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poster of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Rating: 6.8/10 by 140 users

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920)

A doctor's research into the roots of evil turns him into a hideous depraved fiend.

Directing:
  • John S. Robertson
  • Shaw Lovett
Writing:
  • Clara Beranger
  • Robert Louis Stevenson
  • Oscar Wilde
  • Thomas Russell Sullivan
  • Clara Beranger
Stars:
Release Date: Thu, Mar 18, 1920

Rating: 6.8/10 by 140 users

Alternative Title:
くるえるあくま - JP
狂える悪魔 - JP

Country:
United States of America
Language:
No Language
Runtime: 01 hour 19 minutes
Budget: $0
Revenue: $0

Plot Keyword: double life, transformation, alter ego, silent film, jekyll and hyde, torment
Subtitle   Wallpaper   Watch Trailer    

John Barrymore
Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Edward Hyde
Brandon Hurst
Sir George Carewe
Martha Mansfield
Millicent Carewe
Charles Lane
Dr. Richard Lanyon
Cecil Clovelly
Edward Enfield
Nita Naldi
Miss Gina
Louis Wolheim
Music Hall Proprietor
Alma Aiken
Extra (uncredited)
J. Malcolm Dunn
John Utterson (uncredited)
Ferdinand Gottschalk
Old Man at Table in Music Hall (uncredited)
Julia Hurley
Hyde's Landlady with Lamp (uncredited)
Jack McHugh
Street Kid - Raises Fist to Mr. Hyde (uncredited)
Georgie Drew Mendum
Patron in Music Hall (uncredited)
Blanche Ring
Woman at Table with Old Man in Music Hall (uncredited)
May Robson
Prostitute at Clinic (uncredited)
George Stevens
Jekyll's Butler Poole (uncredited)
Edgard Varèse
Policeman (uncredited)

talisencrw

A very good early silent with both exquisite direction and a fine acting performance by John Barrymore. Well-worth checking out for cinephiles with a heightened interest in the origins of American horror cinema.

CinemaSerf

I'd have to admit that John Barrymore was certainly no oil painting. Unlike so many silent-era film stars, he could actually act, rather then just look longingly into the camera and/or the gal's doey eyes. Here he portrays Robert Louis Stevenson's eponymous characters with quite some menace and skill. The story of the eminently respectable "Jekyll" who is fascinated by the human psyche and who experiments with mind/body altering drugs, discovering his inner and pretty unpleasant id in "Mr Hyde" in the process. There now follows a battle royal between the two personalities, the decent and the monstrous, and it rapidly becomes unsafe for those around him - including "Millicent" (Martha Mansfield), whom "Jekyll" loves, and even music hall girl "Gina" (Nita Naldi), the object of the desires of his alter ego. Barrymore is great, here - though some of his transformation scenes did remind me of a rather crazed Richard III playing an invisible piano. Using some dark and dingy locations, the clever use of shadow and Barrymore's own ability to create a considerable sense of menace, this really does have the hairs on the back of your neck paying attention. The visual effects are effective and John Robertson gives us a good solid, adaptation of an eerie, provocative story that still captures the imagination now, but without the characterisations being compromised or overly relying on CGI and the like to distract us from the on-screen antics. Whilst I wouldn't say it was the best - the 1931 version was a cracker too, it is one of those stories that resonates now, as it did then, and this is a terrific interpretation.


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