Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931 film)
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| Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical Poster |
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| Directed by | Rouben Mamoulian |
| Produced by | Rouben Mamoulian |
| Written by | Story: Robert Louis Stevenson Samuel Hoffenstein Percy Heath |
| Starring | Fredric March Miriam Hopkins Rose Hobart |
| Music by | Herman Hand |
| Cinematography | Karl Struss |
| Editing by | William Shea |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | December 31, 1931 |
| Running time | 98 minutes |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,140,000 |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1931 horror film directed by Rouben Mamoulian.[1]
The picture is an adaptation of the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, the Robert Louis Stevenson novel of a man who takes a potion which turns him from a mild-mannered man of science into a crude homicidal maniac.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The film tells of Dr. Jekyll (Fredric March), a kind doctor who experiments with drugs because he's certain that within each man lurks impulses for both good and evil.
Soon, he develops a drug to release the evil side in himself. He becomes the hard drinking and woman-chasing Mr. Hyde.
It isn't long before the kindly Jekyll is unable to control the wicked Hyde, with tragic results.
[edit] Background
The film, made prior to the full enforcement of the Hays code, is remembered today for its strong sexual content, embodied mostly in the character of the prostitute, Ivy, played by Miriam Hopkins.
The secret of the astonishing transformation scenes was not revealed until decades later (Mamoulian himself revealed it in a volume of interviews with Hollywood directors published under the title The Celluloid Muse).
A series of rotating filters matching the make-up was used on the lenses, enabling the make-up to be gradually exposed or made invisible, depending upon the scene.
Wally Westmore's make-up for Hyde, simian and hairy with tusks influenced greatly the popular image of Hyde in media and comic books (the American Classics Illustrated edition of Jekyll and Hyde clearly based its design of Hyde on the Fredric March movie, although it is more toned down); in part this reflected the novella's implication of Hyde as embodying repressed evil and hence being semi-evolved or simian in appearance.
[edit] Cast
- Fredric March as Dr. Henry L. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde
- Miriam Hopkins as Ivy Pearson
- Rose Hobart as Muriel Carew
- Holmes Herbert as Dr. Lanyon
- Halliwell Hobbes as Brig. Gen. Danvers Carew
- Edgar Norton as Poole
- Tempe Pigott as Mrs. Hawkins, Ivy's landlady
[edit] Awards
Wins
- Academy Awards: Oscar; Best Actor in a Leading Role, Fredric March; tied with Wallace Beery for The Champ; 1932.
- Venice Film Festival: Audience Referendum; Most Favorite Actor, Fredric March; Most Original Fantasy Story, Rouben Mamoulian; 1932.
Nominations
- Academy Awards: Oscar; Best Cinematography, Karl Struss; Best Adaptation Writing, Percy Heath and Samuel Hoffenstein; 1932.
