DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1931)

— RANKING: 13 —

OF MEN AND MONKEYS: In a unique version of the Robert Louis Stevenson tale that was clearly influenced by the then-current interest in Darwinism, Dr. Jekyll transforms into the bestial Mr. Hyde (Fredric March in both roles), who menaces prostitute Ivy (Miriam Hopkins). Courtesy: Paramount Pictures.

CREDITS

Paramount Pictures; Rouben Mamoulian, dir.; Robert Louis Stevenson, novel; Samuel Hoffenstein, Percy Heath, scr.; Adolph Zukor, pro.; Karl Struss, cin.; William Shea, ed.; Hans Dreier, art dir.; Travis Banton, costumes; Wally Westmore, special makeup effects; M. M. Paggi, experimental sound mixing; 98 min.; B&W; 1.20:1.

CAST

Fredric March (Dr. Henry Jekyll/Mr. Hyde); Miriam Hopkins (Ivy Pearson); Rose Hobart (Muriel Carew); Holmes Herbert (Dr. Lanyon); Halliwell Hobbes (Sir Danvers Carew); Edgar Norton (Poole); Tempe Pigott (Mrs. Hawkins); Leonard Carey (Briggs); Sam Harris (Party Guest).

MOST MEMORABLE LINE

There are bounds beyond which man should not go.

DR. LANYON TO DR. JEKYLL

BACKGROUND

Scottish-born novelist Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894), while living in London during Victoria’s reign (1837–1901), became increasingly aware of the inability of humans to follow the queen’s dictates to repress a capacity for the evil resulting from what science identified as our animal origins. In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), Stevenson, drawing on a late-night dream, produced a fable warning against such anti-sexual ambitions, soon to become known as Victorian values. The novella qualified as a mystery, saving the revelation of the wicked Hyde’s identity—an alter ego for the good Jekyll—until the final page. In 1887, Thomas Russell Sullivan adapted the popular book for the stage, the play becoming a huge hit in Boston and London. Knowing that all who attended would be aware of the twist ending, he wisely redesigned the narrative as a suspense story. The dual identity is immediately revealed to the viewer, though the other characters onstage do not suspect.

THE PLOT

Altruistic Dr. Henry Jekyll, hoping to transform himself from a decent person into a perfect one, concocts a potion that he believes will eliminate lust from his psyche. Instead, the process frees his dark side, which takes the form of Edward Hyde, a street thug, rapist, and eventual killer. As Hyde, the central character pursues a relationship with prostitute Ivy Pearson, which Jekyll, dedicated to his elegant fiancée Muriel, had refused, then repressed.

THE FILM

By the time director Rouben Mamoulian (1897–1987) set to work on his interpretation of the Stevenson classic, early sound-era limitations—including confining blimps over the camera that restricted movement and primitive microphones hidden in flower vases—had given way to state-of-the-art equipment. The camera could move again, and, as had been the case during silent cinema, the editor could once again cut from long shots to close-ups for emotional impact, lending a remarkable fluidity to this, the greatest film version of Stevenson’s tale. As early as 1929, the genius Mamoulian had attempted to return creativity to what had become a stilted medium when he mounted the first truly great screen musical, Applause—not merely a filmed record of a stage show but a cinematic vision in which the camera is employed to tell, rather than document, the story.

For the transformation sequences in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Mamoulian and his team relied on time-lapse photography—at the time, a state-of-the-art technology. Various shades of color makeup were applied to Fredric March’s face, each stage filmed with cameras augmented by matching color filters. In this way, Mamoulian visualized, rather than merely implied, the manner in which a normal man realizes he is, against his will, succumbing to the beast within. Perhaps more impressive still, the director guided his team to create the first sophisticated sound mix. They recorded a heart beating and modulated the volume, never before possible. The collaborators dropped tanks of water and recorded the sound of their breaking; this, when sound played backward created the original synthetic soundtrack. Their experiments would influence not only movie soundtracks but also recorded music for the newly popular discs.

THEME

Like other intellectuals of the time, Mamoulian studied the theory of evolution, particularly after the widely publicized Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925. By broadcasting the trial nationwide over radio from the small town of Dayton, Tennessee, the media inadvertently educated the public about evolution, fueling debate. Recalling that the 1920 film version of Jekyll and Hyde, starring John Barrymore, had been rethought as an entertaining argument in favor of Prohibition (Jekyll becomes Hyde after getting drunk, the film a warning about liquor’s dangerous consequences), Mamoulian wondered if he could retell Stevenson’s tale as an objective correlative for Darwinism. Mamoulian and makeup artist Wally Westmore collaborated on a simian Hyde, a far cry from the small, yellow-and-green creature in Stevenson’s novella. In this film version, the scientific potion releases the ape in Dr. Jekyll and, by implication, all of us.

TRIVIA

Fredric March won an Oscar in 1932 for his performance in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This is the only time in Hollywood history that an actor received the Academy Award for a role in a science-fiction/horror film.

In 1941, Victor Fleming mounted a remake starring Spencer Tracy. As influenced by Sigmund Freud’s theories on the human psyche as Mamoulian had been by the writings of Darwin, Fleming had Tracy play Hyde with the least amount of makeup, suggesting that the transformation takes place entirely in the human mind. This approach set the pace for thrillers, ranging from Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999) to Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010), that present a post-modernist depiction of all reality as existing in the mind.