Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Victor Fleming

Writers:

Robert Louis Stevenson (novel)
John Lee Mahin (writer)

Release Date:

September 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

A Good Woman! A Bad Woman - who needed the love of both!

Plot:

Dr. Jekyll allows his dark side to run wild when he drinks a potion that turns him into the evil Mr. Hyde.

Plot Keywords:

Evil | Experiment | Potion | Mad Scientist | Remake

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars.

Cast

Spencer Tracy	...	Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Hyde
Ingrid Bergman	...	Ivy Peterson
Lana Turner	...	Beatrix Emery
Donald Crisp	...	Sir Charles Emery
Ian Hunter	...	Dr. John Lanyon
Barton MacLane	...	Sam Higgins
C. Aubrey Smith	...	Bishop Manners
Peter Godfrey	...	Poole, Jekyll's Butler
Sara Allgood	...	Mrs. Higgins
Frederick Worlock	...	Dr. Heath (as Frederic Worlock)
William Tannen	...	Intern Fenwick
Frances Robinson	...	Marcia
Denis Green	...	Freddie
Billy Bevan	...	Mr. Weller
Forrester Harvey	...	Old Prouty

Runtime:

113 min | Germany:90 min | Germany:108 min (VHS version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #7341)

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Spencer Tracy was so eager to begin filming that he turned down James Stewart's role in The Philadelphia Story (1940). Tracy was cast despite concerns that at 41 he was too old to play Jekyll.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the fight with Sir Charles Emery, Hyde loses his hat. In the next instant it's back on.

Quotes:

Dr. Henry Jekyll: [as Hyde] When you went to see the good doctor, before you left you said... I almost thought, well what did you think? Maybe that you saw a little bit of ME, Hyde in him?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Some of the Best (1949)

Soundtrack:

See Me Dance the Polka

Not the March version, but pretty good, anyway!

Unlike Universal, MGM was never a studio associated much with out-and-out horror films (A notable exception: 1932's great "The Mask of Fu Manchu," with Boris Karloff, Myrna Loy, and Jean Hersholt). But, when they did make them, they made them with the legendary MGM class and gloss. And such a one was the 1941 version of Stevenson's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." Unlike the March version, this wasn't a particularly scary film, but more of a suspenseful one. As befits the director who made "Wizard of Oz," "Red Dust," and "Gone with the Wind," Victor Fleming turns the story into a thinking man's horror film, and succeeds brilliantly.

As to the cast, Spencer Tracy, like Frederick March, was effectively cast against type for the part, and delivers a good, understated performance. His Hyde is very much the Hyde of the book, an evil, decayed version of Jekyll himself, rather than a monster. This last was accomplished by Jack Dawn's equally understated makeup. Lana Turner, and Jekyll's fiance, Beatrix, is little more than pretty set decoration. Let's face it, she wouldn't really prove she could act until "Peyton Place" and "Imitation of Life" in the late '50's. But Ingrid Bergman, now, that's another story! In one of her first U.S. films, she delivers a brilliant performance as Ivy Peterson, the Cockney barmaid unwillingly cought up in Hyde's insane reign of terror. Her scenes with Tracy, both as Jekyll and as Hyde, fairly crackle with energy. These are two comsummate pros working together, and they don't disappoint. In the only other supporting roles of any importance, Donald Crisp, Ian Hunter, Barton McLane, and Sara Allgood all aquit themselves beautifully.