“Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” is a story that has been adapted to film many, many times already (more than 123 movies!), in many different ways and from many different approaches (from straight horror to goofy comedy).
Which, in your opinion, is the best version ever filmed of this story? Take into account that I don’t mean “the one that is most faithful to the original story by R. L. Stevenson” – I think that not a single version of the story is actually really faithful to the original, but that is neither here nor there.
As for myself, I think that the best “Dr. Jekyll” out there is the Mamoulian version from 1931 (which earned an oscar for best actor for Fredric March). Well-constructed, well-acted, solid all around (in my opinion), with well-fleshed characters and with effects that are fantastic for the time and still hold well.
From the point of view of “weird take on the subject”, I would mention “The Nutty Professor” with Jerry Lewis. I always felt it was an interesting movie, no matter what your opinion of Jerry Lewis’ talents might be
I agree the Mamoulian version is pretty damn good, but the best version I’ve seen was Jeffrey Hatcher’s stage version, which innovates by showing Hyde to be as much a victim as Jekyll, and having multiple people play Hyde.
The 1941 version with Spencer Tracy is interesting, but not great (dir: Victor Fleming, of GONE WITH THE WIND and WIZARD OF OZ fame.) If you like silents, the 1920 with John Barrymore is amazing. IIRC, he doesn’t use makeup for the transformation, he just contorts himself and conveys the change by acting.
My wife and I saw a theatre production a few years back, and then went on a Netflix binge and watched six or seven movies. They’re typically very different, and plots are almost always VERY different from R L Stevenson’s story.
I read the original book for the first time last year and was surprised at how different it was from everything that has been adapted from it. Apart from callously injuring a child, I don’t think they ever show Hyde do anything evil. The characters simply describe him as appearing to be vile and evil.
Really?? O.o I mean… In the book (spoilered for those who haven’t read it)…
… One night, a servant girl witnesses Hyde beat a man to death with a heavy cane. The victim was MP Sir Danvers Carew, who was also Utterson’s client (Utterson is the lawyer, friend of Jekyll, who narrates the story). The police are looking for Hyde for murder.
Ooooh, I need to find that one then, because once I read the book I started finding the usual handling of the change as a complete physical change horribly heavy-handed. The Jekyll/Hyde types I’ve known were all about body language.
Undoubtedly the Mamoulian version. There are just so many cute and clever cinematic touches:
1.) The opening Point-of-View shot that stays, unbroken, even as Jekyll gets up, walks through the door, looks directly into a mirror and out. Obviously they hd a duplicate room on the other side (as other films have done since, including *terminator II[/b}, but the bit a ballet where the valet appears in the mirror seconds after being in the "real world realy “sells” it.
2.) Jekyll and the woman start kissing and drop down out of the shot, revealing a statue of Cupid and Psyche.
3.) at the end, the policeman shoots Hyde, then sudenly jumps to one side, revealing Jekyll’s “laboratory skeleton” suspended behind him.
Thuis version also played the story very straight, although leaning more on the sexual side than Stevenson did (or that the Spencer Tracy version, made when Hollywood was hewing close to Hays Office rules, couldn’t duplicate).
It was really a chasnge of pace for March, who, i understand, was better known for light romantic roles at the time. The thing that bothers me is that his edward Hyde loks sort of like a hairy Jeff Goldblum!
I like the portrayal of Hyde in The League Of Extraordinary Gentleman (the original comics, not the film). It’s a credible portrayal of a man who is all id. He sings the “you should see me dance the polka” song from the Tracy version.
I’ve got a little bit of love for the Jack Palance/Dan Curtis version made for TV (after Dark Shadows and about the time he made his versions of Frankenstein and Dracula, the latter also with Palance), but it’s nowhere near the quality of the Mamoulian version.
I’ve got the silent John Barrymore version. The remarkable thiong about that version is that Barrymore didn’t use special maleup effects for his transformation. Otherwise, I didn;'t find it all that interesting.
The best, I think, is probably either John Barrymore or Frederick March.
I have some affection for Paul Massie’s portrayal in The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll. In that one, they used more makeup for Jeckyll than for Hyde! (Jeckyll had dark hair and a beard; Hyde was blonde and clean-shaven.)
So, what are your thoughts on Mary Reilly (1996) with Julia Roberts as Dr. Jekyll’s housemaid, and John Malkovich as the doctor? I saw it under challenging circumstances (babysitting rollicking children), and while I didn’t care for it, I can’t say I was able to give it a good chance either.
It appears to be hosted by Hulu and Hulu does not stream out of the US.