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   Basil Rathbone

   Like George Sanders and Vincent Price after him, Rathbone made a name for himself in the 1930s by playing suave villains in costume dramas and swashbucklers, including David Copperfield (1935) as the abusive stepfather Mr. Murdstone; Anna Karenina (1935) as her distant husband, Karenin; The Last Days of Pompeii (1935) portraying Pontius Pilate; Captain Blood (1935); A Tale of Two Cities (1935), as the Marquis St. Evremonde; The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) playing his best remembered villain, Sir Guy of Gisbourne; The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938); and The Mark of Zorro (1940) as Captain Esteban Pasquale. ... | Basil Rathbone |
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   Swashbuckler

   The word "swashbuckler", in the modern sense, generally describes a fearless romantic archetype, a fictitious, adventurous, sword-wielding, male character who seeks to win the heart of a beautiful lady while rescuing society from the clutches of a dastardly villain. ... Actors famous for their portrayals of swashbucklers include Douglas Fairbanks Sr., Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Errol Flynn, Tyrone Power, Burt Lancaster, and (arguably) Basil Rathbone, an extremely skilled fencer who often played villains.
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   Basil (name)

   Basil Rathbone, British actor most famous for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes and swashbuckler film villain roles ... Basil Fawlty, the major character in the British sitcom Fawlty Towers, played by John Cleese
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   List of actors who have played Sherlock Holmes

   The list of actors who have played Sherlock Holmes in film, television, stage, or radio includes: ... Basil Rathbone
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   Rathbone-Bruce Sherlock Holmes films

   The Sherlock Holmes films starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce were made between 1939 and 1946. ... He "dies" violently in each of the three episodes, one of the few times that a villain dies repeatedly in a film series (though his death in The Woman in Green apparently had some permanency, as it was referenced in Terror By Night during a conversation between Holmes and Lestrade in which Holmes remarks, "...Colonel Sebastian Moran was the most sinister, ruthless, and diabolically clever henchman of our late but unlamented friend, Professor Moriarty.").
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   Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon

   This is the second Basil Rathbone "Sherlock Holmes" film in which Moriarty appears, and also the second one in which he dies (played by George Zucco, Moriarty was thrown to his death from the top of the Tower of London by Holmes in 1939's The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes).
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   Swashbuckler films

   Novels, and then Hollywood, altered the word's connotation to make "swashbuckler" mean a loudmouthed but good braggart, and the hero of the plotline. ... Basil Rathbone
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   Lionel Atwill

   Two of Atwill's other notable non-horror roles were opposite his contemporary Basil Rathbone in film adaptations of Arthur Conan Doyle's character Sherlock Holmes, including a role as Dr. James Mortimer in 20th Century Fox's 1939 film rendition of the Conan Doyle novel The Hound of the Baskervilles, and the 1942 Universal Studios film Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon, in which he played Holmes' archenemy and super-villain, Professor Moriarty.
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   The Great Mouse Detective

   He also plays the violin rather well in the movie, whereas the book series stated Basil's violin playing was atrocious—instead, Basil played the flute. ... Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes, the famous human detective who lives above Basil.
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    Shanghai Knights

    The name of the villain, "the finest swordsman in England," seems to be a tribute to Basil Rathbone, who in villain roles often looked to be the better swordsman, holding back artificially to let the hero win as per the script.

Explore the following pages on Powerset:

• Basil Rathbone,
• Swashbuckler,
• Basil (name),
• List of actors who have played Sherlock Holmes,
• Rathbone-Bruce Sherlock Holmes films,
• Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon,
• Swashbuckler films,
• Lionel Atwill,
• The Great Mouse Detective,
• Shanghai Knights

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