Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)

Director:

Rouben Mamoulian

Writers:

Samuel Hoffenstein (screenplay) and
Percy Heath (screenplay) and
Robert Louis Stevenson (novel)

Release Date:

31 December 1931 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Put yourself in her place! The dreaded night when her lover became a madman!

Plot:

Dr. Jekyll faces horrible consequences when he lets his dark side run wild with a potion that changes him into the animalistic Mr. Hyde.

Plot Keywords:

Experiment | Robert Louis Stevenson | Scientist | Drug | Potion

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Fredric March	...	Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Hyde
Miriam Hopkins	...	Ivy Pearson
Rose Hobart	...	Muriel Carew
Holmes Herbert	...	Dr. Lanyon
Halliwell Hobbes	...	Brigadier-General Sir Danvers Carew
Edgar Norton	...	Poole
Tempe Pigott	...	Mrs. Hawkins

Also Known As:

Runtime:

98 min | 96 min (TCM print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

UK:12 (video rating) | UK:A | Australia:PG | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Sweden:15 | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | UK:12A (2008) | USA:Approved (PCA #1002-R: 22 June 1935 for re-release) | Netherlands:6 (2004) (DVD) | Finland:(Banned) (1932) | Finland:K-16 (1933)

Filming Locations:

Busch Gardens - S. Grove Avenue, Pasadena, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Miriam Hopkins originally turned down the role if Ivy Pearson, saying she wanted to play Muriel Carew instead. She soon changed her mind when the director informed her many actresses in Hollywood could be cast in her place.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the opening scene, as Jekyll looks into the mirror through the subjective camera, his "reflection" turns away from the mirror before the camera, (supposedly Jekyll's viewpoint) does.

Quotes:

Blond-haired student:[joking to another student about Jekyll's lecture on splitting the personality] Why don't you stay at home and send your other self to the lecture?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Buenas noches, señor monstruo (1982)

Soundtrack:

Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565

A Landmark Horror Film

Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale of split personality has been filmed before in 1920 with John Barrymore and in 1941 with Spencer Tracy, but Rouben Mamoulian's expressionist 1931 version stands head and shoulders above the rest. First of all, you have Fredric March, whose tour-de-force performance as the good-natured Jekyll and the monstrous Hyde earned him the Best Actor Oscar. Second, the camera work by Karl Struss brilliantly captures the mood of the story. And lastly, the transformation sequences set an enormous precedent for the later monster movies. It all blends together to form one of most amazing horror movies of the 1930's. Even today, it still has the power to mesmerize and send chills down the spine of even the most hardened horror fan.