Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1934)

** (out of 4)

Sheldon Lewis plays the title role of Dr. Henry Jekyll and his alter-ego Mr. Hyde in this ten-minute short film.

If you search around the internet you'll see that there's really not too much information out there about this film. It was released to DVD from Grapevine Video but they list the release date as sometime around 1932. A bit more research and some say that this was released in 1934 as this was a year that Lewis was playing Jekyll and Hyde on the stage. This low-budget short appears to have been filmed in one take so it appears that this was filmed quickly and without too much money.

The film itself isn't all that good but more on that in a bit. This thing is certainly very interesting because Sheldon Lewis also played this role in 1920 in another low-budget version, which was meant to go against the John Barrymore version. This film was released a couple years after the March version so it's fascinating to see the actor get a second chance in the film.

In all honest, this has Lewis giving the same type of performance that we saw in that 1920 film but of course we get to hear his voice here. His entrance as Hyde is certainly a bit over the top and it seems that the biggest trick was making sure to remove the fake teeth when he transforms back into Jekyll. The performance is certainly over-the-top but it's an interesting way to play the roles. There's really not too much action or drama here but as I said it was filmed in one take and probably with limited resources.

If you're a horror fan then this version is certainly worth tracking down and watching. It's not a good movie but it's certainly interesting to compare it to earlier versions.