Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)

My Review

“Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” is a pre-Code horror film about a doctor who invents a potion meant to suppress man’s evil side and liberate the good. However, he tests it on himself and the potion instead unleashes an evil and sadistic side and turns him into a murderer. Director Rouben Mamoulian created the definitive version of Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 novel “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” with innovative special effects, spooky atmospherics, and general overacting. The screenplay was written by Samuel Hoffenstein and Percy Heath.

The lead role is played by Fredric March in one of his early roles as the sincere Dr. Henry Jekyll and the diabolical Edward Hyde. He dominates the film along with co-stars Miriam Hopkins, Rose Hobart, Holmes Herbert, Edgar Norton, and Halliwell Hobbs as the Brigadier-General. The watchable “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” was the sixth highest grossing film of 1931 for Paramount Pictures. It was filmed at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, California.