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While not a film noir in the conventional mode nor even much in the capacity of the subject matter and story, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) is classic film noir inasmuch as it introduces the style within its full dramatic flow.
Yet as far as the noir, ambivalence and duality are pushed to the extremes in this cracker of a science fiction thriller, with Spencer Tracy who had been symbolising rectitude for many a cinematic year preceding.
Through a chaos of images and a positive tumble of effects, the transformation between the hero and villain is personal and intimate, as makeup and extra hair and teeth are little used, if used at all.
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| Barton MacLane in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) |
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| Spencer Tracy in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) |
In one of the crazy images which flip book through these transformations, Jekyll is in a carriage and horsewhipping his two mares, Lana Turner and Ingrid Bergman. And he enslaves women in other ways too, forcing Ingrid Bergman's character to sign while he spits grape seeds about the place, including at her.
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All the hallucinogenic breaks that the camera makes between the super-foggy streets through which Hyde leaps, and the internal and external fogs that shroud long scenes of suspense and change. If not film noir, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) is a base camp from where noir departs into the decade.
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The film portrays Jekyll and Hyde without a significant physical contrast, focusing more on the psychological and neurological aspects of their conditions. This approach challenges the idea that one's physical appearance can accurately reflect their health or moral state. The hallucinatory scenes in the movie, involving Ivy and Beatrix when Jekyll takes the serum, blend themes of epilepsy and sexual liberation, suggesting that suppressed sexual desires may be at the root of personal distress.
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| Donald Crisp in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) |
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The subtext is not subtle: perhaps some women have spurned, exploited, or let down a man. The implicit warning to womankind is that should ye deviate from the straight and narrow of sexual norms, betray your beau, or suffer hormonal havoc, and your fate is sealed. It was men who spun these yarns and penned these scripts. Captive Wild Woman, was written in fact by five male authors. While one might muse on their glee in crafting a tale of a bombshell’s metamorphosis into an ape, it’s more probable that they had other even lesser and more base tropes in mind.
The ancient tropes persisted within the style. Femmes Fatales abound. Following in the footsteps of Miriam Hopkins’ Ivy in the 1931 rendition of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, those who dallied with desire often met with gruesome ends. Take Evelyn Ankers, the nefarious other woman in Weird Woman, who meets her maker in spectacular fashion: In her bid to escape Chaney and his cohort of virtuous vigilantes, she plummets from a window, only to be ensnared and strung up by a vine in her own makeshift gallows.
Oh yes, then there’s Linda Darnell in Hangover Square, whose fate is as fiery as her screen persona. For her sultry allure and fishnet-clad wiles, she is throttled by Laird Cregar, garbed post-mortem as a grotesque effigy, and consigned to the flames atop a Guy Fawkes pyre—a demise as chilling as any conjured by Hollywood’s darkest dreamers. the film explores a multifaceted connection between physiology, neurology, psychology, sexuality, and surroundings in its interpretation of the original source material.
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The 1941 film Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is not a new take on Robert Louis Stevenson’s story but a remake of the 1931 movie. Both films are based more on an 1887 play than the novella. Victor Fleming, known for Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz, directed the 1941 version. MGM bought the rights to the 1931 film from Paramount and kept it hidden to prevent competition with their new version. The original film was not widely available until 1967 due to legal issues.
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| Spender Tracy and Ingrid Bergman in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) |
Victor Saville produced the 1941 remake, with John Lee Mahin adapting the screenplay. The music was by Franz Waxman, with additional uncredited work by others. Joseph Ruttenberg was the cinematographer, Cedric Gibbons the art director, and Adrian and Gile Steele designed the costumes. Jack Dawn did the makeup for Mr. Hyde.
The Production Code Administration insisted that Ivy’s character be a barmaid, not a prostitute as in the original story.
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Spencer Tracy wanted Katharine Hepburn to play both female leads before they met on another film. Initially, Bergman was cast as Jekyll’s fiancée and Turner as Ivy, but Bergman wanted to avoid typecasting and successfully requested to switch roles.
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| Rabbit horror attack in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) |
MGM’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was influenced by star Spencer Tracy, who wanted a modern take without science fiction elements, suggesting Hyde’s emergence through drugs and alcohol. However, due to the Production Code, MGM bought the rights to Paramount’s 1931 script and tried to erase the previous film from public memory.
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| Feminine freedom in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) |
Tracy pushed for subtle makeup for Hyde, which is a flaw in the film as it makes Hyde look too similar to Jekyll. While Tracy disliked the makeup process, this approach did add a human element to Hyde, making him scarier in a more realistic way compared to the exaggerated makeup of Frederic March in the 1931 version.
The film made a profit at the box office according to MGM records.
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| Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) |
Variety gave a positive review after a preview, especially praising Bergman’s performance. They noted Tracy’s portrayal of both Jekyll and Hyde was less physically altered than in previous versions. The Film Daily also praised Fleming’s direction.
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| Spencer Tracy in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) |
This movie adaptation of a movie adapting a classic novel shipped with the following teaser legends to be found on lobby cards, in press advertising, and upon poster and other promotional matter:
A Good Woman! A Bad Woman - who needed the love of both!
Are You a Jeykll or a Hyde?
Do you have secret longings that you dare not reveal? If you do, it's the Mr. Hyde in you - and you can find out all about him from M-G-M's fascinating, revealing film!
He loved two women...one was good...the other bad...their struggle for mastery of his soul brings unforgettable drama storming from the screen!
(Print Ad-Greenfield Recorder-Gazette, ((Greenfield, Mass.)) 17 October 1941)
Are You a JEKYLL or are You a HYDE? There is a little bit of both in everybody!
(Print Ad-Knickerbocker News, ((Albany NY)) 2 September 1941)
DON'T BE A MR. HYDE! He'll get you into mischief
(Print Ad-New York Sun, ((New York, NY)) 6 October 1941)
HIDDEN INSIDE A MAN'S MIND.. STRANGE EMOTIONS, STRANGE DESIRES (Print Ad- Tacoma Times, ((Tacoma, Wash.)) 2 October 1941)
It CHILLS you! Half-MAN! Half-MONSTER!
In Victor Fleming’s version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Jekyll, portrayed by Spencer Tracy, seems more nobly naive than in the 1931 film with Fredric March. The screenplay by John Lee Mahin starts differently, with Jekyll and his fiancée Beatrice attending church, leading to an encounter that foreshadows Jekyll’s experiments with human morality.
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The 1931 movie presents Jekyll as sexually frustrated due to Victorian norms, but Fleming’s Jekyll lacks this passion. Instead, he’s more like Henry Frankenstein from the 1931 Frankenstein, obsessed with proving his theories rather than battling inner demons.
Tracy’s decision to play Hyde with minimal makeup is criticized as ineffective in showing evil. The middle of the film closely follows the 1931 version, with Jekyll turning to Hyde and terrorizing Ivy, a woman he seduces with money.
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| Woman in a bottle of alcohol erotic splash in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) |
The film ends with Hyde murdering Ivy and a police chase that leads to Jekyll reverting back in front of a friend.
[first lines]
The Bishop: With purity in our hearts, with right thinking in our minds, we arm ourselves with intolerance of all evil.
John Lee Mahin wrote this MGM film, which Victor Fleming directed. It was shot in black and white by Joseph Ruttenberg with a score by Franz Waxman. Spencer Tracy’s transformation into Mr. Hyde was done by Jack Dawn.
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The film is high-quality with great production and a strong atmosphere. However, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I hoped. The story is quite dark, and even though the makeup wasn’t overly grotesque, I don’t like watching disturbing images.
This is my sixth review of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde adaptations, so I’ll skip the basic story details, which I covered in my review of the 1920 version. The novella by Robert Louis Stevenson from 1886 follows Dr. Jekyll’s transformation into his evil alter ego, Mr. Hyde, through a potion.
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The 1920 film with John Barrymore is my favourite, but the 1931 version with Frederic March is well-known and won an Oscar for its innovative transformation scene. MGM’s 1941 adaptation, directed by Victor Fleming and starring Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, and Lana Turner, had high expectations but didn’t fully deliver.
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No film has truly captured the essence of Stevenson’s novella. The book focuses on Jekyll’s friends investigating Hyde’s crimes, with most action recounted in flashbacks. The films add a love triangle and noble intentions for Jekyll’s experiments, which are absent in the book. These changes stem from plays written shortly after the novella’s publication rather than the original story itself.
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Lana Turner stood out as Beatrix, providing a contrast to Tracy’s darker character. She portrayed Beatrix’s hidden sensuality convincingly and made her love for Harry believable, despite their age difference.
Ingrid Bergman delivered a solid performance as Ivy, but her tragic storyline made it difficult to fully enjoy her role. Ian Hunter was another highlight. All of us have appreciated his work over the years. His role as Dr. Lanyon brought some relief to the film’s dark tone.
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| Deep noir in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) |
The rest of the cast includes Sir C. Aubrey Smith, Barton MacLane, Sara Allgood, and Peter Godfrey
Sir Charles Emery: Beatrix, I'm a very broad-minded man but I do wish Harry wouldn't make such demonstrations of affection in public - even if you are going to marry him.
Beatrix Emery: Now, Father darling, don't be pompous.
In the shadow-laden corridors of the Mamoulian abode, Fleming and Mahin toil under the flicker of candlelight, reshaping the early reels of the cursed film. As their quills scratch against parchment, the tale unfolds much like its 1931 predecessor. Sir Charles, upon discovering his progeny in the throes of sin at Jekyll’s manor, is reminded of his duty to wield a heavier hand. With a heart as cold as the grave, he whisks Beatrice away to foreign lands.
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In her absence, Jekyll, tormented by longing, succumbs once more to his darker urges and prowls the gaslit streets in search of Ivy—a siren whose virtue has been smothered by life’s cruel hand. Hyde, Jekyll’s malevolent alter ego, emerges from the shadows, his visage unchanged yet unrecognizable. With gold as his lure, he ensnares Ivy in a web of terror, chaining her to her own bedchamber.
When Jekyll resurfaces from the depths of his own depravity, he seeks to sever the ties with his monstrous half. But fate is cruel, and Ivy—haunted by memories of a kinder Jekyll—pleads for salvation from the very beast who torments her soul. Unbeknownst to her, she reveals her tormentor’s true identity to himself—albeit behind a guise not marred by Hyde’s grotesque mien.
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In a fit of cold-blooded rage, Hyde extinguishes Ivy’s life flame, drawing the constabulary’s net ever tighter around him. The chase that ensues is lackluster, culminating in Jekyll’s forced metamorphosis before a confidant. The film reaches its denouement not with Mamoulian’s simmering cauldron of repression but beneath the harmonious strains of a celestial choir—a benediction undeserved by this shallow incarnation of Jekyll.
Mrs. Marley: Ladies. I meant to ask: has anyone read that poem by this new chap Oscar Wilde?
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson has inspired over 30 film adaptations, surpassing even Frankenstein and Dracula in cinematic retellings. That may be true, although there are more than 30 Dracula films, everyone can see that fudging of the facts, filleting of the figures, you might say.
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Victor Fleming, known for directing classics like The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind, tackled the tale just nine years after Rouben Mamoulian’s acclaimed 1931 version, making a remake of this film, rather than a faithful telling of the story in the novel.
Fleming’s 1941 adaptation, influenced by the era’s fascination with Freudian psychology, attempts a new take by suggesting evil is merely insanity. However, this interpretation falls flat, turning serious themes into unintentional comedy with its heavy-handed symbolism.
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Spencer Tracy stars as Dr Jekyll, but Fleming’s direction lacks subtlety, treating the horror story with the flair of a musical. The film’s design feels artificial, and crucial scenes like Jekyll’s transformation lack drama.
It’s fascinating how an actor’s personal experiences can enrich their performance, as you’ve observed with Spencer Tracy. His complex personal life may indeed add layers to his portrayal of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, offering a richer experience for viewers who are aware of his background.
Spencer Tracy’s nuanced performance, particularly his ability to convey transformation through expression rather than makeup, is indeed noteworthy. It’s a testament to his acting skills that he could create such a formidable presence as Mr. Hyde without relying on heavy prosthetics.
Your point about the physical resemblance between Jekyll and Hyde in this version is well-taken. The stark contrast in appearance between the two personas in earlier adaptations adds to the narrative of duality, and its absence here might lessen the impact for some viewers.
The film’s exploration of the duality of man and the consequences of unchecked evil is a classic theme that remains relevant. Fleming’s interpretation, suggesting that giving in to one’s darker impulses can lead to irreversible consequences, adds a moral dimension to this horror story.
Regarding Ingrid Bergman, it’s understandable that her usual elegance might clash with a more down-to-earth character. Casting can greatly influence how a character is perceived, and sometimes an actor’s natural persona can overshadow the role they’re trying to embody. It seems like Bergman’s portrayal didn’t quite hit the mark for you, which is a fair critique given the importance of authenticity in acting.
Missteps continue with casting choices. Ingrid Bergman struggles as a Cockney character, eventually reverting to a more subdued performance. Lana Turner seems out of place as Jekyll’s fiancée, hinting at a wilder side. Overall, this version of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is an example of a well-intentioned but executed film.
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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
Directed by Victor Fleming
Genres - Drama, Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller | Release Date - Aug 12, 1941 | Run Time - 113 min.
