Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1913 film)

Last updated
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
NewPrincessTheatre-listofshows-april1913.jpg
Texas newspaper schedule of local theatre's films, including Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Directed by Herbert Brenon
Screenplay byHerbert Brenon
Based on Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
1886 novella
by Robert Louis Stevenson
Produced by Carl Laemmle [1]
Starring King Baggot
Jane Gail
Matt B. Snyder
Howard Crampton
Production
company
Distributed byThe Universal Film Manufacturing Company, Incorporated
Release date
  • 1913 (1913)
Running time
Two reels (26 minutes)
CountryUnited States [1]

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1913 horror film based on Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 gothic novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde . Directed by Herbert Brenon for producer Carl Laemmle's company IMP (which he later changed to Universal Pictures), the production stars King Baggot in the dual role of Jekyll and Hyde. The film was re-released in the United States in August 1927. [2] [3]

Contents

Plot

Dr. Henry Jekyll (King Baggot) sends a note to his fiancée, Alice (Jane Gail), and her father (Matt B. Snyder) to say that instead of accompanying them to the opera, he must give more time to his charity patients. At Jekyll’s practice, his friends Dr. Lanyon (Howard Crampton) and Utterson (William Sorrel), a lawyer, ridicule him for what they consider his dangerous research. Alice and her father also visit Jekyll’s rooms, but although apologetic, the doctor insists on devoting his time to his patients. That night, however, Jekyll undertakes a dangerous experiment, swallowing a drug intended to releases his evil self. His body convulses, and he transforms into a hunched, twisted figure.

The strange creature emerges from Jekyll’s room, bearing a note in Jekyll’s handwriting that orders the household staff to treat the stranger – “Mr Hyde” – as himself. Hyde then slips out into the night, terrorizing the patrons of a nearby tavern before finding himself lodgings. From these rooms, he begins a career of evil, until one night he attacks and injures a crippled child. Outraged witnesses corner Hyde and force him to agree to compensate the boy. Hyde reluctantly leads one man back to Jekyll’s house and gives him money. During this passage of events, a worried Dr. Utterson sees Hyde entering Jekyll’s house. Inside, Hyde takes a potion that transforms him back to Jekyll. The doctor swears that he will abandon his experiments and never tempt fate again; but that night, without taking the drug, he turns spontaneously into Hyde.

Cast

Critique

Like so many other performers of this period, it was standard practice for the actors to apply their own make-up. While assuming the dual role of Jekyll and Hyde, King Baggot employed a variety of different greasepaints and a tangled mass of crepe hair. Through the use of camera dissolves, Baggot was able to achieve the transformation. Critic Troy Howarth felt that "it gave him the chance to play a difficult dual role, but his performance has not aged well....his hunched over walk comes across as forced and ridiculous...evoking comparisons with Jerry Lewis'....performance as The Nutty Professor....with his unruly hair and prominent buckteeth". [1]

The film used a slow dissolve effect to show the transformation, as opposed to a quick matching cut, and the critics were impressed, George Blaisdell of Moving Picture World commenting "It is through the means of the dissolving process that the transformation is made peculiarly effective...You see the change of the man of good to the man of evil right before your eyes". [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde</i> (1931 film) 1931 film by Rouben Mamoulian

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1931 American pre-Code horror film, directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Fredric March, who plays a possessed doctor who tests his new formula that can unleash people's inner demons. The film is an adaptation of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the 1886 Robert Louis Stevenson tale of a man who takes a potion which turns him from a mild-mannered man of science into a homicidal maniac.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (character)</span> Fictional character by Robert Louis Stevenson

Dr. Henry Jekyll, nicknamed in some copies of the story as Harry Jekyll, and his alter ego, Mr. Edward Hyde, is the central character of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. In the story, he is a good friend of main protagonist Gabriel John Utterson.

<i>Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde</i> (1941 film) 1941 American horror film directed by Victor Fleming

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1941 American horror film starring Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, and Lana Turner. The production also features Donald Crisp, Ian Hunter, Barton MacLane, C. Aubrey Smith, and Sara Allgood. Its storyline is based on the 1886 Gothic novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde written by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. There have been many filmed adaptations of the novella. This movie was a remake of the Oscar-winning 1931 version starring Fredric March.

<i>The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde</i> (2006 film) 2006 American film

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 2006 adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella. It was directed by John Carl Buechler, and produced by Peter Davy, British American film producer. The film is set in modern times instead of Victorian England.

<i>Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde</i> (1920 Paramount film) 1920 film, directed by John S. Robertson

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1920 American silent horror film produced by Famous Players–Lasky and released through Paramount/Artcraft. The film, which stars John Barrymore, is an adaptation of the 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. John S. Robertson directed the production, and Clara Beranger wrote the screenplay, based on the 1887 stage play by Thomas Russell Sullivan that in turn was based on the novel.

<i>I, Monster</i> 1971 horror film

I, Monster is a 1971 British horror film directed by Stephen Weeks for Amicus Productions. It is an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, with the main characters' names changed to Dr. Charles Marlowe and Mr. Edward Blake.

<i>Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde</i> (1912 film) 1912 American film

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1912 horror film based on both Robert Louis Stevenson's novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886) and on the 1887 play version written by Thomas Russell Sullivan. Directed by Lucius Henderson, the film stars actor James Cruze in the dual role of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and co-starred his real life wife Marguerite Snow as well.

<i>Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pryde</i> 1925 film

Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pryde is a 1925 American silent, black-and-white comedy film, directed by Scott Pembroke and Joe Rock.

<i>Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde</i> (1908 film) American silent horror film

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1908 silent horror film starring Hobart Bosworth, and Betty Harte in her film debut. Directed by Otis Turner and produced by William N. Selig, this was the first film adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novel Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The screenplay was actually adapted by George F. Fish and Luella Forepaugh from their own 1897 four act stage play derived from the novel, causing a number of plot differences with the original source. Despite Stevenson's protests, this film became the model which influenced all the later film adaptations that were to come.

<i>Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde</i> (1920 Haydon film) 1920 film

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1920 horror film directed and written by J. Charles Haydon, starring Sheldon Lewis, based on the 1886 novel Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. The Sheldon Lewis version was somewhat overshadowed by the 1920 Paramount Pictures version starring John Barrymore, which had been released just the month before.

<i>The Son of Dr. Jekyll</i> 1951 American film by Seymour Friedman

The Son of Dr. Jekyll is a 1951 American horror film directed by Seymour Friedman and starring Louis Hayward, Jody Lawrance and Alexander Knox. The film is a continuation of Robert Louis Stevenson's original classic 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Adaptations of <i>Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde</i> Adaptations of 1886 novella

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is an 1886 novella written by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It is about a London lawyer, Gabriel John Utterson, who investigates strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr. Henry Jekyll and the misanthropic Mr. Hyde. In a twist ending, it is revealed that Jekyll and Hyde were the same person, and that Jekyll had regularly transformed himself into Hyde by drinking a serum.

<i>Jekyll & Hyde: Direct from Broadway</i> American TV series or program

Jekyll & Hyde: Direct from Broadway is a 2001 television film of the Broadway production of the 1990 musical Jekyll & Hyde as captured live in performance on Broadway featuring the show's final Broadway cast. The show was captured at Broadway's Plymouth Theatre in New York City December 2000 utilizing multiple high-definition cameras by Broadway Worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alwin Neuß</span> German actor and film director

Carl Alwin Heinrich Neuß was a German film director and actor, noted for playing Sherlock Holmes in a series of silent films during the 1910s. He also played the dual role of Jekyll and Hyde in the 1910 Danish silent film version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, directed by August Blom. He played Jekyll and Hyde again in the 1914 German silent film Ein Seltsamer Fall, scripted by Richard Oswald.

<i>Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde</i> 1886 novella by Robert Louis Stevenson

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is an 1886 Gothic novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr Henry Jekyll, and a murderous criminal named Edward Hyde.

<i>Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde</i> (1887 play) Stage play by Thomas Russell Sullivan

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a four-act play written by Thomas Russell Sullivan in collaboration with the actor Richard Mansfield. It is an adaptation of Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, an 1886 novella by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. The story focuses on the respected London doctor Henry Jekyll and his involvement with Edward Hyde, a loathsome criminal. After Hyde murders the father of Jekyll's fiancée, Jekyll's friends discover that he and Jekyll are the same person; Jekyll has developed a potion that allows him to transform himself into Hyde and back again. When he runs out of the potion, he is trapped as Hyde and commits suicide before he can be arrested.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a four-act play written by John McKinney in collaboration with the actor Daniel E. Bandmann. It is an adaptation of Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, an 1886 novella written by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. The story focuses on Henry Jekyll, a respected London doctor, and his involvement with Edward Hyde, a loathsome criminal. After Hyde murders a vicar, Jekyll's friends suspect he is helping the killer, but the truth is that Jekyll and Hyde are the same person. Jekyll has developed a potion that allows him to transform himself into Hyde and back again. When he runs out of the potion, he is trapped in his Hyde form and commits suicide before he can be arrested.

<i>Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Or a Mis-Spent Life</i> Play by Luella Forepaugh and George F. Fish

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Or a Mis-Spent Life is a four-act play written in 1897 by Luella Forepaugh and George F. Fish. It is an adaptation of Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, an 1886 novella written by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. The story focuses on Henry Jekyll, a respected London doctor, and his involvement with Edward Hyde, a loathsome criminal. After Hyde murders a vicar, Jekyll's friends suspect he is helping the killer, but the truth is that Jekyll and Hyde are the same person. Jekyll has developed a potion that allows him to transform himself into Hyde and back again. When he runs out of the potion, he is trapped in his Hyde form and commits suicide.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a British film adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's novella, directed by Maurice Phillips and starring John Hannah. Set in Victorian England, it was filmed in 2002 and released in Britain in that year. As the result of its release in the US in 2003, that date is sometimes attached to it.

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde is a Canadian film directed by Paolo Barzman and starring Dougray Scott in the title role. Set and shot in Montréal, Québec, Canada, it was released theatrically in both the US and UK in 2008, and then on DVD in 2009. It was given as "second-tier premiere" on the ION network on May 17, 2008.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era. Midnight Marquee Press. p. 108. ISBN   978-1936168-68-2.
  2. "Release dates for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" . Retrieved 3 August 2010.
  3. "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde". Silent Era.
  4. Haberman, Steve (2003). "Silent Screams". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 101. ISBN   978-1-936168-15-6