Movie : The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

We see a caped man running towards us.  It’s night and he’s making his way through a narrow,  foggy alley way.   We are in 1800’s London.  We cut to a hospital where Dr. Jekyll has just given a report to the medical society.  His report which claims man has two distinct sides, one good and one evil, is met with hostility by the audience.  Jekyll wants to experiment on humans with his new serum.  Split the two sides of man’s nature.  The medical/scientific society thinks it’s dangerous ground and could create a monster.  The lecture ends in an uproar.

Jekyll takes his potion and experiments on himself.  The first time he take the liquid he goes into painful convulsions.  He awakens the next morning with no recollection of the night before.  He tries to put the previous night together.  He finds various articles in his clothes, a hand bill from a dance hall, a garter, a liquor bottle. an iou.  He goes to the dance hall to see if he was there the night before.  No one recognizes him but he finds out that a Mr Hyde was there and he raised hell and made a memorable impression.  He also meets the woman Hyde spent time with.

Jekyll continues to experiment on himself, transforming himself into Hyde.  The very violent Hyde.  We follow Jekyll and his other half.  Eventually Hyde takes over and reeks violence around him.

 

 

This was a teleplay that totally captured CB’s imagination.  Director Charles Jarrot has a great story to work with in Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic and tells it with lots of suspense and tension.  He and his team create the perfect atmosphere for this story to play out.  Foggy, cramped streets.  Claustrophobic and dark  You feel it.  Jack Palance gives a very good performance in the two characters.  He is surrounded by a solid British cast.  It felt like a slice of well done live theater.

This movie left a lasting impression on CB.  He was swept up in the story.  That we all have the two sides (maybe more).  Watch out for the Hyde side, he’s a bad bastard!