Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are a silent 1920 horror film released at Paramount Studios. The film is an adaptation of the story "The Strange History of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde " by Robert Louis Stevenson . Starring the famous actor John Barrymore . The script was created by Clara Beranger . Now the film is in the public domain .
| Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde | |
|---|---|
| English Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde | |
 Movie poster | |
| Genre | , , and |
| Producer | |
| Producer | |
| Author script | |
| Operator | |
| Film company | |
| Duration | |
| A country | |
| Tongue | |
| Year | |
| IMDb | |
Content
Story
Dr. Henry Jekyll is a brilliant scientist respected in society, yet he goes too far in his experiments. Having experienced the experimental drug of its own making, Jekyll releases into the world his dark sinister half - Mr. Hyde.
Cast
- John Barrymore - Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Edward Hyde
- Brandon Hearst - Sir George Carew
- Martha Mansfield - Millicent Carew, Daughter of Sir George
- Charles Willis Lane - Dr. Richard Lannon
- George Stevens - Butler Jekyll, Poole
- Nita Naldi - Miss Gina, Italian Dancer
- Sail Clovelly - Edward Ensfield
- J. Malcolm Dunn - Attorney, John Atterson
- Alma Aiken - “Extra” (crazy woman in Jekyll’s office)
- Julia Hurley - the old landlady Hyde
- Edgar Warez - a policeman
- Louis Wolheim - owner of a cabaret
- Blanche Ring - a woman in the music hall
- Ferdinand Gottschalk - an elderly man in the music hall
- May Robson - a prostitute near the music hall
Production
Initially, Jekyll’s transformation was planned to be transmitted without the help of makeup, relying solely on Barrymore’s ability to distort his face. It is clearly noticeable, as in the scene where Hyde first returns to Jekyll, his makeup falls off his finger, shaken by Barrymore's convulsions.
The character Millicent Carew does not appear in the original story of Stevenson, but in the play in 1887 by Thomas Russell Sullivan he is. There Jekyll is also fascinated by the daughter of Carew, on which Hyde "plays". The film uses this intrigue from the play.
In general, the picture conveys the atmosphere of “sleep” conceived by the author; this additionally underlines and, invented by Barrymore, the “dream with a spider” that his hero sees. The actor, it is believed, himself invented the costume of a spider, in which he slowly crawled onto the bed, where his twin, shown by double exposure, slept.
The amazing gloom of the picture, which almost fully takes place at night, is transmitted in the traditional Broadway "realistic" manner. In this respect, Barrymore and Nita Naldi look incontestably winning. The small but vivid role of Naldi in this film opened her way to a big movie. Julia Hurley, who became known after the film as “the hostess with a lamp”, is also very memorable - in this tiny role of Hurley (which was not even mentioned in the credits), not only accurately conveyed the character of the heroine Stevenson, but also added a light touch of comic.
Criticism
In 1920, film critics, as a rule, highly appreciated the picture and, not surprisingly, focused mainly on John Barrymore . The popular trading newspaper “ Variety ” described the film as: “an excellent and decent work” with the “wonderful” performance of Barrymore, despite the fact that the newspaper considered the character of the plot absurd: “The history itself is absurd, judging by modern standards, but it does not change her values as a medium for Mr. Barrymore ... Beautiful young Dr. Jekyll, his natural beauty of form and character traits help him in this, and he demonstrates an amazing image of an abomination in the transformed personality of "Mr. Hyde." Nevertheless, he was always John Barrymore, which is the most unfavorable comment that could be made regarding the production ... ” [1] .
In fact, the audience’s impact on Barrymore-Hyde was a matter of concern expressed in some reviews, with its presence on the screen that threatens the public’s mental and even physical health, especially for children exposed to the “disgusting” character of the actor, and the possible negative effects of the film on future moms. [2] [3]
No matter what reservations or warnings the film critics made about the film, they did not keep the crowd of viewers from going to the cinema, Photoplay expressed that the film “will easily become the most discussed picture of that time”. The magazine illustrated this popularity when it reported: “The doors and two windows were broken by crowds who tried to see the film at its first show in New York.” [2]
More recent ratings
In 2014, American film critic and historian Leonard Maltin gave this version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde three stars on a four-star rating scale. Maltin also praised Barrymore’s work and overall film production, calling it “well done.”
On the Rotten Tomatoes website , the film has a 92% rating, based on 13 critics' reviews, with an average rating of 7.6 out of 10 [4] .
Notes
- ↑ "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", review // Variety (New York, NY). - 1920. - April.
- ↑ 1 2 Mantle Burns. "The Shadow Stage", review of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde // Photoplay (New York, NY). - 1920. - June.
- ↑ Frederick James. "The Newest Photoplays in Review" // Motion Picture Classic (Brooklyn, New York). - 1920. - June.
- ↑ Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) (English) . The appeal date is June 25, 2019.