Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

film by Mamoulian [1931]

Written by Lee Pfeiffer

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Article History

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, American horror film, released in 1931, that is widely considered the best film adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886).

Fredric March portrayed the kindly London physician, Dr. Henry Jekyll, who is impatient to marry his fiancée, Muriel (played by Rose Hobart). Despite his pleas, her father rejects his request for an early wedding. The tormented Jekyll heads to his laboratory, where he has been developing a potion to separate the benevolent from the malevolent sides of human nature, which “hide” beneath a veneer of civility. After he drinks the concoction, the doctor’s evil impulses are unleashed as he is transformed into the monstrous Mr. Hyde. As Hyde, he rapes and later kills a prostitute named Ivy (played by Miriam Hopkins), whom Jekyll had earlier rescued from an assailant. Jekyll attempts to atone for Hyde’s actions by breaking off his engagement with Muriel. However, during his visit with Muriel, he transforms into his alter ego and attacks her. Hyde is chased by police and eventually killed, his body reverting back to that of Jekyll.

Director Rouben Mamoulian and cinematographer Karl Struss never fully revealed how they accomplished the transformation scenes, which have continued to impress viewers. March received an Academy Award for his critically acclaimed performance as the dual characters. After the Hays Production Code came into full effect, the film was shorn of some 10 minutes of footage owing to sexually suggestive scenes featuring Hopkins and March. When MGM remade the movie in 1941 with Spencer Tracy, the studio acquired the rights to the 1931 version and shelved it for decades.