The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Terence Fisher

Writers:

Wolf Mankowitz (writer)
Robert Louis Stevenson (novel)

Release Date:

3 May 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Sometimes, Terror Has A Handsome Face.

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:

Experiment | Experiment Gone Wrong | Evil Doctor | Physician | Fire

Cast

Paul Massie	...	Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Edward Hyde
Dawn Addams	...	Kitty Jekyll
Christopher Lee	...	Paul Allen
David Kossoff	...	Dr. Ernst Littauer
Francis De Wolff	...	Police Inspector
Norma Marla	...	Maria
Magda Miller	...	Sphinx girl
Oliver Reed	...	Nightclub Bouncer
William Kendall	...	Clubman
Helen Goss	...	Nanny
Pauline Shepherd	...	Mary, the young prostitute
Percy Cartwright	...	Coroner
Joe Robinson	...	Corinthian
Arthur Lovegrove	...	Cabby
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Frank Atkinson
Janina Faye	...	Jane, deafmute child
Doug Robinson	...	Boxer (as Douglas Robinson)
Donald Tandy
Joan Tyrrell	...	The Major Domo

Also Known As:

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
House of Fright (USA)
Jekyll's Inferno
The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (USA) (TV title)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1960) | Sweden:15 | UK:X

Filming Locations:

Bray Studios, Down Place, Oakley Green, Berkshire, England, UK

Company:

Hammer Film Productions

Movie Connections:

Version of "Julia Jekyll and Harriet Hyde" (1995)

A Hammer In Hyde-ing

If you've seen this offbeat entry in the stable of Hammer's early remakes of the classic horror's then you've either encountered this rarity on ebay or caught it on TV or the cinema ages ago.

I was fortunate enough to copy a friend's video cassette that was offered briefly in the U.S. in the early nineties only on EP speed and mastered from a fading,reddish,16mm pan and scan T.V. version that had the word "Hell" bleeped out twice.

Seeing as how the studio had done well with adult color versions of Dracula,Frankenstein and The Mummy it would seem like a natural for them to tackle The Robert Louis Stephenson story with their usual teaming of Lee and Cushing and with the appropriate amount of blood and thunder, Alas,they opted for an ambitious and riskier approach to go for more sexual innuendo ,Freudian subtext and underplayed classiness.All of these things are good when they work but unfortunately the pace is very leaden and the horror aspects of the story have been made extremely tame in order to get away with the psycho sexual aspects which must have been titillating for 1960 but not so much anymore. The best part of The Movie is watching Christopher Lee make the most of a very juicy supporting role as a likable womanizer with a gambling problem who seduces Jekyll's neglected wife and constantly puts the touch on the Doc for money. Lee wisely sets aside his Shakespearean tendencies and gives a a very believable non-hammy characterization.It would have been nice to have Cushing pop up as Jekyll's medical compatriate but sadly,no.

Paul Massey has the far more difficult dual role but really can't pull it off opposite a pro like Lee and the film suffers for it. Part of the fault must lie with the script and the usually talented direction of Terrance Fisher. Massey is better in the under realized but tortured role of the boorish Dr. Jekyll, who is not as philanthropic in this version. As the bratty and somehwat naive Mr Hyde Massey is Handsome but vaguely sounds like Winnie The Pooh and is far to easily foiled in his attempts at evil until the final 20 minutes.

The concept of Hyde using the transformation to finally allow Jekyll to get some action with wifey Dawn Adams and to revenge himself for the adultery of best friend Lee was novel but without the suspense or the colorful violence of the previous Hammer vehicles this one will disappoint many fans of the genre. If you are a fan of the studio and want to see a lost curio by all means go for it. It's not a bad film jut slow and misguided and if you have an eye for the ladies then relax and enjoy the scenery because it's adorned with lot's of feminine eye candy. Look for Oliver Reed in a small part as a pimp in the first twenty minutes or so. At this point I don't think it's been offered to DVD.