Starring John Barrymore, Brandon Hurst, Martha Mansfield, Charles Lane, Cecil Clovelly
Directed by John S. Robertson
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
Dr. Henry Jekyll, frightened of succumbing to his baser impulses, develops a formula to unleash his darker half, but soon becomes dominated by the persona he calls Edward Hyde.
This early silent adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's novella is at the very least intriguing, differing quite a bit from later filmings of the story. I didn't find it to be particularly well-directed, but Barrymore is outstanding as Hyde, in a less bestial but still grim makeup, with long hair, menacing teeth, and bony fingers. Hunching over, and exposing a pointed-looking cranium, the actor offers quite the contrast to his more reserved portrayal of Jekyll. That image is showcased in a very memorable sequence where we see a ghostly apparition of Hyde, with Barrymore's head superimposed on a giant spider that creeps onto Jekyll's bed. Another item of interest is the casting of Hurst as the father of Jekyll's sweetheart, and the script's defining of him as a rogue who encourages Jekyll to yield to temptation, very opposed to the prim and proper stuffed shirt portrayed in the Paramount and MGM adaptations decades later.
No comments:
Post a Comment