Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Directed by Rouben Mamoulian
Written by Samuel Hoffenstein and Percy Heath from the novel by Robert Lewis Stevenson
1931/US
Paramount Pictures
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime rental
Dr. Lanyon: We have to accept certain things…
Dr. Jekyll: I don’t want to accept them! I want to be clean – not only in my conduct; but, in my inner most thoughts and desires.
A very pre-Code and terrifying version of the novel.
The story takes place in London, England. Dr. Henry Jekyll (Fredric March) has risen through the ranks to become a lecturer at the medical school. He has high ideals and is dedicated to healing the poor. He is in madly in love with Muriel Carew (Rose Hobart) and wants to marry her immediately. Her father insists that they wait eight months and marry on his own wedding anniversary. Then dad takes Muriel away for a few months to keep her out of temptation.
One night, Jekyll spots a woman being beaten in the street. This is Ivy Pearson (Miriam Hopkins), a music hall singer and by implication a prostitute. She is more than happy to be examined by the good doctor, revealing plenty of skin in the process.
Muriel’s absence gives Jekyll plenty of time to work on his pet project. He has the theory that every man has two souls, one good and one evil. His experiment is designed to separate the good and evil sides. It works too well and Jekyll transforms into an ape-like creature, Mr. Hyde (also March), that indulges every evil impulse freely. Mr. Hyde begins by terrorizing Ivy and by implication forcing her to perform unspeakable acts. Eventually, Dr. Jekyll does not need his chemical cocktail to spontaneously transform.
I must read the book because I really could not figure out what possible constructive purpose Dr. Jekyll’s experiment was designed to achieve. What I got out of the movie was that it allowed the otherwise saintly Jekyll to act on his sexual desires when he was not allowed to marry – though of course that goes wrong too. Jekyll had the idea that the evil side would fade away once the impulses were acted out. Of course, evil just keeps seeking worse and worse thrills.
The camera work and special effects were ahead of their time, though I found the sporadic use of the Jekyll/Hyde POV was distracting. March was wonderful and the gusto with which he portrayed Hyde made it seem like two actors were portraying the parts. Miriam Hopkins was very good as poor Ivy save for her execrable Cockney accent. Recommended.
Fredric March won the Oscar for Best Actor in a tie with Wallace Beery for his performance in The Champ (1931). The film was nominated for Oscars in the categories of Best Writing, Adaptation and Best Cinematography.
The first transformation scene
Nothing could be more pre-code
