Not exactly what the title or the poster might
lead one to expect. Whoever did the posters should get an award for deception.
I can imagine all the people in the audience back in 1951 asking themselves
after it was over - where was Hyde? Because what is Jekyll without Hyde?
Our yin and yang. The public and the private parts of ourselves. The thoughts
that pass through our minds on any given day that would have us burnt at
the stake. But no Hyde here. In fact no horror here. Instead this is a respectable
if far from exciting period tale of gaslighting. A respectable group of actors
as well though no one that people today seek out. Perhaps back then.
It turns out that Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde had a son before he killed his wife
and then died as the mob chased him. The son is adopted and brought up by
a friend (Lester Matthews) of his father's and mentored by another friend,
Dr. Lanyon (Alexander Knox). The son Edward (Louis Hayward) grows up not
knowing who his father was but with the mad scientist gene within him. When
he gets engaged to a young lady (Jody Lawrence) and comes upon the age of
inheriting his father's estate - Jekyll did all right for himself - the two
older men think it is time to tell him and his fiancée the truth.
This sets off Edward on a crusade to prove that his father was not crazy
but the victim of an experiment. And how better to do that than repeat it.
The neighbors learn of his real identity and are not pleased. The press hounds
him. He has a temper. Is there a Hyde within him too? Is he going crazy?
Slow and a bit ponderous with an unsatisfying ending - but I give it credit
for not going where one expects and in truth wants. Because we came for Hyde
and only got Jekyll.
