Year of Release: 1931Country of Origin: USA
Director: Rouben Mamoulian
Cast: Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins, Rose Hobart
Plot outline: Dr. Jekyll faces horrible consequences when he lets his dark side run wild with a potion that changes him into the animalistic Mr. Hyde (IMDb).
Year of Release: 1941Country of Origin: USA
Director: Victor Fleming
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, Lana Turner
Plot outline: Dr. Jekyll allows his dark side to run wild when he drinks a potion that turns him into the evil Mr. Hyde (IMDb).
I don't know how many times this story has been made into films, at least more than a dozen times. The original story "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" is created by well-known Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894); his other famous work includes: "Kidnapped" and "Treasure Island". The book is by far more complete and thorough than the films. The story sets in London in Victorian era (the time when Industrial Revolution reached its height) about a young respectable doctor named Dr. Henry Jekyll who believes the duality of man's nature: a constant struggle between good and evil. In order to prove his theory, he carries out research and develops a formula that can separate and isolate each of the qualities. He tests the formula on himself and he successfuly releases his evil side that transforms him into a wicked monster ... Mr. Edward Hyde. He then lives a double life as Dr. Jekyll who's a paragon of virtue and Mr. Hyde who's nothing but a murderous monster. Soon his evil side takes over his control of his whole self ... he then stays more and more often as Mr. Hyde. This Robert Louis Stevenson's classic was published at the same era as Sigmund Freud's theories of unconscious mind.
Among all the films about this story, there are two that I consider the best. Number 1 is "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" which was released in 1931. The screenplay is superb (it received an Academy Award nomination for Best Writing) and the acting of Fredric March as Dr. Jekyll is as outstanding as his as Mr. Hyde (he won Best Actor in a Leading Role). Number 2 is the remake with the same title which was released in 1941. Spencer Tracy acts superbly as Dr. Jekyll, but he's not considered frightening enough as Mr. Hyde; while Ingrid Bergman plays wonderfully against type. However, the cinematography is superior than its predecessor ... it's always eerily beautiful to see the streets of London at foggy gothic nights in black and white (it received an Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography).
My judgement:
***1/2 out of 4 stars for "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1931).
*** out of 4 stars for "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1941).
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