Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920)
Directed by John S. Robertson

Film Review

This, the most celebrated adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's short novel The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, created something of a sensation when it was first seen in 1920.  The critics were ecstatic in their praise of John Barrymore, some proclaiming him the finest actor of his time on the strength of his performance in this film.  The truth was that Barrymore was, by 1920, one of the most talked about actors of his day, although this was mainly through his stage work.  Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was the film that established him as a screen actor,  effectively launching his legendary film career, and making him one of the first of the great Hollywood icons.  (A similar fate would befall Fredric March when he featured in the equally well-regarded 1931 version.)

It was whilst making this film that John Barrymore was preparing for what would be the greatest performance of his career, as the lead role in a stage production of Shakespeare's Richard III.   Presumably there was some merging of the two roles, with the villainous crookbacked monarch providing the basis for the grotesque Mr Hyde.  What stunned the critics was Barrymore's skill in creating two completely different screen personas for this film, with minimal make-up, relying almost entirely on muscular control to alter his physical appearance.  Even if Barrymore had had access to today's prosthetic trickery it is doubtful that he could have delineated the good Dr Jekyll and the vile Mr Hyde more vividly.

John Barrymore's gripping, tour de force performance is complemented by the film's striking near-expressionistic design, with menacing shadows and claustrophobic sets bringing a palpable sense of stifling oppression.  R.L. Stevenson's story is embellished with ideas taken from Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, emphasising the tragic poignancy and moral subtext of the drama.  Camera trickery is used sparingly but highly effectively.  The sequences in which Jekyll transmutes into Hyde are flawlessly realised, and consequently quite terrifying.   Spared the censorship nonsense that would prevail in Hollywood in the following decade, director John S. Robertson and his team were able to give audiences genuine horror thrills by the cartload.  The scene in which Hyde viciously attacks and murders Sir George is shocking even by today's standards, but the one scene that cannot fail to freeze your blood is the one in which an ethereal giant spider (presumably symbolising our darker nature) climbs onto Jekyll's bed and smothers the prostrate doctor like a giant hairy claw...  Ugh, definitely not for the faint-hearted, and possibly lethal for the arachnophobes.

There had been a number of adaptations of Stevenson's novella before this but this was the first which recognised and took advantage of the truly horrific potentialities offered by the story.   Even today, the film manages to be pretty scary, partly because it deals with a terrifying concept (namely that our good side may be completely overtaken by the bad), but primarily because it is such a skilfully rendered horror film.  It is relentlessly creepy, well-paced, imaginatively photographed, and with several shock scenes that really do make you want to jump out of your seat.  A major hit for the company that made it (Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, later to become Paramount Pictures), this film was instrumental in the creation of the horror genre in cinema.  Predating Murnau's Nosferatu (1922) and Universal's first popular horror offerings, this version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is ahead of its time and may be considered the first in a long line of classic horror films.  This is where the screaming started...

Film Synopsis

Dr Henry Jekyll is a man of flawless repute, a philanthropist who divides his time between treating the sick poor of London and conducting scientific research in his laboratory.  So preoccupied is Jekyll with his good works that he neglects his fiancée, Millicent, prompting his prospective father-in-law, Sir George Carew, to mock his unstinting selflessness.   Ashamed of his bestial nature, Dr Jekyll resolves to separate it from his better side, so that he can indulge his dark desires without tainting his immortal soul.  He drinks a potion that unleashes his alter ego, transforming his outward appearance so that he becomes a misshapen fiend, whilst his behaviour becomes that of a callous lecher.  In this guise, as Mr Hyde, the good doctor can live a debauched and wicked life, secure in the knowledge that his soul will not be corrupted.  But this is mere delusion; Nature is not so easily deceived.  Over time, the bad side of Jekyll's character begins to take over, growing more assertive, more violent.  In the end, the once good man can no longer control his wild impulses and must submit to the evil that is Mr Hyde...