Il dottor Jekyll e Mr. Hyde

It was probably too soon for Spencer Tracy to have tried a remake of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Ten years was not long enough for people to forget Fredric March's Oscar winning performance from the Paramount classic of 1931. This version of the Robert Louis Stevenson horror novel drew for Tracy some of the few bad reviews he ever got as a player because it was too soon. Time has been good to this film and we can see the differences in interpretation.

The Jekyll character that Tracy creates is a soft spoken guy, a lot like Father Flannagan. He's a medical doctor, more interested in research than in a practice. Before Sigmund Freud ever coined the terms ego and id to describe man's duel nature of good and evil, Stevenson had those same notions about man's behavior and incorporated them in his novel.

The Hyde character was a bold experiment. Tracy was probably the player in Hollywood who disliked makeup the most. Yet for this film and for few others, he allowed himself to be made up ever so slightly to suggest the evil Hyde. It was a far cry from the simian appearance of Fredric March's Hyde and Tracy got criticized for it. Retrospectives now are kinder to him and his method of interpretation.

Stepping into the female roles played by Rose Hobart and Miriam Hopkins in the March version are Lana Turner and Ingrid Bergman. Lana Turner although later she played quite a few sexpots was at this stage of her career playing very winsome proper young ladies and not doing a bad job of it.

Ingrid Bergman plays Champagne Ivy, probably one of the most luckless characters in fiction. Ivy was not in the original novel, she was in the play that was adapted from the Stevenson novel and she's come down to us ever since. This poor girl, no better than she ought to be meets Tracy as Jekyll and he's attracted, but engaged to Turner. When he becomes Hyde, the beast within him remembers and stalks Bergman mercilessly ending in tragedy all around.

Besides March and Tracy other actors who've tried this most difficult of parts are John Barrymore, Jack Palance, and Kirk Douglas. Only the best can and are willing to tackle Jekyll and Hyde. And there ain't no doubt that Tracy is one of the best.

Spencer Tracy is magnificent in this, doing Mr Hyde basically with changes in behavior and agility rather than heavy make-up. He scared me to death when he vaulted over a railing and down a couple fo flights of stairs.

This is more of a thriller than a horror movie and done long before it became fashionable to throw tons of money and big-name performers at horror classics in order to produce blockbusters that were once just silly.

This supposedly cleaned-up version has Hyde asking Ingrid Bergman if she likes him because he's a little bit Jeckyll or Jeckyll because he's a little bit Hyde.

So many people are fussing that this movie turns the prostitute into a bar maid. Folks, in that part of London at that time, bar maids WERE prostitutes.

I find any moster more scary with no facial hair or deformities added. This Mr Hyde could well exist in real life. In fact, he DOES exist in real life. Once in a while we manage to prove it and put him in prison.

This version of the classic "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" story is more slow-moving and psychological than most. Rather than emphasizing the more horrific elements of the story, it relies on a good cast to bring out the ways that the characters and their relationships are affected by the doctor's weird experiment. It's not the version to watch if you are looking for excitement or horror, but as a more psychological approach it mostly works.

Spencer Tracy plays the dual leading role, and does pretty well at creating two distinct personalities - the transformation uses only minimal special effects, and relies on Tracy to make the characters convincing. Lana Turner and Ingrid Bergman work well as Beatrix and Ivy, and the rest of the cast members are also all very good. What the film lacks in excitement it makes up for in making Dr. Jekyll's world believable.

If you're already familiar with the story in its more horrific versions, this would be worth a look if you're interested in a different take on it. It's probably not the place to start, though, if you don't yet know the story.

I had the fortune of seeing BOTH this version and the 1931 Frederic March version only about a week apart. Because of this it gave me an excellent chance to compare and contrast them. And it also gave me a chance to see that the two films were extremely similar--so similar that the later MGM film seems more a remake of the 1931 film and not an adaptation of the original book. There was much more similarity between the movies than the book. And, while they both are good, I would definitely say that I preferred the earlier version.

Since the 1931 film was made during the so-called "Pre-Code" era before the guidelines of the production code governing morality in pictures was enforced, it is a more "earthy" and sexually charged film. In this earlier version, March develops the chemical formula simply out of curiosity and a desire to "sow wild oats" without detection. In other words, since Mr. Hyde looked more like a half-man/half-chimp, he could whore around without getting caught or ruining his reputation. The 1941 version had much nobler intent, as nice-guy Dr. Jekyll created his elixir in order to separate the good and evil aspects of our personalities so we could live purer and more wholesome lives without our subconscious evil desires impeding us! In addition, since the 1931 version was pre-Code, it tended to show more skin and imply more about sex, whereas the 1941 version showed Hyde more as a sadist. In general, the 1941 version was a little bit tamer and more "family-friendly", though I think both are fine for older kids.

There were a few negatives I noticed in this otherwise well-made film. One was that Hyde looked almost exactly like Dr. Jekyll. This MIGHT have been a daring and intelligent way to take the movie (though certainly NOT in keeping with Robert Lewis Stevenson's book)--showing the "monster" as looking like a sloppy man, but a man nevertheless. However, this makes no sense, as Ingrid Bergman (the woman Hyde desires) already met Dr. Jekyll BEFORE meeting Hyde and yet couldn't see that they were the same guy! At the very least, she should have thought they were brothers! But, to go to Dr. Jekyll and complain about how abusive Hyde was just seemed silly.

Also another quibble is with the choice of Ms. Bergman as the earthy barmaid (in the 1931 version, she seemed more like a prostitute than a member of the working poor). Changing her part a bit wasn't the problem, but that Ingrid sounded like a Swedish lady trying to sound Cockney--which is what she was! At times, she forgot the accent altogether and at other times she just sounded kind of weird. She was a wonderful actress, but the casting decision was dumb.

As far as Tracy goes, he was fine as Jekyll, but there were times when it was obvious that you were watching a stuntman instead of Tracy. The scenes just weren't done very well and you can't blame Tracy for this but the director. Just watch the scene in the hallway after Hyde's confrontation with Bergman--it's pretty obvious that the guy jumping about isn't Tracy and it doesn't look much like him.

One observation about Tracy. I've recently read a biography about him and choosing him to play the lead was pretty interesting because in real life, Tracy definitely had a "Jekyll and Hyde" personality. When he was sober (which apparently wasn't often enough), he was a sweet guy, but when he drank he was abusive and very reminiscent of the dreaded Hyde. I wonder if anyone at the time noticed this.

This is a thoughtful interpretation of the Stevenson story but is very rarely emotionally engaging. The theme seems to be sexual repression, with Hyde coming from Jekyll's repressed lust. As Hyde takes over we witness some extraordinary and very graphic Freudian imagery such as Bergman and Turner, naked, pulling a chariot containing Tracy and his whip, and Bergman being screwed out of a bottle by a corkscrew! Amazing. But the horror of the story is never realized and there is too much philosophical chat.

Tracy is terrific in the lead, but his make-up for Hyde is too subtle to be effective. The transformations require him to stand completely still which makes them a bit dull. The final transformation is quite an achievement however. Bergman could have been great but her attempt at a cockney accent seriously detracts from her fine emotional interpretation. Lana Turner is awful as Tracy's true love. But the rest of the cast is very strong - especially Donald Crisp.

The film also contains some fine Fleming touches, including his beautiful slow pans over magnificent sets and crowd scenes. The cinematography is excellent - make sure you don't watch the colorised version - and foggy Victorian London is recreated stunningly. This film never rises to the horror of the 1920 or the 1932 versions but still has much to offer.