Very impressive - and, as other commentators have pointed out, surprisingly sexy - adaptation of the classic tale.
Dr. Jekyll (the great Frederic March, an Oscar winner for this) is a scientist who has dedicated himself to discovering a way to separate the "good" and "evil" sides of human nature. His stated goal is to make it possible for all people to be rid of their "evil" side for good so that it will "trouble them no more"; this, in turn, will give the "good" side freedom to reach its full potential.
Jekyll is engaged to a beautiful young woman named Muriel (Rose Hobart) whose father insists they wait for marriage. Jekyll is in love with (and let's be honest, hot for) his fiancée and wants to marry sooner, but his intended does not want to hurt her father's feelings by going against his wishes, so he agrees to wait for her.
Meanwhile, Jekyll has met a local tart named Ivy (Miriam Hopkins, spectacularly sexy and decidedly non-waifish). He hears her scream - it appears, although we don't see what actually happened, that she has been hit and knocked down by a man - and he carries her up to the loft she lives in. After getting a good look at her handsome benefactor, our Ivy decides to turn on both the "poor-me's" and the sex appeal, of which she has plenty, especially in bed wearing nothing but a garter. (The scene contains no nudity but innuendo and tension aplenty). When he finally tells her he has to go, she calls out the words I have used as the title of my review to him.
In the meantime, his tries a new potion he has concocted on himself. This leads to his first transformation into "Hyde", who, in this version, is portrayed as somewhat ape-like, suggesting an evolutionary throwback (always allowing for the theory of evolution). This character could care less about the mores of the society around him. Hyde's first emergence is cut short before he can cause any trouble by the arrival of his alter-ego's manservant.
But Muriel and her father have gone away, and Jekyll soon gives in to temptation, drinking the potion again. This time, he DOES go out, and immediately seeks out what Jekyll wanted but denied himself - Ivy. He finds her at a seedy music hall where she performs/hangs out, invites her to his table, and comes on like the Cro-Magnon he is, scoffing at men like his alter-ego who "like your (Ivy's) legs but talk about your garter", referring to the fact that Jekyll had warned Ivy earlier that her garter was tight enough to cut off her circulation.
Ivy is soon (and not exactly willingly) "shacked up" with Hyde, refusing to leave or try to find help for fear of him. But Hyde reads in the paper that his fiancée and her father are coming back, and informs Ivy that he will have to leave her for a time, but, "If you do one thing I don't approve of while I'm gone . . . the least little thing, mind you . . . I'll show you what horror means". Their goodbye scene is one of the most chilling in movie history, perhaps as close as any filmmaker of this period would ever come to an actual "rape" scene.
Jekyll is reunited with his fiancée and future father-in-law, and is able to convince the latter not to make them wait so long for their wedding.
He goes home overjoyed, but not for long. You see, he sent Ivy fifty pounds cash as a way to try to make amends for his treatment of her as Hyde. But she appears in person. She doesn't want his money -Hyde would only hurt her if he found out she had it- she wants help getting out of the trap she is in with him (at one point, she shows Jekyll her back, and although we are not shown the actual wounds, she says, "Pretty, ain't it? It's a whip, that's what it is, a whip!).
Jekyll, feeling more ashamed than ever of his behavior as Hyde, gives his word to Ivy that Hyde will never come back; she can keep the money without fear.
Feeling better - after all, he has made amends to Ivy, he will soon be married to his fiancée, and he is rid of Hyde, or so he thinks, Jekyll goes for a pleasant walk in a park. But he sees a cat stalking - and, although we are not shown this, presumably killing and eating - a bird, and this brings out the predator within himself again. After another transformation, Hyde seeks out Ivy and, after a horrific scene in which he confronts her over going to Jekyll for help, kills her.
Jekyll reads in the paper what he has done (we are led to assume, I think, that he has no memory of his actions as Hyde)and decides that the only "peanance" he can offer is to call off his engagement (not to mention that he now feels he must leave Muriel for her own safety).
But he transforms yet again - it's worth noting here that March is able to portray this transformation with his back to the camera as he peers in at the sobbing Muriel, simply through body language - and goes back into his now ex-fiancée's house. Hearing his daughter's scream, her father comes running in and is killed by Hyde.
It all ends in a police chase and the death by shooting of Hyde/Jekyll.
Worth a look, definitely.
Cheers.
Dr. Jekyll (the great Frederic March, an Oscar winner for this) is a scientist who has dedicated himself to discovering a way to separate the "good" and "evil" sides of human nature. His stated goal is to make it possible for all people to be rid of their "evil" side for good so that it will "trouble them no more"; this, in turn, will give the "good" side freedom to reach its full potential.
Jekyll is engaged to a beautiful young woman named Muriel (Rose Hobart) whose father insists they wait for marriage. Jekyll is in love with (and let's be honest, hot for) his fiancée and wants to marry sooner, but his intended does not want to hurt her father's feelings by going against his wishes, so he agrees to wait for her.
Meanwhile, Jekyll has met a local tart named Ivy (Miriam Hopkins, spectacularly sexy and decidedly non-waifish). He hears her scream - it appears, although we don't see what actually happened, that she has been hit and knocked down by a man - and he carries her up to the loft she lives in. After getting a good look at her handsome benefactor, our Ivy decides to turn on both the "poor-me's" and the sex appeal, of which she has plenty, especially in bed wearing nothing but a garter. (The scene contains no nudity but innuendo and tension aplenty). When he finally tells her he has to go, she calls out the words I have used as the title of my review to him.
In the meantime, his tries a new potion he has concocted on himself. This leads to his first transformation into "Hyde", who, in this version, is portrayed as somewhat ape-like, suggesting an evolutionary throwback (always allowing for the theory of evolution). This character could care less about the mores of the society around him. Hyde's first emergence is cut short before he can cause any trouble by the arrival of his alter-ego's manservant.
But Muriel and her father have gone away, and Jekyll soon gives in to temptation, drinking the potion again. This time, he DOES go out, and immediately seeks out what Jekyll wanted but denied himself - Ivy. He finds her at a seedy music hall where she performs/hangs out, invites her to his table, and comes on like the Cro-Magnon he is, scoffing at men like his alter-ego who "like your (Ivy's) legs but talk about your garter", referring to the fact that Jekyll had warned Ivy earlier that her garter was tight enough to cut off her circulation.
Ivy is soon (and not exactly willingly) "shacked up" with Hyde, refusing to leave or try to find help for fear of him. But Hyde reads in the paper that his fiancée and her father are coming back, and informs Ivy that he will have to leave her for a time, but, "If you do one thing I don't approve of while I'm gone . . . the least little thing, mind you . . . I'll show you what horror means". Their goodbye scene is one of the most chilling in movie history, perhaps as close as any filmmaker of this period would ever come to an actual "rape" scene.
Jekyll is reunited with his fiancée and future father-in-law, and is able to convince the latter not to make them wait so long for their wedding.
He goes home overjoyed, but not for long. You see, he sent Ivy fifty pounds cash as a way to try to make amends for his treatment of her as Hyde. But she appears in person. She doesn't want his money -Hyde would only hurt her if he found out she had it- she wants help getting out of the trap she is in with him (at one point, she shows Jekyll her back, and although we are not shown the actual wounds, she says, "Pretty, ain't it? It's a whip, that's what it is, a whip!).
Jekyll, feeling more ashamed than ever of his behavior as Hyde, gives his word to Ivy that Hyde will never come back; she can keep the money without fear.
Feeling better - after all, he has made amends to Ivy, he will soon be married to his fiancée, and he is rid of Hyde, or so he thinks, Jekyll goes for a pleasant walk in a park. But he sees a cat stalking - and, although we are not shown this, presumably killing and eating - a bird, and this brings out the predator within himself again. After another transformation, Hyde seeks out Ivy and, after a horrific scene in which he confronts her over going to Jekyll for help, kills her.
Jekyll reads in the paper what he has done (we are led to assume, I think, that he has no memory of his actions as Hyde)and decides that the only "peanance" he can offer is to call off his engagement (not to mention that he now feels he must leave Muriel for her own safety).
But he transforms yet again - it's worth noting here that March is able to portray this transformation with his back to the camera as he peers in at the sobbing Muriel, simply through body language - and goes back into his now ex-fiancée's house. Hearing his daughter's scream, her father comes running in and is killed by Hyde.
It all ends in a police chase and the death by shooting of Hyde/Jekyll.
Worth a look, definitely.
Cheers.