Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
Overview
Dr. Henry Jekyll believes that there are two distinct sides to men - a good and an evil side. He believes that by separating the two, man can become liberated. He succeeds in his experiments with chemicals to accomplish this and transforms into Hyde to commit horrendous crimes. When he discontinues use of the drug, it is already too late.
Cast
Fredric March
Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Edward Hyde
Miriam Hopkins
Ivy Pearson
Rose Hobart
Muriel Carew
Holmes Herbert
Dr. John Lanyon
Halliwell Hobbes
Brig. Gen. Sir Danvers Carew
Edgar Norton
Poole
Tempe Pigott
Mrs. Hawkins
Leonard Carey
Briggs, Lanyon's Butler (uncredited)
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John Chard
I have no soul. I'm beyond the pale. I'm one of the living dead!
It's one of the most famous pieces of literature ever written, a genius piece of story telling from the trippy mind of Robert Louis Stevenson. That it has consistently been ripe for film and stage adaptations, and continues to be so since it first surfaced in written form in 1866, is testament to what a devilishly intelligent piece of work it is.
This 1931 version, directed by Rouben Mamoulian and staring Fredric March, may not be 100% faithful to the source, but it's arguably the finest adaptation to screen, led by a superb performance from March and featuring technical guile by Mamoulian and his team. It's wonderfully stylish, and coming as it did before the Hayes Code, it's sexy and dangerous, awash with terrifying cruelty, with the subversive and Freudian psychological beats making for a Gothic horror classic.
Split personality a go go, inhibitions cast asunder, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is priceless. 8/10
