Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)

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

Director:

Victor Fleming

Writers:

John Lee Mahin (screenplay), Robert Louis Stevenson (novel),

Stars:

Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, Lana Turner

Nominated for 3 Oscars.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Dr. Jekyll believes good and evil exist in everyone. Experiments reveal his evil side, named Hyde. Experience teaches him how evil Hyde can be: he kills Ivy who earlier expressed interest in Jekyll and Sir Charles, Jekyll's faincee's father.

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Plot Keywords:

evil | potion | experiment | 19th century | flirting | 

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Taglines:

It CHILLS you! Half-MAN! Half-MONSTER!

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

September 1941 (USA)

Also Known As:

Arzt und Dämon

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Loew's

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min 108 min (VHS)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Due to the Hay's Code much of the film had to be watered down from the 1931 version. The character of Ivy Peterson had to be changed from a prostitute to a barmaid.

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Goofs

Spencer Tracy's stunt double is very obvious at various times in the movie.

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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?

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Connections

Version of Adventures of Dr. Jekyll (1972)

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Soundtracks

"See Me Dance the Polka"
(uncredited)
Music and Lyrics by George Grossmith
Additional Lyrics by John Lee Mahin
Sung by Alice Mock in the "Palace of Frivolties" show
Reprised by Ingrid Bergman
Whistled by Spencer Tracy (whistling dubbed by Robert Bradford)

User Reviews

Best Horror Film of the 1940s

MGM did a stellar job of producing a high quality Horror film, putting together director Victor Fleming (of "Gone with the Wind" fame) and stars Lana Turner, Ingrid Bergman, and Spencer Tracy. This film demonstrates that horror doesn't have to be campy, low-budget schtick. Like 2000's "The 6th Sense," 1941's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" actually respected the horror material enough to demonstrate the heights to which a major studio could take the genre.

The film takes us to darker places than we dare imagined existed at good ol' MGM, home of the happy-go-lucky family musical. We see the confident, handsome, Jeckyll dissolve into a cruel, crass, foul-minded Hyde with Tracy's masterful performance.

Bergman and Turner also turn in gritty, splendid performances with their less-than-life affirming characters. Rather than playing it for sci-fi thrills, this interpretation of Robert Louis Stevenson's novel focuses more on Tracy's losing battle to tame the demon of Hyde. The result is a riveting parable on the banality of evil (all the more visceral in retrospect, given the film's release at the brink of World War II.)

The Film Snob, Lee Cushing