- #Jekyll fear the monster within movie movie#
- #Jekyll fear the monster within movie code#
- #Jekyll fear the monster within movie free#
Henry Jekyll (March) is frustrated that his marriage to the socially prominent Muriel Carew (Rose Hobart) is being held up by her conservative, selfish father (Halliwell Hobbes). A greatly respected professional, the youthful Dr. The familiar story is as concerned with sexual repression as it is its feral monster. There’s nothing tawdry about the glimpses of pre-Code semi-nudity seen here. The sexuality on view is as as frank as anything seen today, expressed by Mamoulian’s roving camera as much as Miriam Hopkins’ seductive performance.
#Jekyll fear the monster within movie free#
Mamoulian’s picture is free of sanctimonious preaching, and in fact criticizes Victorian values. But in every other respect the ’31 version is superior, even with its occasional dated acting styles. There’s nothing wrong with the ‘psychological’ Spencer Tracy version - Ingrid Bergman’s performance shouldn’t be missed. In general, Horror got pretty shabby treatment at MGM – they reportedly cut and scrapped huge sections from both Tod Browning’s Freaks and Karl Freund’s Mad Love. So as to not compete with their fancy remake, MGM locked away the ’31 version, suppressing one of the best films of the 1930s. That’s why this vintage Paramount version is now the property of Turner Entertainment. When MGM remade the film as an acting showcase for Spencer Tracy, it purchased the underlying rights and took physical possession of this 1931 version.
#Jekyll fear the monster within movie code#
Mamoulian’s film was heavily cut after Code Enforcement, but several years later suffered an even worse humiliation. The emasculation of DJAMH ’31 didn’t happen all at once. It wasn’t until 1990 or so that copies appeared that replaced some of the lost material. Writers Carlos Clarens and Ivan Butler noted several scenes that were missing, while describing daring directorial experiments with subjective effects, both on the audio track and with point-of-view camera technique. It seemingly took forever to catch up with Paramount’s ’31 Jekyll & Hyde and we knew from the start that it was seriously incomplete. But it also put the crimp on Horror films, by banning most horror content as being unfit for family viewing. When in 1934 the Production Code grew enforcement teeth, it all but eliminated Gangster pictures. The studios clashed with censors and pundits over the edgy content of The Island of Lost Souls (vivisection, evolutionary blasphemy), The Black Cat (necrophilia), The Most Dangerous Game (sadism), and Freaks (sideshow deformities).
The first wave of sound-era Hollywood horror came in the pre-Code years and was considered adult film fare.
#Jekyll fear the monster within movie movie#
The movie confirmed Fredric March as a versatile actor and a major star, when he took the Best Actor Oscar. The respected director Rouben Mamoulian combined major Broadway credits with a command of progressive film techniques, which he had proven in his very early talkie Applause. Hyde was the studio’s first response to Universal’s groundbreaking horror successes. Technically premiered on New Year’s Eve 1931, Paramount’s celebrated sound-era adaptation of Dr. Produced and Directed by Rouben Mamoulian Written by Samuel Hoffenstein, Percy Heath from the novella by Robert Louis Stevenson
Starring: Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins, Rose Hobart, Holmes Herbert, Halliwell Hobbes, Edgar Norton, Tempe Pigott, Douglas Walton. Available at / General site WAC-Amazon / Street Date Octo/ 21.99 The disc packaging says it’s two minutes longer than the 2004 Warner DVD. Hyde is conceived as a near-simian primitive man, equating unrestrained lust and desire as something ‘society’ must repress. The film is sexually daring and technically astute - with the help of cameraman Karl Struss director Rouben Mamoulian makes use of every cinematic trick he can conjure. Fredric March won an acting Oscar and it’s one of Miriam Hopkins’ best performances. Still by far the best adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson story, Paramount’s glossy pre-Code is also one of the most prestigious horror shows on record.
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