Basil Rathbone
Basil Rathbone's acting career spanned from Shakespeare to low-budget horror and in fact included both at once in the Comedy of Terrors, where he recites every Shakespeare line there is about dying. Reciting was his specialty, because he had one of the greatest voices in the history of the acting profession. There is little one could do with the human voice to make it sound more dignified than Rathbone. It is also hard to sound more intelligent than Rathbone, a skill he put to good use in his many performances as master detective Sherlock Holmes. He recorded a great deal of the Holmes tales in spoken word form, as well as the complete writings of Edgar Allan Poe, because yet another attribute of this lavishly praised voice was its ability to sound incredibly sinister. Among the bad guys portrayed by the actually charming Rathbone were the evil nemesis of Robin Hood, Sir John, and two of Charles Dickens' creepiest creations: Scrooge and Fagin. He did many of his recordings for the Caedmon label, but ventured into the recording studio at the bequest of many other labels and organizations as well. He even recorded tours of famous museums and great cities of the world for the Columbia Record Club, to be presented in conjunction with slide shows. Rathbone was also in demand for personal appearances as a narrator with symphony orchestras and chamber groups. During his career, he took part in performances of King David, Arthur Honegger's oratorio and symphonic psalm, the inevitable Peter and the Wolf, and a gala presentation of Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov. He worked with classical performers such as soprano Helen Boatwright, contralto Beatrice Krebs, tenor Robert Price, and conductor Manfred Schumann. He was fond of collaborating with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, perhaps not coincidentally Edgar Allan Poe's hometown. Another musical era friendly to his on-stage presence was early music, and he took part in performances with several instrumental groups specializing in this genre, combining their musical performances with his recitation of poems from the same era.
His acting career took off following his return from the first World War, and he was launched into the British public consciousness by a series of impressive roles in Shakespeare productions at Stratford on Avon. In the '20s, he relocated to New York City, continuing a theater career, but made a drastic switch to the film industry the following decade. In 1930 alone, he cranked out seven different films. He established his authority in the role of Sherlock Holmes at the end of that decade in a series of films that seemed to never end, the role of faithful assistant Dr. Watson essayed fabulously by the lovable Nigel Bruce. In the '40s and '50s, he remained a character actor in films but concentrated more on his first love, the stage. In the '60s, he was one of many older Hollywood actors lured into horror films, amassing enormous new cult followings as a result. He was not particularly happy about this part of his career, however, he did enjoy the chance to hang out with old friends such as Boris Karloff. He did do some fine recordings in the '60s, however, and in the end was more consistently comfortable in the recording medium than any other.
© Eugene Chadbourne /TiVo
-
The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes: The Bruce Partington Plans
Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Humour/Spoken Word - Lançado por Saland Publishing em 7 de jan. de 2008
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
KORNGOLD, E.W.: Adventures of Robin Hood (The)
Basil Rathbone, Tony Thomas, Warner Brothers Studio Orchestra, Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Classical - Lançado por Delos em 1 de jan. de 1987
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Read Edgar Allan Poe Stories & Poems
Humour/Spoken Word - Lançado por Soundtrack Classics em 15 de ago. de 2013
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Edgar Allan Poe - Ultimate Collection 1809-1849
Humour/Spoken Word - Lançado por W.O.W. Words of Wisdom Records em 1 de jan. de 2012
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Very Best of Charles Dickens
Basil Rathbone, Frank Pettingell, Ronald Colman
Humour/Spoken Word - Lançado por Saland Publishing em 1 de abr. de 2010
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rimsky-Korsakov: Sinbad the Sailor
Basil Rathbone, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Humour/Spoken Word - Lançado por Saland Publishing em 1 de fev. de 2010
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Oscar Wilde Fairy Tales
Humour/Spoken Word - Lançado por Performance em 10 de mai. de 2011
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Prokofiev, S.: Peter and the Wolf / the Love for 3 Oranges Suite / Scythian Suite (Stokowski, Markevitch) (1941, 1955)
Basil Rathbone, French National Radio Orchestra, Igor Markevitch, All-American Orchestra, Léopold Stokowski
Classical - Lançado por Naxos Classical Archives em 1 de jan. de 1955
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
JACOBY, H.: Phantom of the Opera (The) - The Radio Broadcast of 1943
Nelson Eddy, Susannah Foster, Basil Rathbone, Cecil B. DeMille
Classical - Lançado por Delos em 1 de jan. de 1943
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
ROBINSON, C.: Captain Blood - The Complete Program as Broadcast by CBS, February 22, 1937, on The Lux Radio Theatre
Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn, Olivia Mary de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, Donald George Crisp, Henry Stephenson, Herbert Marshall
Classical - Lançado por Delos em 30 de mai. de 1995
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Idylls of the King - Lancelot and Elaine (by Alfred Lord Tennyson)
Humour/Spoken Word - Lançado por Saland Publishing em 9 de dez. de 2008
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sherlock Holmes - Tales From Baker Street
Humour/Spoken Word - Lançado por Saland Publishing em 2 de set. de 2008
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stories, Witticisms & Scenes Of Oscar Wilde
Frank Pettingell, Basil Rathbone
Humour/Spoken Word - Lançado por Saland Publishing em 22 de jul. de 2008
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Basil Rathbone's Short Story Collection
Humour/Spoken Word - Lançado por Saland Publishing em 6 de jun. de 2010
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sherlock Holmes: Murder Beyond The Mountains & The Book of Tobit
Humour/Spoken Word - Lançado por Saland Publishing em 1 de abr. de 2010
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ghostly Short Stories
Basil Rathbone, Emma Topping, Ronald Colman
Humour/Spoken Word - Lançado por Saland Publishing em 10 de jul. de 2011
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Peter, Tubby And Pan Original Soundtrack Recording
Ted Tiller, Victor Jory, Basil Rathbone
Film Soundtracks - Lançado por Foyer em 1 de dez. de 2008
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Stories Of Sherlock Holmes
Humour/Spoken Word - Lançado por Performance em 29 de jan. de 1900
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Humour/Spoken Word - Lançado por Performance em 30 de jan. de 1900
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sherlock Holmes - Tales From Baker Street
Humour/Spoken Word - Lançado por Saland Publishing em 2 de set. de 2008
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Oliver Twist
Humour/Spoken Word - Lançado por Saland Publishing em 26 de ago. de 2008
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo