In this early version the classic "Hound of the Baskervilles" mystery is not faithfully adapted, Watson's character is absent and there are two Holmes. Holmes' foe is called Stapleton and he menaces Holmes' client Lord Henry and his fiancée, Laura Lyons, masquerading himself as Holmes. Hidden passages, hand bombs and mechanical devices abound, reminding more of a serial than of a Conan Doyle story.
The film takes place on two time levels: first in contemporary France and then in the time of Louis XV. in the 18th century. Lucienne is a young, dynamic woman who, although she loves the chief engineer of her uncle Abel Fernay’s car factory, is forced to marry an unloved man, a noble businessman.
INCOMPLETE | Anna, the beautiful daughter of a general, and the young lieutenant Cernieff are in love. However, the general refuses to give his only daughter to a man without fortune. Heartbroken, Anna confides in the duchess, who agrees to deliver a letter to Cernieff. The duke sees this, and when he intercepts the unsigned love declaration, he mistakenly believes that his wife is having an affair with the young lieutenant. Cernieff is thrown into a dungeon and sentenced to death. The beginning of the film is missing. The first scene of the preserved fragment is the one in which Anna confides in the duchess. (Stumfilm.dk)
