg. The pyrotechnician fired and hit Maslennikov in the... just above the thigh... well, you understand... We hear the director scream! Igor Fedorovich grabbed the soft spot, screaming loudly! In general, the reaction was the same, and everyone understood that it was forbidden to shoot a dog!!! Then they came up with this move: they put plywood under the dog and pulled it out sharply so that the dog would stumble. But he turned out to be cunning - sensing a trick, he ran up to the plywood and... jumped over it! I had to shoot more than seven takes until the exhausted Great Dane, tired of jumping, began to stumble.
By the way, in the last scene, actor Nikita Mikhalkov was afraid to film next to the Great Dane, so the dog and Mikhalkov were filmed separately, and then the shots were combined...
The group recalls that the dog had a hard time during the filming, but she bravely withstood everything and became the group’s favorite. According to actor Vasily Livanov, the dog turned out to have an amazing sweet tooth - she devoured the cake brought for Solomin’s birthday, along with the box, without leaving a single crumb.
“They spent a long time conjuring the voice of the Hound of the Baskervilles,” says Asya Zvereva, the film’s sound engineer. - It is difficult to restore the “recipe” today. They used the voices of a lion, a bear, a dog, and stretched it all out. The work turned out to be so complicated that it had to be done in Moscow - there was no good equipment in Leningrad at that time.

Mikhalkov did not arrive alone

According to the director, they first tried actor Nikolai Gubenko for the role of Nikita Mikhalkov - Sir Henry. I tried to persuade him for a long time, but he refused at the last moment.
At this time, Mikhalkov was finishing the film “Kinfolk,” in which Svetlana Kryuchkova, who was involved in the film “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” starred. She and her husband (film cameraman Yuri Veksler) had the idea of inviting Mikhalkov to play the role of Sir Henry.
Mikhalkov, to everyone’s surprise, arrived at the Lenfilm studio not alone, but with his friend - screenwriter, artist, actor and director Alexander Adabashyan, 12 days before the start of filming. All 12 days the friends walked around Lenfilm, laughed, and discussed something. Filming began, and the actors looked at the director with irony. It got to the point that Mikhalkov began to command on the set.
In order to “neutralize” this “gop company”, it was necessary to find something for Adabashyan to do. And then the director came up with the idea: “Let Barrymore play!” This role remained vacant. So Adabashyan became a person subordinate to the director on the set, and he no longer had time to discuss with Mikhalkov whether the director was filming correctly.

The Barrymore spouses were played by Alexander Adabashyan and Svetlana Kryuchkova.

As a result, the melancholy Adabashyan in the film became a kind of shock absorber, a counterweight to the temperamental Mikhalkov. Their couple fit organically into the whole story. Alexander Adabashyan, who played Barrymore, heartily laying out oatmeal in the film, admitted that in life he eats this wonderful porridge every morning, and considers his role in the film to be stellar. The famous phrase "Oatmeal, sir!" became his calling card.
- I haven’t told anyone about this yet: it turned out that I came to audition for this film with... a huge black eye under my eye. Got into a fight! I won’t say with whom. But I had a classic look... Of course, the group was surprised, looked at me meaningfully, but took it. During filming, I no longer fought, but was completely immersed in work. According to the plot, we needed to create a contrast between old England and new wild America. Sir Henry (Nikita Mikhalkov) arrives from America and finds himself in a completely different environment. To show this, they came up with an outfit for him - a wolf fur coat, meat and wine on the table and, as a contrast, traditional English porridge. It turned out pretty funny...
The porridge, which the props assistant cooked especially for the film, was so tasty that at the end of filming, another saucepan was brought to the pavilion for the film crew. At the same time, during breaks between filming, guards were assigned to the pot of porridge so that it would not be eaten ahead of time!
To make acting more fun, we actors came up with different tricks along the way. For example, I played together with Solomin and suggested that he add some spice to the relationship between our heroes: it’s as if there is such an internal conflict between Barrymore and Watson - the doctor suspects the butler, and in retaliation he doesn’t give him any oatmeal. Such a “confrontation” between the heroes was not in the script; it was entirely our idea.

About alcohol

They say you and your co-stars drank heavily while filming?
- They drank not during filming, but after. Everyone on camera was sober. When we were returning from filming, the train began to buzz so loudly that the passengers clearly did not sleep that night.
“Nikita Mikhalkov, Adabashyan, Vasya Livanov used to lay it down, which infuriated the director,” admitted the combined filming artist Okovity. - But in general, the filming took place in a very cheerful family atmosphere. That's why the film turned out well.

Cornered horse

The director was informed that Mikhalkov allegedly “persuaded” a bottle of cognac during his shift and did not eat anything. And during filming he was simply irrepressible. Once he drove a horse to such an extent that it fainted: it lay with its eyes closed, not breathing... Someone decided that that was it, he was dead. But Nikita was able to bring her to her senses.

Solomin

Where was it filmed?

The county of Devonshire, in which the events of the novel “The Hound of the Baskervilles” unfold, was replaced by Estonian landscapes in Maslennikov’s film. The Kuistlemma bog played the role of the famous peat bogs of Dartmoor perfectly. Baskerville Hall was filmed in Tallinn, and two buildings served as locations. In the episode where Doctor Mortimer, performed by Evgeniy Steblov, tells the legend of the Baskerville family, Glen's castle appears. It was here that Hugo Baskerville's captive climbed down the ivy from the castle tower window. Baskerville Hall of the 19th century played the castle of Count A.V. Orlova-Davydova. Now it houses the Estonian History Museum.
“We were just driving by, somewhere on a hill there was a little house,” recalls Arkady Tigai, the second director. - Suddenly Maslennikov yelled: “Stop, stop! Here he is!" We drove up - there was a real English house. Around the lawn. It was a perfect hit.

About fees

Honored artists (Solomin, Livanov, Mikhalkov, Yankovsky) received 50 rubles. per shift (about 15,000 rubles in today's money). For comparison: now the fee for top actors is about 600,000 rubles. in a day.
The rest of the artists received 30-40 rubles. per day (about 9,000 - 12,000 rubles with our money). Extras - 3 rubles. per day (about 900 rubles with our money).

Stories from filming

Actress Svetlana Kryuchkova, who plays Mrs. Barrymore, was pregnant during filming. As she herself stated, after reading the script, she was horrified:
“I read my role and realized that I would be left without a child. My heroine is constantly crying! And her text is so scary - about a convict, about a brother. Something needed to be changed quickly. And I took a paradoxical path. I began to smile while saying this text. And the solution to the image was obtained. “So the murderer Selden is your brother?” I say, “Yes, sir!” - and I smile. And I begin to tell the story, part of which was invented by Adabashyan: “It was a real angel, he just fell into bad company...” - it was all completed and improvised. And also that story about the boy Henry, who really loves oatmeal...
One day Mikhalkov and Kryuchkova teased Solomin.
“Vitaly Solomin was very jealous of the fact that someone else was being filmed close-up, and not him,” said Kryuchkova. - We were filming the scene in the tower when Barrymore signals to my brother and I rush in to protect him. The shandal with candles was in Solomin’s hands, and he kept turning my back to the operator. Mikhalkov came up and said in my ear: “Don’t argue with Solomin during the rehearsal, obey, and there will be filming, so you go in and take this shandal from his hands.” I did so. Solomin was confused and asked: “So the killer Selden is your brother?” I turned to Solomin, that is, with my back to the operator, and then suddenly turned to Mikhalkov, who was the owner, answered: “Yes, sir,” and said my monologue in close-up.
Evgeniy Steblov had to catch a train one evening. Everyone was in a hurry and working, shouting: “Hurry, Steblov is late!” Having filmed the scene of the fatal escape of the cocker spaniel Snoopy, the group rolled up the equipment, loaded into the car... and drove away. Only the puzzled and dirty Steblov remained in place - he was forgotten!

On the arena of the Odessa Circus perform... no, not lions or trained elephants, but real dogs of the Baskervilles! The descendants of the false demon from Conan Doyle's detective show somersaults, leapfrogs and other tricks. The Timer correspondent visited the circus and met these cute dogs.

Those who want to see the menacing and “deadly” monsters in the swamp at the performance will be disappointed. These artists are the embodiment of kindness and affection. True, these qualities were not given to them by nature, but by their trainer and second mother, artist of the National Circus of Ukraine Marina Novoselova.

According to her, the Dogue de Bordeaux, and dogs of this particular breed perform in the circus, have a rather formidable fighting character, which not everyone can eradicate.

Previously, these were butcher's dogs, they broke the legs of sheep. Conan Doyle's Baskerville dog is a mix of Dogue de Bordeaux and Old English Mastiff, says the trainer. - My dogs are artists, and I must raise them so that the viewer can dire consequences stroke them. And it’s not easy to achieve this while they are small, they are unbalanced, playful, and often you don’t understand what’s on their mind.

Novoselova began training the stubborn “Baskervilles” several years ago, when her two pet Bordeaux dogs, Phoebe and Babasik, gave birth to offspring. It was a pity to give seven beloved fluffy balls into the wrong hands. Therefore, the woman decided to teach the dogs circus art and use them in the “Epatage” show.

I don’t want to brag, but this event is unprecedented in world practice. Before me, no one had dared to train this particular breed of dog. - says Marina Novoselova.

The Kyiv trainer was up to the task, because before Bordeaux, Novoselova worked with crocodiles and snakes. She says that in some ways it is easier to work with them, if you do not forget that a crocodile is a crocodile in Africa too. Marina Borisovna showed us a huge hematoma on her hand - the result of a blow from the tail of one of the green students.

And although he came to me when he still fit in my palm, you should always expect an attack from him, in a word, he is predictable. - says the trainer.

Bordeaux wines have one invaluable quality: they are very good memory, which makes training easier.

They are very smart, demonstrate elements of obedience, do various pirouettes, play leapfrog - this is when one dog jumps over another, show the “paw” number when they walk only with their front paws along the arena. There is a “carpet” routine during which they show their fortitude by not touching the sausage for several minutes. Well, there’s a “surprise” number, but I won’t tell you that.

It is not easy to feed such a flock: up to 15 kilograms of dry food are consumed per day for 14 tailed monsters. Treating them with ice cream and sweets is strictly prohibited - they are only pampered on their birthdays.

On this day we make hot dogs for the dogs, sing them songs and praise them in every possible way. It’s always very funny to watch them eat these hot dogs, some pick out the sausage, some eat it all at once, and some just prolong the pleasure.

Despite the fact that the “Baskervilles” are similar to each other, Marina Novoselova never confuses them. He says all children are different.

The four-legged performers will stay at the Odessa Circus until mid-August.

Nadezhda Markevich