Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920/I)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

John S. Robertson

Writers:

Robert Louis Stevenson (story)
Clara Beranger (scenario)
(more)

Release Date:

April 1920 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

The world's greatest actor in a tremendous story of man at his best and worst!

Plot:

Dr. Henry Jekyll experiments with scientific means of revealing the hidden, dark side of man and releases a murderer from within himself.

Plot Keywords:

Good Versus Evil | Clinic | Evil | Transformation | Role Reversal

Cast

John Barrymore	...	Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Edward Hyde
Charles Lane	...	Dr. Richard Lanyon
Brandon Hurst	...	Sir George Carew
Cecil Clovelly	...	Edward Enfield
Nita Naldi	...	Miss Gina - Italian Singer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Alma Aiken	...	Extra (uncredited)
J. Malcolm Dunn	...	John Utterson (uncredited)
Martha Mansfield	...	Millicent Carew - Sir George's Daughter (uncredited)
George Stevens	...	Poole, Jekyll's Butler (uncredited)
Edgard Varèse	...	(uncredited)
Louis Wolheim	...	Music Hall Proprietor (uncredited)

Directed by
John S. Robertson

Writing credits
Robert Louis Stevenson		(story "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde")
Clara Beranger		(scenario) (as Clara S. Beranger)
Thomas Russell Sullivan		play (uncredited)

Produced by
Adolph Zukor	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Lee Erwin		(1971)
John Scott		(2003)

Cinematography by
Roy F. Overbaugh		(photographed by) (as Roy Overbaugh)

Art Direction by
Clark Robinson		(uncredited)

Set Decoration by
Charles O. Seessel		(decorations)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Shaw Lovett	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Robert M. Haas	....	architect

Editorial Department
Karl Malkames	....	negative cutter (1971 alternate version)

Other crew
Adolph Zukor	....	presenter

Production Companies

• Famous Players-Lasky Corporation

Distributors

• Famous Players-Lasky Corporation (1920) (USA) (theatrical)
• Paramount Pictures (1920) (USA) (theatrical) (as Paramount-Artcraft Pictures)
• Killiam Shows (1971) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Viking Video Classics (1986) (USA) (VHS)
• Kino Video (1991) (USA) (VHS)
• Marathon Music & Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Kino Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Delta Expedition (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Divisa Home Video (2004) (Spain) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2005) (worldwide) (video)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• GoodTimes Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Grapevine Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Jokanan/Collection Ciné-Club Hollywood (????) (France) (DVD)
• Madacy Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• VSI (????) (USA) (VHS)

Runtime:

80 min (Kino Print) | 67 min (1971 alternate version)

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | UK:A | UK:PG (video rating) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | Canada:G (Ontario) | Portugal:17 (director's cut) | USA:Unrated | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Long Island, New York, USA

Company:

Famous Players-Lasky Corporation

Trivia:

John Barrymore hauled many of his prized potted plants from his apartment to the set to appear in scenery in the movie.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: After the first transformation scene when Hyde attempts to change back into Jekyll, as he throws himself onto the floor, you can see one of his prosthetic fingers fly off.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Biography: The Barrymores" (2004)

John Barrymore at his best!

Nearly everybody has seen the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in one of the more modern versions, but nobody has ever portrayed it as successfully as John Barrymore did. This movie, a silent classic, has amazing special effects for its day. Specifically I refer to the metamorphosis of Dr. Jekyll. You will literally not recognize or believe that the same actor playing Dr. Jekyll is also playing Mr. Hyde. The make-up, the lighting, and Barrymore's excellent acting give you the feeling that this is truly a different, darker, more evil man. Berrymore completes the transition from clean-cut Doctor to dementedly violent madman so naturally that you almost forget it's not real. You have to see this! It'll still scare you after all these years!