Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1941)

 

If you consider the speed at which some films are remade or rebooted the past few years, you'd think they took things a bit slower back in the day. Then again, they didn't with this one. The previous version of this classic tale was only ten years old when the studio decided to do a reworked project starring heavy hitters as Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman and Lana Turner.

Alas, thanks to the Hayes' Code, this one is just boring. I'll explain why later on.

The story of course is exactly the same as before: doctor Jekyll is an ambitious and energetic doctor who is intrigued by the duality in man and who would love to see the bad extinguished. To this effect, he experiments with various chemicals to produce something that could do away with the evil impulses in man. However, when he tests this on himself, it turns out his evil side is unleashed and as Mr Hyde, he begins to terrorize a young barmaid named Ivy. When his fiancée returns, Jekyll decides he has gone too far and vows to never use the potion to become Hyde again, but now the evil Hyde won't just go away and takes over Jekyll at will...

I am not kidding when I say this one is a slog. The dialogue feels forced and most of the characters don't gell well with one another. 

But you know what really makes this one rather bland? They were not allowed to take any risks or be edgy, something that did not bother the previous version. Changing Ivy from a prostitute to a barmaid? Why? No buildup to make it clear that everyone has hidden desires? No depictions of brutal violence (well, brutal for the time)? That pretty much neuters the entire idea behind the tale. 

And yet, this is the version the studio pushed for years, even dismissing the older version to the point where it was almost lost to time. But if you want the real deal, you need to watch the film starring Fredric March, as it is by far the superior product. This one, in spite of its big names and production, is like a fart in a bottle.