Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (B- or 2.5/4 stars)
'Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde' (directed by Victor Fleming) is a 1941 remake of the 1886 Robert Louis Stevenson classic novel, and also a remake of a plethora of other film versions. i.e., 1931's superior offering starring Academy Award-winning Fredric March. This version isn't the greatest {some uneven casting & an emphasis on psychological terror over more overt scares}, but it's still a polished thriller to be enjoyed. The story is set in the Victorian England, 1887. While the respected Dr. Jekyll (Spencer Tracy) & his beautiful society fiancee, Beatrix Emery (Lana Turner), & her arrogant widowed father, Sir Charles Emery (Donald Crisp), are attending church, the Bishop (C. Aubrey Smith) gives a principled sermon on evil being eradicated from England.
Just then, a rowdy worshiper challenges that sermon as being bogus. About to be arrested, Dr. Jekyll intervenes & has him removed to his hospital. After an examination, Jekyll declares that the patient is merely suffering from a nervous breakdown; no 'evil' in sight. The hospital head disapproves of Jekyll trying his untested chemicals to experiment on a possible cure for the man's condition. At a dinner party, Jekyll upsets the guests when he expounds on his theory that everyone has good & evil in their soul and, when the evil gets loose ... it can be dangerous. This theory upsets Sir Charles, who takes him aside & lays the law down that he is to be a regular society physician and to forget the experimental research for the mentally ill.
On the way home from the party with his best friend & colleague, Dr. John Lanyon (Ian Hunter), they prevent a low-class barmaid, Ivy Peterson (Ingrid Bergman), from being raped in an alley. After taking her home, Jekyll treats her and, she is attracted to his gentle ways; kissing & giving him her garter as a memento. Jekyll returns to his lab & becomes increasingly obsessed with his research. After drinking his experimental potion, he physically & mentally transforms into the dark Mr. Hyde. When Sir Charles discovers Beatrix with Jekyll at his lab in a seemingly sexual maneuver, he is so flummoxed that he takes her on a European holiday until Jekyll's voracious libido calms down. Left alone, Jekyll goes nuts as he changes into Hyde. As Hyde, he tracks down Ivy at her bar & enters a violent relationship with her; tempting her with $$, then beating her, & making her afraid to run away. Danger ensues.
Funny, the 1931 film with Fredric March was not saddled with the conservative Hayes Code and, therefore, this '41 version doesn't scintillatingly convey Jekyll's heightened sexual repression nearly as much. To that, Spencer Tracy really wanted Jekyll's violent deeds to be highlighted, but Victor Fleming & MGM Studios said 'no go'. There IS violence, but it is tamer than it should be. Tracy - who didn't care for this movie - still gives a stellar performance in this dual role. Ingrid Bergman wanted roles with more bite & challenge to them, so she requested the cockney, street-wise barmaid role, and Lana Turner got the sweet debutante role. They're both quite good, but Bergman would later regret swapping roles; thinking Beatrix WAS more suited for her.
Despite the script issues {bland, lacking in superlative storytelling} & casting snafus, I really adored Victor Fleming's atmospheric direction, Joseph Ruttenberg's eerie black-&-white cinematography, Cedric Gibbons & Edwin B. Willis' moody 19th c. production designs, & Adrian's classy costumes. Best of all are the highly effective make-up/special effect transformations of Jekyll turning into Hyde. So yeah, issues abound; some critics even felt that Tracy was 'too American' in the role, and not scary enough -- I personally thought he conveyed mental anguish quite well. But despite all that, the movie was a big hit; offering decent entertainment.
Just then, a rowdy worshiper challenges that sermon as being bogus. About to be arrested, Dr. Jekyll intervenes & has him removed to his hospital. After an examination, Jekyll declares that the patient is merely suffering from a nervous breakdown; no 'evil' in sight. The hospital head disapproves of Jekyll trying his untested chemicals to experiment on a possible cure for the man's condition. At a dinner party, Jekyll upsets the guests when he expounds on his theory that everyone has good & evil in their soul and, when the evil gets loose ... it can be dangerous. This theory upsets Sir Charles, who takes him aside & lays the law down that he is to be a regular society physician and to forget the experimental research for the mentally ill.
On the way home from the party with his best friend & colleague, Dr. John Lanyon (Ian Hunter), they prevent a low-class barmaid, Ivy Peterson (Ingrid Bergman), from being raped in an alley. After taking her home, Jekyll treats her and, she is attracted to his gentle ways; kissing & giving him her garter as a memento. Jekyll returns to his lab & becomes increasingly obsessed with his research. After drinking his experimental potion, he physically & mentally transforms into the dark Mr. Hyde. When Sir Charles discovers Beatrix with Jekyll at his lab in a seemingly sexual maneuver, he is so flummoxed that he takes her on a European holiday until Jekyll's voracious libido calms down. Left alone, Jekyll goes nuts as he changes into Hyde. As Hyde, he tracks down Ivy at her bar & enters a violent relationship with her; tempting her with $$, then beating her, & making her afraid to run away. Danger ensues.
Funny, the 1931 film with Fredric March was not saddled with the conservative Hayes Code and, therefore, this '41 version doesn't scintillatingly convey Jekyll's heightened sexual repression nearly as much. To that, Spencer Tracy really wanted Jekyll's violent deeds to be highlighted, but Victor Fleming & MGM Studios said 'no go'. There IS violence, but it is tamer than it should be. Tracy - who didn't care for this movie - still gives a stellar performance in this dual role. Ingrid Bergman wanted roles with more bite & challenge to them, so she requested the cockney, street-wise barmaid role, and Lana Turner got the sweet debutante role. They're both quite good, but Bergman would later regret swapping roles; thinking Beatrix WAS more suited for her.
Despite the script issues {bland, lacking in superlative storytelling} & casting snafus, I really adored Victor Fleming's atmospheric direction, Joseph Ruttenberg's eerie black-&-white cinematography, Cedric Gibbons & Edwin B. Willis' moody 19th c. production designs, & Adrian's classy costumes. Best of all are the highly effective make-up/special effect transformations of Jekyll turning into Hyde. So yeah, issues abound; some critics even felt that Tracy was 'too American' in the role, and not scary enough -- I personally thought he conveyed mental anguish quite well. But despite all that, the movie was a big hit; offering decent entertainment.