Theatrical Poster
For a few years now, a former co-worker and I have been getting together occasionally to catch up and to exchange movies. We both love the weird and obscure films, and we try to surprise each other with the flicks we lend each other. Thanks to Dan, I’ve seen movies like The Story of Ricky-Oh, Brotherhood of the Wolf and The Machinist, while he’s watched my offerings of Omniyoji, School of the Holy Beast and the original Flesh Gordon. In our latest exchange, he handed over a retelling of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde.
Since you probably already know the basic premise, I’ll only say here that the foundation of the entire story is the contrast between extremes. The good of Dr. Jekyll and the evil of Mr. Hyde is set against a backdrop where the unthinking excesses of the rich are contrasted with the extreme poverty of the commoners, and how those differences extend to every facet of their existence. Medical attention is a given for the well-to-do, whereas the poor have to hope that a doctor will deign to help. A wealthy person can count upon the full attention of the police when a crime is involved, but the poor have little hope of justice because the police, as so much of that society did, considered them to be beneath notice. Besides the textural context, the secondary characters provide additional studies in sharp contrast, between the solicitor Utterson and the brother Mordecai, and Dr. Jekyll’s fiancée Miriam as compared to the prostitute Claire.
The look of this version is different because it’s only lightly adapted from a stage play. Most of the actors and crew are theatrical performers, so it often feels more like you’re watching an on-stage play that has been videotaped rather than a movie. You can tell there were shortcuts taken because of the modest budget, such as actors playing more than one role, but except for one really glaring cheapie effect (which might not actually be all that cheap, but it wasn’t handled at all well), the effort is competent.
That one spectacularly bad effect is that all of the nighttime outdoor scenes were shot on-stage in front of a blue screen, with a stylized city street (London, circa 1900) added later. It’s poorly done, with the edges of the live actors showing major pixilation and artifacting against the background. The background set is nice though, done all in deep blues and purples to emphasize the moodiness and late hour when these scenes take place.
Being basically a theatrical performance, this movie has a lot of dialog. Most of the plot is advanced by characters exchanging lines, not by events happening on the screen. Likewise, most of the violence is implied or cleverly edited to give you an impression of action. There is relatively little blood and gore, and what is there is only adequate to the story. You’re not going to be wowed by it.
The real standout acting performance was given by Mark Redfield, who played Jekyll/Hyde as well as doing the directing and being one of the co-writers. As Dr. Henry Jekyll, he gives depth to the character, hinting that the kindly Doctor who is so dedicated to helping the lower class poor also has a darker and more sinister side. It is gently suggested that he may be using some of his working class patients for subtle experimentation to test his theories.
In his Mr. Edward Hyde persona, he’s impulsive and gregarious, quick to lose his temper and prone to unexpected outbursts of violence. As his actions cause events to move beyond his control he grows more desperate and unpredictable. His very appearance deteriorates, becoming more grotesque and monstrous as suspicions point ever more firmly towards him.
The other actors are all exceptional, especially Elena Torrez’ Claire and Robert Leembruggen’s Jack Little, a man fully as despicable as Hyde, without the need for chemical enhancement.
As mentioned before, several times during the movie the contrasts between life for the upper class and common people are highlighted, especially the squalor and general hopelessness of the poor. The era was also in the midst of great technological change, with electricity for general lighting and cinemascopes (early motion picture cameras) being recent innovations. Both play roles in the story, along with other “modern” sciences. Despite his frequent relationships with the poor, Doctor Jekyll is rich enough to be able to casually afford these still-rare and expensive technologies to aid in his research. There is also an element of hypocrisy in his actions, for he believes that the experiments he performs will be able to improve the life of man, while refusing to acknowledge that the poor people that he uses and depends upon to advance his work will probably never be allowed to share in the benefits derived.
As for extras on the disk, there are the expected trailers, a nice collection of deleted scenes and a pretty good audio commentary from Mark Redfield. Since he was involved as actor, director, producer and writer, he’s able to give some entertaining insight into the process of making the film. There is also a formal “making of” featurette that is of interest if you want to hear the various actor’s opinions and recollections of the film.
I really didn’t remember this story as being as dark as it is. There’s no happy ending, and no major character comes out of it without being profoundly affected in one way or another. If you enjoy live theater then you’ll probably like this. If you prefer action-packed movies, then this might be too slow for your tastes.
