Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (1941)
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Dr. Jekyll has been experimenting with formulas trying to find a person’s soul and seeing if you can separate good and evil within people. But his colleagues chalk this up as nothing more than offending God and blasphemy. Needless to say Dr. Jekyll keeps working but his work has scared off his father-in-law to be and his fiancée is removed from the country while the dad thinks of their relationship. So. The Doc now has time to do his experiments and has created an alter ego, Mr. Hyde, which starts to terrorize the city of London, and a particular waitress named Ingrid. But after a long time away, the dad gives permission for Ivey and Dr. Jekyll to marry and just then Doc’s friend, Langdon is realizing what Jekyll is up to and what he’s been responsible for. Soon Langdon will face up with both Hyde & Jekyll and the battle of the century will begin.
Overall: If you’ve read my reviewed on films made prior to 1970, you find my attitude is one of incredulity. I just don’t care fro them regardless of the historical value. However this film shocked me...with how good it was. Spencer Tracy put in an awesome performance and was coming off of 2 Best Actor Oscars in 1938 & 1939. Gotta enjoy Lana Turner & Ingrid Bergman too in their roles. The film is really not close to the book – there is no fiancée or much of what transpires in the film. I’m not really convinced of the merit of the film’s story anyway. However the performances were just outstanding stuff. Tracy deserved a nomination in 1941…although his competition was this: Winner: Gary Cooper in Sergeant York; Other Nominees: Orson Welles in Citizen Kane; Walter Huston in The Devil and Daniel Webster; Robert Montgomery in Here Comes Mr. Jordan; Cary Grant in Penny Serenade. Comparison: Comparison: Mary Reilly meets Captains Courageous |
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