Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie''s plot.
It’s hard to watch a movie about Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde--any version of it, really--without some small amount of boredom. I mean, who among us doesn’t already know the story? The saintly Dr. Henry Jeckyll develops a formula to divide the two halves of a human soul, the good from the bad, so the one can live free and selfishly without the burden of damning the other. His efforts produce the vile Edward Hyde who, over time, begins to take control of Dr. Jeckyll at odd times, then completely, until the good doctor, in a final moment of control, kills himself and his tormentor. The only way I can imagine telling this story in any way at all that might truly captivate a viewer would be to let the story unfold as a mystery like Stevenson did when he wrote the novella in 1886. However, I’ve yet to find that version of the movie, if it exists at all.
John Barrymore’s 1920 version was not the earliest to be filmed (3 much shorter versions came earlier in 1908, 1912, and 1913), but it’s probably one of the more famous versions. This silent film, directed by John S. Robertson, runs about 80 minutes and tells the story we’re all more familiar with, wherein we know from the start that Jeckyll and Hyde are one person.
I enjoyed the movie, for the most part. I do think it dragged on a bit (an alternate print apparently runs only 67 minutes and this is the version I thought I was watching, so imagine my confusion when the time came and the movie wasn’t over yet), and was too slow to get going. Hyde doesn’t make his first appearance here until 26 minutes in, which doesn’t seem like much, but when you consider this is a silent film and the only thing we really need to know in order to prepare for the villain’s introduction is that Jeckyll is good, well, I found myself checking the time a lot throughout this movie.
Barrymore plays both roles and I have to say he’s probably my new favorite of all the interpretations I’ve seen (okay, maybe second favorite; I’ll always have a soft spot for Mark Blankfield in JECKYLL & HYDE… TOGETHER AGAIN). The Hyde makeup was grotesque and Barrymore’s performance only served to highlight just how dirty and deformed Hyde really was. Barrymore had the evil gaze and the arched eyebrow down pat and he really sold the movie.
Overall, there were few surprises here. The story is such a well-known one that, like I said, it’s hard to surprise a viewer with a Jekyll & Hyde story anymore, unless you tell it the way it was originally written. So a film like this should probably be seen merely as a step in the long history of these characters, but without looking for anything truly original--because it’s just not there. I will say, however, there was one scene in particular that not only made my take note, but also creeped me out a bit. Toward the end, when Jeckyll transforms to Hyde in his sleep, he dreams the change first and we see Hyde emerge from beneath the bed as a giant spider with human arms, crawl onto the bed and hover over the sleeping Jeckyll, then sink down into him. It was awesome and a huge surprise coming from a 1920 movie.
It was also only about 15 seconds out of 4800.
Still, if you want to dig into cinematic versions of this classic story, this is as good a place to start as any. Certainly, it’s better to see a classic version than an updated take with a bunch of DAWSON’S CREEK extras where everyone’s got brand new laptops and they all live in shabby chic apartments. I don’t believe such a version exists yet, but I’m sure it’s coming. Stick with the classics. If nothing else, you can bet the ending of this one wasn’t based on what any “test audience” thought it should be.
This First Great American Horror Film Follows The, Transformation Of A Prominent London Physician Dr Jekyll Into, The Murderous Mr Hyde. While He Expl...More at HotMovieSale.com
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