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Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde

USA (1920): Silent/Horror

B&W (tinted), 86 Minutes

Starring: 

• Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Hyde: John Barrymore

• Millicent Carew: Martha Mansfield

• Sir George Carew: Brandon Hurst

• Dr. Richard Lanyon: Charles Lane

• Edward Enfield: Cecil Clovelly

Directed by John S. Robertson

"In each of us, two natures are at war--the good and the evil. All our lives the fight goes on between them, and one of them must conquer. But in our hands lies the power to choose--what we want most to be, we are."

Scenes for Study (require RealPlayer, available as free download from www.real.com):

Note to students: you can study any of these three scenes for your clip tests:

• From Jekyll to Hyde
• Longing for Evil
• Nature's Hideous Revenge  

Click here for the introductory slideshow

Although Canadian director John S. Robertson's was not the first film interpretation of the Stevenson classic, his is perhaps the most famous of the (literally) dozens of renditions throughout the 20th century (other notable Dr. Jekylls have included Spencer Tracy, Jack Palance, and Michael Caine).  This version was received ecstatically by the press of the day.  Variety proclaimed it  "a fine dignified presentation...,  the appearance of John Barrymore in any production is an event and there remains for the reviewer only to comment on how excellent is his portrayal of the dual personalities of the unfortunate Dr. Jekyll."  The New York Times agreed: "John Barrymore as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde came to the screen of the Rivoli yesterday. This statement must be the outstanding and joyfully heralded feature of any report on the motion picture version of the story that Robert Louis Stevenson wrote and the play in which Richard Mansfield appeared--for the excellence of the photoplay, everything that distinguishes it from the pictures that come and go from day to day marks it as something special and extraordinary--is centered in Mr. Barrymore's flawless performance."

Barrymore was rehearsing for the role of Shakespeare's Richard III when he went to film Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. No actor before or since has been able to surpass the suave demeanor of Barrymore's doctor - or the frightfulness of his Hyde.  Barrymore had played every possible role from light comedy to turgid drama. When he was called upon to play Hyde, he scorned extensive makeup and did most of his transformation by muscular control - feigning madness with ease. Barrymore's creation became the most memorable portrayal in the silent era and is considered a classic of the horror genre.  Though dozens of interpretations followed over the years, it is Barrymore's gruesome visage that is most indelibly etched in the collective memory of cinemagoers.

Links:

• Entire movie at MovieFlix.com (registration required)
• The original novella by Robert Lous Stevenson
• The history of early Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde adaptations
• A list of film adaptations of the Stevenson novella

Questions for Consideration: Stevenson's Novella

1. The description of Mr. Utterson takes the entire first page and half of the second to complete.  Why do you suppose Stevenson spends so much time characterizing Utterson?  How does this description give insight into his relationship with Dr. Jekyll?

2. What action causes Mr. Enfield to notice Hyde?  Why does Mr. Enfield conceal the name on the check?  Given the story Enfield tells, why is chapter one titled "The Story of the Door"?

3. What is the source of Dr. Jekyll and Dr. Lanyon’s disagreement?  How does Lanyon find out the extent of Dr. Jekyll's experiments?

4. How does the telling of the story through different voices, different characters, affect us as readers?  Does it confuse or clarify meaning?

5. Besides Dr. Jekyll's written explanation of the duality of human nature, how else is this idea illustrated in the novella?  Through which scenes is man's dual nature best demonstrated? 

6. Our understandings of the Victorian era may be incomplete or even stereotypical, but the attitudes of the period concerned moral decay and were fearful of sex, violence, and addiction.  How does Stevenson’s theme of good vs. evil (man's morality) reflect/ contradict/have nothing to do with the belief systems of the Victorian period?

7. Noel Carroll, in The Philosophy of Horror, explains that in over-reacher plots, the experiment performed by the protagonist often goes awry. Does Dr. Jekyll's experiment fail?  Does the potion do what Jekyll hopes? 

8. When Hyde appears and commits unspeakable acts, it is usually on well-lighted, clean, and silent streets.  The same streets that are alive with activity during the day.  What does this mean?  What idea(s) about the novella does it convey?

Questions for Consideration: The Robertson Adaptation

1. Why does Robertson introduce Millicent (as Carew's daughter and Jekyll's love interest) and Miss Gina (the temptress)?  James Twitchell says in Dreadful Pleasures that the "splitting of the female role allows us to see what was lurking in Stevenson's text; Hyde's aggression is sexual and its object is displaced from Jekyll's porcelain madonna to the fleshy tramp" (247).  What are the reasons for (and effects of) adding these female roles to the story? Is the addition of a love triangle important to the adaptation of the film?
2. What is the purpose for the film's distorted chronology?  Is it, in fact, distorted or does it follow the same order as the novella (if it were told in one narrative voice)? How does the literary point of view (which changes from third person limited omniscience, to dramatic, to first-person in different chapters) of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde complicate or lend itself to cinematic adaptation?
3. A main theme present in Stevenson's novella is the duality of man's nature.  In what ways (symbols, motifs, etc.) does Stevenson convey this theme?  How is it present (or not present, or less present, or altered, or reinforced) in the film adaptation?  
4. A novelist must manipulate details of setting to achieve an emotional effect or mood.  What are some of the ways in which Stevenson manipulates setting to create the mood of impending evil?  Which of these methods are present or emphasized in the film adaptation?  Are there other methods the filmmakers use to suggest the same mood -- ones a novelist cannot?
5. If you were to make a film version of this novella, would yours be a period piece, or would it take place in a contemporary setting?  How would you convey its horror to your viewer?  What elements of the novella would you accentuate or downplay?  How would those decisions help to horrify  today's viewer?
6. Assuming that you might make some significant changes in order to attract/horrify/challenge a contemporary audience, how could you do so and yet claim to be telling Stevenson’s story?  (Or would you?)  To what extent can a filmmaker make changes to plots, characters, and settings to accommodate the demands of the cinema?

Acknowledgement: Tammy Torres contributed the introductory slideshow and discussion questions to this page.