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A few years ago, I decided to read The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. One reason was because I had nothing else to do, and I wanted to read an old-school novel. I think I finished reading the Picture of Dorian Gray and wanted to keep up with the monster movie villains from Universal. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a really good mystery where in the end, you see that two different people are the same. In this case, Dr. Jekyll is a scientist who is good in the world and wants to help but also wants to show the world that everyone has a dual side within them. After a serum, the world is introduced to the ruthless and evil Mr. Hyde.
You have probably heard the tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. There have been many movies and tv shows with these characters in them. You could probably spend five minutes on Google and find like 10 movies or TV shows with the characters. Hell, even the Hulk is modeled after Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde if you really think about it. No matter, the story will always show that no matter how good someone is, they will have an evil side in them.
The 1931 version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was directed by Rouben Mamoulian and based on the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. In this version, Henry “Harry” Jekyll (March) is a respected gentleman in London society. His life is quite remarkable as he is pre-engaged to Muriel Carew (Hobart), the daughter of a brigadier general and a medical doctor, scientist, and academician. The dude straight up has the life. During one of his lectures, he theorizes that every man has good and evil sides. He believes that they can be separated. He believes that when you do this, the evil side can be fully controlled, and the good side can live without any worries. The main reason for this is to have a better society. While running formulas, Dr. Jekyll decides that the best way to make his theory come true is by experimenting on himself. Dr. Jekyll takes his man-made serum, and his evil side, who he names Mr. Hyde, comes to life. Hyde ventures into London with freedom and soon becomes obsessed with party-girl Ivy Pierson (Hopkins). Hyde soon terrorizes London with the full knowledge of Jekyll. Seeing that his experiment was a mistake, Jekyll decides to stop his experiment at all costs. The only thing is that Hyde knows everything Jekyll is doing and will stop at nothing to stay in the world.
I am going to tell you right now that we need to put some respect on this film. I love old-school movies because they really show the art of movie-making. This film would be laughed at today because it’s not technologically advanced with CGI and significant special effects. I want you to know that it doesn’t matter. This film is propelled by Fredric March. Without him, this film might be blah.
Let’s start with March. Dude had to play dual roles, and it freakin worked so well. I honestly thought it was two different people, but homeboy brought it with this film. As Dr. Jekyll, March showed him as a man full of life and happiness. He was a gentle soul and wanted to help people. Even when he met Ivy, he helped her, and even when she was flirtatious, he smiled and even stated he would be back to help her. What truly made this performance work was the transformation into Mr. Hyde. March changed his mannerisms and body language and showed just how ruthless his evil side can be. This was a fantastic performance for March.
Now for the actual story, if you have heard of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, you know one is nice, and one is extremely evil. Where the film is by far interesting and exciting is with the introduction of Mr. Hyde. The whole transformation scene was top-notch for its time. First, Mr. Hyde straight up looked like the Wolfman. He had pointy ears, jacked-up teeth and looked more like an ape than anything else. Hyde was ruthless as he terrorized Ivy and took advantage of her with rape. Homeboy went wild after he killed her. Dude straight up took on twenty cops and was handling his own until they finally killed him.
What is also good about the story is that it shows the full-on regret that Dr. Jekyll has. When dude realized how messed up his evil side was, he wanted to stop. You could see Dr. Jekyll’s pain when he tried to help Ivy along with trying to marry his fiancé. Homeboy looked straight up terrible and stressed. When he sees that he couldn’t stop his transformations, he becomes desperate until he loses all control.
I want to give a shout-out to Miriam Hopkins as Ivy Pierson. She was the beauty who tried her hook-up with Dr. Jekyll. Yet, her true performance was when her character met Mr. Hyde. First, she wasn’t interested at all in him because the dude looked like a freakin monkey. When Mr. Hyde pretty much terrorized her, Hopkins showed the extreme terror in her face and how she looked like she had lost all hope in her eyes.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is an old-school movie that is not as scary or thrilling as today’s movies. Yet, this film is carried by the outstanding performance of March. One should appreciate the old-school monster films. The transformation scene is thrilling and entertaining. Watch this film and decide if you will be good or your own evil side will prevail.
