Francis De Wolff

Seeking revenge against MI6 agent James Bond (Sir Sean Connery) for the death of their agent Dr. No in Jamaica, international criminal organization SPECTRE begins training agents to kill him, before assigning the task to Irish assassin Donald Grant (Robert Shaw). To lure Bond into a trap, SPECTRE's chief planner, Czechoslovak chess grand-master Kronsteen (Vladek Sheybal) (#5), devises a plan to have Bond attempt to procure a Lektor cryptography device from the Soviets from their consulate in Istanbul. He knows the Brits will never pass on an opportunity to get their hands on a Lektor coding device, and that they will assign Bond for the mission. SPECTRE operative Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya) (#3), a former SMERSH (Soviet counter-intelligence) colonel, is assigned to oversee the mission and to ensure Grant can carry out Bond's assassination at the right moment. To set the trap, Klebb recruits a cipher clerk (who doesn't yet know that Klebb is no longer working for the Soviets) at the consulate, Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi) (a Soviet Consulate clerk and Bond's love interest), to unwittingly assist in the plan, tricking her into believing she is still working for SMERSH. Klebb tells Romanova that her job is to seduce Bond, which she accepts reluctantly. In London, Bond is called to a meeting with M (Bernard Lee) and informed that Romanova has requested Bond's help to defect to the West, in exchange for providing British intelligence a Lektor. Exactly as Kronsteen predicted, M suspects a trap but decides to honor Romanova's request. Before departing, Bond is given a special attache case by Q (Desmond Llewelyn), containing several defensive gadgets and an ArmaLite AR-7 sniper rifle, to help on his assignment. Upon arriving in Istanbul, Bond works alongside the head of MI6's branch in the city, Ali Kerim Bey (Pedro Armendáriz), while he awaits word from Romanova. During this time, Kerim is attacked by Soviet agent Krilencu (Fred Haggerty), who causes problems for the men (This was after Grant killed one of the Soviet agents and made it look like the Brits did it), unaware that Grant is shadowing Bond to protect him until he steals the Lektor. Kerim is perplexed as it is not the like the Soviets to disturb the peace like this. He uses a periscope he installed in the Soviet intelligence office (from underneath a 4th century water reservoir) to figure out that Krilencu is back in town. After an attack on the men while they hide out at a gypsy settlement (Grant intervenes at critical moments to keep Bond out of harm's way, although Kerim is shot in the hand), Kerim assassinates Krilencu with Bond's help before he can flee the city. Eventually, Romanova meets Bond at his hotel suite, where she agrees to provide plans to the consulate for him to help him steal the Lektor. The pair spend the night together, unaware SPECTRE is filming them as part of Kronsteen's plan. Upon receiving the consulate's floor plans from Romanova (Romanova gives them to Bond at the Saint Sofia church, but only after Grant dispatches the Soviet agent trailing her), Bond and Kerim make a plan to steal the Lektor, before all three make haste to escape the city aboard the Orient Express. Inside the Russian embassy, they set off a bomb to create chaos. Taking advantage, Bond, Romanova and Kerim steal it and escape underground, evading hundreds of fleeing rats. Once aboard, Kerim discovers a Soviet security officer tailed them aboard, forcing Bond to help him subdue them. While Kerim remains with him to prevent him escaping, Bond returns to Romanova to wait for their rendezvous with one of Kerim's men (Kerim was supposed to stop the train near the Bulgarian frontier where his men were supposed to meet him). However, Grant kills Kerim and the Soviet officer, forcing Bond to remain on the train and question Romanova's motive. When the train arrives in Belgrade, Bond passes on news of Kerim's death to one of his sons waiting for them and receives instructions to travel to Zagreb and rendezvous with a British agent named Nash. However, the man he meets is actually Grant, who has already killed Nash and assumed his identity. After drugging Romanova at dinner, bond pulls a gun on Grant, but he explains his plans only include smuggling one person out. Bond accepts his explanation. Grant then overpowers Bond. He quickly reveals that Romanova was a pawn in SPECTRE's plan to acquire the Lektor (while playing Brits and the Soviets against each other) and that he intends to kill both and stage it as a murder-suicide, leaving behind faked blackmail evidence that will scandalize the British intelligence community (the film of Romanova and Bond making love and a letter from Romanova saying that Bond has to marry her else she will expose him). Bond offers to double his fee. In exchange for a "last" cigarette, Bond offers the gold sovereigns, thereby tricking Grant into setting off a booby trap in his attache case (a tear gas canister explodes in his face when he opens it). After a prolonged struggle in the compartment, Bond kills him. Taking the Lektor and the film of their night together, Bond and a groggy Romanova leave the train in Istria, Yugoslavia and use Grant's escape plan (Grant had eloquently described how he planned to get away!!). They evade helicopter and boat attacks by SPECTRE agents before reaching safety. Learning of Grant's death and Bond's survival, SPECTRE's enigmatic chairman Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Anthony Dawson) (#1) has Kronsteen executed for his plan's disastrous failure. As the organization promised to sell back the Lektor to the Russians (for a price), Klebb is ordered to recover it and kill Bond. Klebb reaches the pair, while they are resting in a hotel in Venice, and sneaks into their room disguised as a maid. Klebb orders Romanova to leave the room while holding Bond at gunpoint. Romanova then re-enters, tackling Klebb and knocking the pistol to the ground. Klebb and Bond struggle, and Romanova picks up the pistol and kills Klebb. With their mission accomplished, Bond and Romanova spend some time on a romantic boat ride in the Venice canals and Bond throws the secretly recorded film into the canal. When she asks what the film was, he offers "I'll show you" as he kisses her.

Title and Credits are shown over a painting of Baskerville Hall on a hill top during a storm. A narrator tells us, "Know then the legend of the Hound of the Baskervilles. Sir Hugo a wild, profane and godless man; An evil man, in truth for there was with him a certain ugly and cruel humor that made his name a byword in the county." A drunken party is underway and a servant is tortured by Sir Hugo (David Oxley). The servant's daughter is the prize, but she has left the house. Furious, Sir Hugo sets the hounds on her trail, "The hounds: Let loose the pack!" The servant girl escapes on the estate, Sir Hugo gives chase and both hear the loud baying of a hound. The girl takes refuge in the old abbey ruins, but Sir Hugo finds her. In a fit of rage, he stabs her with a dagger. He hears the hound. It attacks and kills him. "And so, the curse of Sir Hugo came upon the Baskervilles in the shape of a hound from Hell, forever to bring misfortune to the Baskerville family. Therefore, take heed and beware the moor in those dark hours when evil is exalted else you will surely meet the hound of Hell, the hound of the Baskervilles." Dr. Mortimer (Francis De Wolff) reads this last passage to Sherlock Holmes (Peter Cushing) at his Baker street residence. Holmes is unimpressed and Dr. Mortimer is perturbed. Holmes asks the real reason for his visit. "The body of Sir Charles Baskerville discovered on Dartmoor early today," Dr. Mortimer reads from a local newspaper. Sir Charles was found by a servant, Barrymore, near the abbey ruins up on a hill not far from Baskerville Hall. The coroner's inquest ruled it heart failure. Dr. Mortimer's desire is to have Holmes investigate the matter because he thinks Sir Henry is in danger. Holmes agrees to see Sir Henry at his hotel the next day. Dr. Watson (Andre Morell) sees Dr. Mortimer out. Sir Henry Baskerville (Christopher Lee) is dressing in his hotel room. Holmes and Watson arrive, but Sir Henry mistakes them for hotel employees that have come to investigate a missing boot. Dr. Mortimer arrives amid the confusion and makes introductions. Sir Henry makes it clear he intends to occupy Baskerville Hall. Dr. Mortimer reluctantly tells Holmes the estate is worth about one million pounds. The will details bequests, including one thousand pounds for the Barrymores, and Dr. Mortimer is to receive forty thousand pounds. Holmes tells Sir Henry that, "I must impress upon you that I believe your life to be in considerable danger." Holmes also tells him that he is unable to leave London at the moment, but he will be sending Dr. Watson along to Dartmoor. Before anyone leaves, the first attempt on Sir Henry happens. A poisonous tarantula is hidden in a boot and crawls up near Sir Henry's head, but Holmes dispatches it. Sir Henry, Watson and Dr. Mortimer arrive in Dartmoor. Dr. Mortimer exits the cart for a short walk home. Before he walks away Perkins, the cart driver (Sam Kydd) suggests that Dr. Mortimer not walk alone. He tells him there has been a prison escape and a man named Selden, sentenced to life imprisonment is out on the moors. Sir Henry and Watson proceed to Baskerville Hall while Dr. Mortimer walks home. They are met at the Hall by Barrymore (John Le Mesurier). He gives the new master a tour of the house, and shows him a portrait of Sir Hugo. He tells him of the legend. Sir Henry notices a missing portrait, another of Sir Hugo. He is told it disappeared a few months ago. Watson is at the table finishing his meal. Sir Henry offers a toast, but Mrs. Barrymore (Helen Goss), visibly upset drops her glass then excuses herself. Dr. Watson asks Barrymore about the death of Sir Charles, as he found the body. Dr. Watson asks Barrymore if he believes in the legend of the hound. Barrymore tells Dr. Watson that he has heard the terrible howl. Dr. Watson is awakened in the night to the sound of a woman moaning. He investigates but finds nothing. The next morning the local Vicar, Bishop Frankland (Miles Malleson) stops to ask Sir Henry for a donation to the church. He is invited in for a glass of sherry. Sir Henry asks Mrs. Barrymore to donate an old suit to the jumble sale. Dr. Watson stops at the Grimpen Post Office to get a telegram from Holmes. It reminds Watson, "Under no circumstances allow Sir Henry to venture on the moor alone at night." Dr. Watson walks back to Baskerville Hall through the moor. He encounters Stapleton (Ewen Solon) who warns the doctor he was about to step into a trap. Stapleton also warns Watson to stick to the trail, lest he fall into the Grimpen Mire. Along the walk he encounters Cecile Stapleton (Maria Landi). Watson asks her if he is on the right path to Baskerville Hall. She bolts without answering, and Watson follows her but he falls into the mire. Stapleton rescues him, Cecile returns and helps. The Stapletons, father and daughter, return Dr. Watson to Baskerville Hall. Watson and Stapleton go into the house, and Cecile remains in the cart outside. They don't know Sir Henry is out riding his horse. Sir Henry arrives and talks to Cecile. She is very rude to Sir Henry. She runs away and when confronted, she kisses Sir Henry. That evening after everyone else has gone to bed, Sir Henry is joined by Dr. Watson. They see a light under the door of an unoccupied room. A candle burns near a window. Sir Henry notices a light out on the moor--a signal. Dr. Watson and Sir Henry investigate outside and find the source of the light. They find Selden (Michael Mulcaster), the escaped convict. They give chase and hear the hound. Sir Henry suffers a mild heart attack. Dr. Watson helps him back to the hall. Dr. Mortimer examines Sir Henry and orders bed rest. Dr. Watson wants Mortimer to stay and watch Sir Henry while he returns to the moor. Watson goes to the abbey ruins and encounters Holmes asking, "Why have you left Sir Henry alone?" Holmes tells Watson he has been in Devon for the whole time gathering information from Selden. "Selden told me all he had seen since hes been hiding." They hear the hound in the distance and run to investigate. Holmes notices Dr. Mortimer left Baskerville Hall. They hear a man scream and rush to investigate. They spot a man they believe to be Sir Henry dead. Holmes and Watson return to Baskerville Hall to get help to move the body. They see a light under the door of the signal room. Inside the room is Sir Henry reading a book. Sir Henry asks, "Who was it Holmes? Who was the poor devil that died instead of me?" Holmes deduces it was Selden, "Selden had on the suit you were wearing when we met in London." The next morning, Holmes and Watson return to the site of the death of Selden. They go to the abbey ruins and there they find blood on a stone and a dagger. Barrymore finds Selden's body, which had been moved from the night before. His body has been mutilated. "Some revolting sacrificial rite has been performed," Holmes notes. At the Hall, Holmes confronts Mrs. Barrymore and extracts the confession she was aiding her brother, Selden. She gave him food and Sir Henry's clothes and used the candle as a signal. Holmes pays a visit on the Bishop to inquire about a missing spider. Holmes knows the Bishop is regarded as the highest living authority on the study of rare spiders. He asks about the genus Theraphosa--tarantula. Bishop Frankland finally admits he is missing a tarantula and volunteers his visitor list, which included Dr. Mortimer and the Stapletons. Sir Henry stops at the Stapleton cottage. He lets himself in when no one answers his knock. Cecile appears and asks, "Why did you come here?" Stapleton is out and Cecile tells Sir Henry he is invited for dinner. She tells Sir Henry she is Spanish and her mother is dead. Her father returned to farm, but the property is no good. Sir Henry is in love with Cecile. Stapleton walks in and sees his daughter and Sir Henry being intimate. They sit and have a drink. Holmes and Watson meet with and confront Dr. Mortimer. They suspect he may have had a hand in the strange circumstances surrounding the death of Sir Charles and the attempts on Sir Henry. They ask about an old tin mine on the property. Mortimer tells Holmes that Stapleton may be more help as it is under his land. Holmes insists in seeing the mine, and insists that Dr. Mortimer accompany him. Holmes shows Mortimer the dagger that was used on Selden and the same as Sir Hugo used to kill the servant girl centuries earlier. Stapleton, Dr. Mortimer, and Holmes explore the old tin mine. Watson stays above. It is dank and water seeps through from the mire above. Holmes is looking for bones. While Stapleton and Mortimer chock the wheels of an old mining cart, Holmes explores deeper. He tells the two men, "We won't need to go any further, I've found what I came down for." They hear the hound howling. The cart runs down the rails, hits a support beam and causes a cave in, trapping Holmes. They dig for a while, but after two hours they stop. As it turns out, Holmes is waiting in the cart. He hurt his leg. Back at Baskerville Hall, Sir Henry invites Holmes and Watson to join him for dinner at the Stapletons. Holmes is very rude to Sir Henry. This is his plan--he wants Sir Henry to leave without them. The dagger is missing and Holmes has learned that Sir Hugo's hands were webbed, like Stapleton's hands. It turns out Stapleton is next in line for the Baskerville fortune. Holmes and Watson head for the abbey ruins where Sir Henry and Cecile have gone. She is leading Sir Henry to her father, the hound, and certain death. Fortunately Holmes and Watson hear Cecile's plan as she tells Sir Henry he will die. The hound appears and leaps on Sir Henry. It begins to maul him. Stapleton attacks Watson as he tries to shoot the hound. They scuffle briefly but Watson manages to shoot Stapleton. Holmes shoots the hound which turns on Stapleton. Cecile retrieves the dagger and tries to finish Sir Henry off, but Holmes intervenes. Cecile escapes. Holmes and Watson help Sir Henry to his feet and show him the dead dog. The dog was kept in the mine, starved for weeks, given the scent and turned loose. His missing boot was the scent. Cecile still running slips into the mire and is pulled under. Back in London Holmes and Watson admire a gift sent by Sir Henry. It is the missing portrait of Sir Hugo, showing his deformed hand, as a souvenir Holmes can add to his collection. Sir Henry also included a check for a very generous amount. Watson asks Holmes about what clue was the key. Holmes quips that, "the missing boot put me on the scent." We close with Holmes and Watson having tea.

A centenarian artist and scientist in 1890 Paris maintains his youth and health by periodically replacing a gland with that of a living person. In 1890, in Paris, the artist Dr. Georges Bonnet invites a group of friends for a private exposition of his new sculpture. Among the guests are Dr. Pierre Gerrard and his companion Janine Du Bois that had an affair with Dr. Bonnet ten years ago in Italy. When they see each other, their love rekindle. However Dr. Bonnet has a dark secret since he is 104 years old and needs to have a gland transplanted every ten years to keep his youth. But his partner and friend Dr. Ludwig Weiss had a stroke in Switzerland and cannot perform the surgery. —Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil A remake of "The Man in Half Moon Street" (1945) (qv.). Dr. Bonner plans to live forever through periodic gland transplants from younger, healthier human victims. Bonner looks about 40; he's really 104 years old. But people are starting to get suspicious, and he may not make 200. —Mike Rogers <MICHAELPEM@aol.com>

Dr. Thomas Bolton fights for the use of anesthetic in surgery and uses himself as a guinea pig, but soon finds himself addicted. In an effort to relieve the suffering of surgery patients, Dr. Thomas Bolton painstakingly develops an opium-based anesthetic, to which he gradually becomes addicted. In order to provide a continual supply of chemicals to continue his experiments and support his addiction, he falls in with a den of murderers who use his signature to sell cadavers to the local hospital.

In late 12th century England, the Saxons and Normans retain lingering hatred of one another. Unpopular Norman Prince John has ruled England since his brother, King Richard, left for the Holy Land to lead the Third Crusade, and many assume that Richard is now dead. During Saxon Ivanhoe's long journey back to England, however, he finds Richard in an Austrian prison, languishing because John will not pay his ransom. Once back in England, Ivanhoe disguises himself as a minstrel and goes to the castle of his father Cedric, with whom he became estranged when he left for the Holy Land. While Cedric offers hospitality in his banquet hall to both Norman and Saxon travelers, Ivanhoe is recognized only by his faithful servant, Wamba. Wamba takes him to see Rowena, Cedric's ward, whom Ivanhoe has loved since childhood. Ivanhoe returns to the banquet hall just as another traveler, a Jew named Isaac, seeks refuge for the night. Although the Normans present, including De Bois-Guilbert and Sir Hugh De Bracy, protest, Cedric offers hospitality to Isaac, insisting that everyone is welcome at his table. As they dine, the Normans discuss a tournament that will soon take place in Ashby, prompting Guilbert to recall a past tournament during which a masked Saxon knight named Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe bested him, then disappeared. Cedric then bitterly says that Ivanhoe was his son, but is now dead to him. Ivanhoe later reveals himself to Cedric and asks for money to save Richard, but Cedric is convinced the king is dead and refuses. Ivanhoe tells Rowena that he will see her after winning the tournament, then leaves with Wamba. Later that night, Norman soldiers attempt to rob Isaac, who has been forced to sleep in the barn, but Ivanhoe and Wamba interrupt the attack. A grateful Isaac then takes Ivanhoe and Wamba to his home in Sheffield, where Ivanhoe asks Isaac to help raise money for Richard's ransom. Isaac does not find Richard any more sympathetic to Jews than John, but because Isaac is in Ivanhoe's debt, he promises to supplement whatever money is raised. The next night, a young woman who says that she is the servant of Isaac's daughter Rebecca, approaches Ivanhoe at the inn at which he is staying and offers jewels to finance his kit in the tournament. Looking closely at her eyes, Ivanhoe recognizes her as the beautiful woman he noticed at the window of Isaac's house and deduces that she is Rebecca. On the day of the jousting tournament, Prince John presides as well-outfitted Normans defeat ragged Saxon challengers. Then Ivanhoe rides onto the field, suited in black armor and identifying himself only as a Saxon. The Saxons cheer as he challenges, then bests, five Norman knights in a row. Despite a wound in the shoulder, Ivanhoe stays on his horse and is declared the winner. As the victor, Ivanhoe selects Rowena as the tournament's Queen of Love and Beauty, then must fight Guilbert, who now recognizes him. After a fierce battle, Ivanhoe is knocked from his horse and carried off the field. Rebecca, who tells Rowena that she has learned the medical arts from a woman burned as a witch, attends to Ivanhoe's serious wounds. Although Rowena senses that Rebecca loves Ivanhoe, she knows that he will be well cared for by her and allows him to be taken to Isaac's house. Their departure is observed by a Norman who tells Guilbert. That night, Guilbert tells John about Ivanhoe's attempts to raise Richard's ransom money and the involvement of Isaac, who is a wealthy banker. Meanwhile, in Sheffield, Rebecca confesses her love to the unconscious Ivanhoe, but is gently warned by her father that her love is impossible because she is a Jew. When Ivanhoe awakens, Isaac tells him that money for the ransom is growing, just as Wamba and Locksley, a Saxon nobleman who lives in the forest, arrive to warn him that "Prince John's jackals" are after him. Wamba adds that Cedric and Rebecca have come to Sheffield to be near him, prompting Ivanhoe to ask Wamba to take Rebecca to Cedric while he hides in the forest with Locksley. By the time Guilbert and De Bracey arrive at Sheffield, Ivanhoe is gone, further angering Guilbert. He and his men soon find the caravan on which Rebecca and Rowena are traveling, and take the women, Cedric and Wamba prisoner. Hearing of their capture, Ivanhoe approaches Guilbert's castle and asks that he be allowed to take their place. Guilbert agrees, then Ivanhoe enters the courtyard and asks to speak to Cedric, with whom he reconciles. Instead of allowing Cedric and the others to leave, however, Guilbert breaks his word and puts both men in chains. Upstairs, the ambitious De Bracy proposes to Rowena, who is the last of the royal Saxons, but she slaps him. Later Guilbert, who desires Rebecca, tells her that he must possess her. She runs to the balcony and threatens to jump, but when he offers to free Ivanhoe if she returns his passion, she agrees. Just then Locksley and his archers surround the castle. Guilbert has Ivanhoe brought up from the dungeon and threatens to hang him, but Ivanhoe is able to escape when the archers fire arrows at his guards. As a battle ensues, Ivanhoe frees the men in the dungeon, but in doing so a fire erupts that envelopes Wamba. As more of Locksley's men storm the castle, Ivanhoe rescues Rowena from De Bracy, but Guilbert escapes by using Rebecca as a shield. When Guilbert brings Rebecca to Prince John's court, John and his advisers come up with a plan to use their captive. A few days later, Isaac tells Ivanhoe that the king's ransom money has been raised, but Ivanhoe reveals that John has demanded the same amount to free Rebecca or she will be burned as a witch. Isaac tells Ivanhoe that it is his responsibility to free Rebecca and insists that the money raised be sent to ransom Richard. Seeing Ivanhoe's concern, Rowena reveals her fears that he is in love with Rebecca, but he denies it. At Rebecca's trial, paid and coerced witnesses testify that she is a witch, and only Guilbert defends her. After Rebecca denies that she is a witch, Guilbert asks to speak with her privately and begs her to renounce her faith to save her life. After her refusal, the court sentences her to burn at the stake. Just then, Ivanhoe, who has secretly watched the trial, throws down his glove and challenges the court to determine her guilt by a battle with her champion. John accepts the challenge and chooses Guilbert as his champion for a fight to the death at Ashby. Moments before the tournament, Guilbert offers to default to Ivanhoe if Rebecca will only accept his love, but Rebecca answers that they are in God's hands. While Guilbert and Ivanhoe battle hand-to-hand with ball and chain, Richard and his men ride onto the field, forcing John to bow in submission. Ivanhoe finally defeats Guilbert, who dies after telling Rebecca he loves her and that fate made her love Ivanhoe instead of him. After Guilbert dies, Rowena questions Rebecca about Ivanhoe, but she insists that his heart belongs to Rowena.