Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941 film)
- For the 1912 film version, see Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1912 film). For the 1920 version starring John Barrymore, see Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920 film). For the 1920 version directed by J. Charles Haydon, see Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920/II film). For the 1931 version, see Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931 film).
| Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde | |
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 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 1941 movie poster |
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| Directed by | Victor Fleming |
| Produced by | Victor Saville |
| Written by | Robert Louis Stevenson (novel) John Lee Mahin Percy Heath Samuel Hoffenstein |
| Starring | Spencer Tracy Ingrid Bergman Lana Turner |
| Music by | Franz Waxman |
| Cinematography | Joseph Ruttenberg |
| Editing by | Harold F. Kress |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) |  12 August 1941 |
| Running time | 113 min. |
| Language | English |
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) is a horror film starring Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, and Lana Turner, is a remake of the 1931 film of the same title. The movie was based on Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and directed by Victor Fleming, director of Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz two years earlier. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquired the rights to the 1931 film, originally released by Paramount Pictures, and destroyed every print of the earlier version they could find to prevent its exhibition as competition.
The MGM version was produced by Victor Saville and written by John Lee Mahin from the screenplay of the earlier film by Percy Heath and Samuel Hoffenstein. The music score was composed by Franz Waxman with uncredited contributions by Daniele Amfitheatrof and Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. The cinematographer was Joseph Ruttenberg, the art director was Cedric Gibbons, and the costume designers were Adrian and Gile Steele. Jack Dawn created the make-up for the dissolute Mr. Hyde's appearance.
The film also features Donald Crisp, Ian Hunter, Barton MacLane, C. Aubrey Smith and Sara Allgood.
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Plot
Dr. Jekyll (Spencer Tracy) believes good and evil exist in everyone. Experiments reveal his evil side, named Hyde. Experience teaches him how evil Hyde can be: he kills Ivy (Ingrid Bergman), who earlier expressed interest in Jekyll, and Sir Charles (Donald Crisp), Jekyll's fiancee's father. At the end of the film, Jekyll's best friend Dr. Lanyon (Ian Hunter) shoots and kills Hyde, causing Jekyll to die as well.
Casting
Despite having not yet met his later co-star Katharine Hepburn -- they met when they made Woman of the Year (1942) -- Spencer Tracy originally wanted Hepburn to play both Bergman's and Turner's roles as the "bad" woman and "good" woman, who would then turn out to be the same woman.
Initial casting had Ingrid Bergman typically cast as the demure fiancée of Jekyll and Lana Turner as the "bad girl" Ivy. However Bergman, tired of playing saintly characters and fearing typecasting, requested that she and Turner switch roles, allowing her to play a darker shaded role for the first time.
Awards
The movie was nominated for three Oscars, for Best Cinematography (Black-and-White), Best Film Editing & Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture. It had several elements that the 1931 version did not have -- more dialogue, a "slick", lush, typically MGM "look", and a rich musical score, while the 1931 version had no more than perhaps a minute of music in the entire film.
Critical reception
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The film was not the critical success that the 1931 version had been. Although it is generally conceded that Ingrid Bergman, as Ivy, was comparable to Miriam Hopkins in the same role in 1931, despite her Swedish accent, and that Donald Crisp was also excellent as Sir Charles, Spencer Tracy's Jekyll/Hyde portrayal in this film, out of all the performances he ever gave, was judged inadequate, and was one of his few critically roasted roles. Tracy was not considered frightening enough as Mr. Hyde. Fredric March, who played the role in the 1931 film (a movie the studio tried to destroy to eliminate competition for the Tracy version and that was subsequently unseen for many decades), famously sent his friend Tracy an amusing telegram thanking him for his biggest career boost, as Tracy's performance was routinely savaged when compared with March's more monstrous version.
Casting
- Spencer Tracy as Henry "Harry" Jekyll / Mr. Hyde
- Ingrid Bergman as Ivy Peterson
- Lana Turner as Beatrix "Bea" Emery
- Donald Crisp as Sir Charles Emery
- Ian Hunter as John Lanyon
- Barton MacLane as Sam Higgins
- C. Aubrey Smith as Bishop Manners
- Peter Godfrey as Poole, Jekyll's butler
- Sara Allgood as Mrs. Higgins
- Frederic Worlock as Dr. Heath
- William Tannen as Intern Fenwick
- Frances Robinson as Marcia
- Denis Green as Freddie
- Billy Bevan as Mr. Weller
- Forrester Harvey as Old Prouty
- Lumsden Hare as Colonel Weymouth
- Lawrence Grant as Dr. Courtland
- John Barclay as Constable at Church
Other references
In the 1946 Warner Bros. cartoon Hare Remover, when Elmer Fudd is going through some bizarre side effects after drinking a potion he invented, Bugs Bunny turns to the audience and remarks, "I think Spencer Tracy did it much better!" Interestingly enough, Warners now owns the rights to this film (and the 1931 version) via its 1996 acquisition of Turner Entertainment which by then owned the pre-1986 MGM library.
External links
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at the Internet Movie Database
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at the TCM Movie Database
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at Rotten Tomatoes
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