Saturday is Horror Day #215 - The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

 The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Mild-manner Dr. Henry Jekyll (Jack Palance) has a theory regarding the dual nature of man - he posits that it is possible to separate men into good and evil, thus allowing their good nature to overcome and the evil to be quelled. But his ideas are met with scorn by the medical community, and the other doctors tell him that even if he concocts the potion he is speaking of, there will be no way of testing it ethically. So Jekyll returns to is lab undaunted, determined to use the potion on himself. So he takes the potion.... 

The next morning, he returns to the place where he went the night before, the Windmill Music Hall, and 

learns of his actions the night before as his alter ego, Edward Hyde. Seems like Hyde had a good time, drinking and carousing, and particularly spending time with one of the hostesses, Gwen Thomas (Billie Whitelaw). Jekyll repeats the experiment in the following days, and Hyde, who apparently is quite the hedonist, returns to the Windmill and Gwen. But more and more, Hyde's violent urges come out, and he is vicious and relentless.

Jekyll's best friend, Devlin (Denholm Elliott) is concerned about Henry, as are his servants, including  his faithful manservant Poole (Gillie Fenwick). When Hyde leans toward ending the experiment, he discovers to his horror that Hyde doesn't need the potion to come out  to play, and it requires more of the anti-potion to put that particular genie back in the bottle. With Hyde becoming more and more out of control, Jekyll doesn't know what to do....

This version of Jekyll and Hyde is actually a TV movie from 1968. I remember watching it as a child (I would have been about 11 then), and rewatching it as I grew older. I was always drawn to Jack Palance's Hyde. From what I read, the role was originally given to Jason Robards, but due to complications, ended up with Palance, and the make-up was changed, the final result meant to resemble a satyr. As a teenager, I remember being quite taken with Mr. Hyde. I wondered if I would feel the same as a fully grown adult - I did. Palance is mesmerizing in the dual roles, between the mild-manner Dr. Jekyll and the sensual hedonistic Hyde. The story is undoubtedly a familiar one to most audiences, based on the story by Robert Louis Stevenson.  I haven't seen them all, but I always liked this one a great deal.

TV movies and shows were filmed differently, I can't explain quite why that is, not being an expert, but it's quite visible, and actually lends a Gothic feel to the movie. From the moment I began to watch, I got strong Dark Shadows vibes - and no wonder, as Dan Curtis of Dark Shadows fame was a producer. Also, if you listen during one of the scenes and you think you recognize an eerie little tune that is being played, you probably do as that song went on to become Quentin's Song from Dark Shadows. 

I was concerned that I might not like the film as much as I did years ago, that it wouldn't stand up to the test of time. I am happy to report I did and it did, and if you are a fan of Jekyll and Hyde, or Jack Palance, I recommend you add this to your viewing repertoire. I give this film 4 Stars.

A Modern Twist on a classic tale: Jekyll - a Review

Jekyll  
Starring: James Nesbitt, Gina Bellman, Denis Lawson
Director/Studio/Author: Matt Kinsey, Douglas McKinnon/BBC Worldwide/Steven Moffat
American release date: September 18, 2007
Format/Genre/Length: DVD/Horror/360 minutes
Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★


Tom Jackman (James Nesbitt) has a bit of a problem. On the surface, he seems to have everything he could possibly want—a beautiful wife, Claire (Gina Bellman) who adores him and a set of twin sons that he loves to death. But Tom’s problem lies beneath the surface. He’s just discovered that someone else is sharing his personal space, and this someone else is more than just a facet of Tom’s personality, he’s an entity all of his own that happens to also inhabit Tom’s body. And he’s a psychopath.


Synopsis:

Tom leaves his family, for their own protection, but doesn’t offer a reason, and takes a sleazy flat where he installs a chair with a wicked containment system, and a psychiatric nurse, Katherine (Michelle Ryan) to help him keep an eye on things. She helps him keep track of the comings and goings of his alter ego, who is basically an overgrown child as well as devilishly charming. He calls himself Mr. Hyde, after the character in the Robert Louis Stevenson story. Tom sets rules for him, and non-obedience has its consequences, primarily being restrained for long periods of time, which Hyde abhors. He communicates with Hyde by means of a Dictaphone which he always carries with him.

A distraught Claire hires a detective, Miranda, to follow Tom, who reports back that he isn’t having an affair, as she feared. But Miranda doesn’t tell Claire all that she’s found out. Claire confronts Tom, demanding to know what’s going on. He traces the photographs back to Miranda and her pregnant partner, Min. He tells her he knows she’s been following him, he’s seen the big black van. While Miranda admits to her surveillance, she tells him he has other problems—she doesn’t own a big black van.

In searching for the truth, Tom begins to wonder if somehow he is related to Stevenson’s original Dr. Jekyll, and that maybe the story wasn’t the piece of fiction everyone believes it to be. All roads lead to Rome, and what he learns threatens the lives of everyone around him, as a hundred year old plot is uncovered. The lines between good and evil become blurred, and it’s hard to tell which side is which, and which side will emerge victorious.


Commentary:

The entirety of Jekyll is six short episodes, which is a travesty. I could have kept watching for a lot longer, I was so intrigued by the characters. But the BBC, in its infinite wisdom, stopped there, for its own reasons. The series was penned by veteran Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat. Quite the pedigree, eh? Interestingly, when David Tennant announced his departure from that long-running series, apparently James Nesbitt was mentioned as a possible replacement, but he declined the role, saying he could not follow in the footsteps of Tennant and Eccleston. But I digress.

This show will pull you in from the beginning, from the first image of the chair in the flat. It’ll keep you guessing and speculating and trying to keep ahead of what’s going on trying to second-guess the truth. But chances are you’ll still be wrong.

James Nesbitt is brilliant as Tom Jackman/Hyde. He plays both roles to perfection, and at times you forget that they aren’t two different men. They look different, sound different, move differently and act differently. Hyde is a hedonist, an amoral child who does what he wants, when he wants, and has no interest in the consequences.  He is also quite charming, and fascinating to watch.

At first, I really didn’t like Tom’s wife Claire, and her poor me I want my husband back brand of sniveling. But as the series progressed, I saw her in a different light, and came to appreciate her as a person. By the end, I saw her as a worthy mate to Tom, and the perfect foil for Mr. Hyde. An interesting side note on the actor who plays Tom’s best friend, Peter Syme – he played a pilot in the Star Wars film, and inspired his nephew to go into acting also, and years later he too played in Star Wars films. The nephew’s name, by the way, was Ewan McGregor.

The acting is superb, the writing quick-witted and fascinating. There is never a dull moment, especially not when Mr. Hyde is around. It’s only six hours long, but it’s a fascinating six hours, and a journey I heartily recommend. In the hierarchy of films that deal with the infamous case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, I place this series at the top. If you enjoy this, find the soundtrack to the musical version of Jekyll and Hyde, as sung by Robert Cuccioli. But be warned not to bother with the DVD, for that contains David Hasselhoff in the title role and is to be avoided at all costs because oh my God, he can neither sing nor act. Just saying.

Side note: I find it interesting and sometimes amusing when British actors take on an American accent. I imagine the British feel the same way when Americans attempt theirs.