Frederic March played the definitive Dr. Henry Jekyll in the 1931 horror film “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” He displayed quite an acting range portraying the kindly English doctor who develops a drug that releases a person’s evil side, and then uses it on himself, bring out the bad Edward Hyde. March won the Academy Award for Best Actor, and the film was nominated for Best Cinematography, due to the complex scenes (especially in those days) where March made the transition from good to evil (and visa-versa).
Samuel Hoffenstein and Percy Heath were also nominated for Best Adapted Writing for the great screenplay based on the 1886 story “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson. Producer-director Rouben Mamoulian (“The Mark of Zorro” 1940) made this Jekyll and Hyde movie which is superior to the 1920 silent version with John Barrymore or even the 1941 MGM film featuring Spencer Tracy.
Miriam Hopkins played a bar singer who becomes involved with Jekyll/Hyde. Some of her racier scenes (including a see-through blouse) had to be removed from the 1936 re-release due to the full enforcement of the strict Motion Picture Production Code (also known as the Hays Code), which came into effect in 1934, all the way until its demise in 1968.
Other actors include Rose Hobart, Holmes Herbert, Halliwell Hobbes, Edgar Norton, and Tempe Pigott. “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” was popular at the Depression Era box office for producer Rouben Mamoulian and Paramount Pictures.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
cinema
My Review
Frederic March played the definitive Dr. Henry Jekyll in the 1931 horror film “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” He displayed quite an acting range portraying the kindly English doctor who develops a drug that releases a person’s evil side, and then uses it on himself, bring out the bad Edward Hyde. March won the Academy Award for Best Actor, and the film was nominated for Best Cinematography, due to the complex scenes (especially in those days) where March made the transition from good to evil (and visa-versa).
Samuel Hoffenstein and Percy Heath were also nominated for Best Adapted Writing for the great screenplay based on the 1886 story “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson. Producer-director Rouben Mamoulian (“The Mark of Zorro” 1940) made this Jekyll and Hyde movie which is superior to the 1920 silent version with John Barrymore or even the 1941 MGM film featuring Spencer Tracy.
Miriam Hopkins played a bar singer who becomes involved with Jekyll/Hyde. Some of her racier scenes (including a see-through blouse) had to be removed from the 1936 re-release due to the full enforcement of the strict Motion Picture Production Code (also known as the Hays Code), which came into effect in 1934, all the way until its demise in 1968.
Other actors include Rose Hobart, Holmes Herbert, Halliwell Hobbes, Edgar Norton, and Tempe Pigott. “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” was popular at the Depression Era box office for producer Rouben Mamoulian and Paramount Pictures.