# Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 26, 2013, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/661948 "2013-06-26T10:20:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/661948/1 "2013-06-26T10:20:55Z")
Hi! “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 😉 What is your opinion? What is your choice? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/661948/2 "2013-06-26T11:14:06Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/661948/3 "2013-06-26T11:49:21Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/661948/4 "2013-06-26T12:07:34Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/661948/5 "2013-06-26T12:44:06Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/661948/6 "2013-06-26T12:52:54Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > 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. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/661948/7 "2013-06-26T12:58:24Z")
> [@JoseB](#): > > 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. Must have forgotten that part. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/661948/8 "2013-06-26T13:30:19Z")
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! ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/661948/9 "2013-06-26T17:24:13Z")
I’ve seen a number of different movie versions, and for me, the 1931 is the best. The scene in which Hyde is berating his prostitute girlfriend is just horrifying. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/661948/10 "2013-06-26T19:14:06Z")
No love for Jekyll And Hyde- Together Again ? Dr Jekyll And Ms Hyde? Dr Heckle And Mr Hype? On a serious note- 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. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/661948/11 "2013-06-26T20:02:13Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/661948/12 "2013-06-27T04:22:51Z")
[_With Apologies to Mr. Hyde_](http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/since-aunt-ada-came-to-stay-with-apologies-to-mr-hyde-the-flip-side-of-satan/17w7vufhb?cpkey=14245737-2591-4b59-bd23-8517e92b2b72%257c%257c%257c%257c) Second segment of this episode of “The Night Gallery.” ---
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/661948/13 "2013-06-27T08:08:07Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > [_With Apologies to Mr. Hyde_](http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/since-aunt-ada-came-to-stay-with-apologies-to-mr-hyde-the-flip-side-of-satan/17w7vufhb?cpkey=14245737-2591-4b59-bd23-8517e92b2b72%257c%257c%257c%257c) > > Second segment of this episode of “The Night Gallery.” Oh dear – I cannot watch it here ☹ It appears to be hosted by Hulu and Hulu does not stream out of the US. Can I have a description of that particular piece? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/661948/14 "2013-06-27T11:34:22Z")
There’s a Stephen Moffat sequel TV series called _Jekyll_ that’s really good. It plays on the book being a fictionalised version of real events. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/661948/15 "2013-06-27T12:10:34Z")
> [@JoseB](#): > > Oh dear – I cannot watch it here ☹ It appears to be hosted by Hulu and Hulu does not stream out of the US. > > Can I have a description of that particular piece? Thanks! It was pretty much a short comic sketch. Adam West (TV’s Batman) drinks his potion (a martini), and, to his annoyance, turns into…his lab assistant. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/661948/16 "2013-06-27T18:33:17Z")
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](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054416/). 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.) ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/661948/17 "2013-06-27T21:22:16Z")
I have a fond memory of the 1973 NBC TV Musical vesion starring Kirk Douglas. I would have been eleven years old. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/661948/18 "2013-06-27T21:37:13Z")
A 1981 British version starring David Hemmings as an old fogeyish Dr. J & young, dashing, bisexual predatory Mr. H. aired on PBS’ Masterpiece Mystery. ---
**Author:** ![Achren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@Achren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achren)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/661948/19 "2013-06-28T07:10:03Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > 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. It might be worth trying to find this version: > [@Double\_Foolscap](#): > > There’s a Stephen Moffat sequel TV series called _Jekyll_ that’s really good. It plays on the book being a fictionalised version of real events. IIRC, there’s not much physical change. The show does get silly in the last episode and a half, but the lead actor was, I thought, very good. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/661948/20 "2013-06-28T14:55:43Z")
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.