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Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1913)
Directed
by
Herbert Brenon
The king of the silent
films William King Baggot stars in
this early dramatization of Robert Louis Stephenson’s classic
horror story The Strange Case of Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
The script was written
by Herbert Brenon, who also directed
the film, and although the script maintains the essence of the original
story there are a quite a few differences, the most notable of which is
probably the addition of a love interest for the doctor. Her name is
Alice, but her presence adds little to the story.
When I watched this I
was rather amazed at how good the
transformation
scenes are for a film that was made at a time when the
filmmaker’s art was in its infancy. Much of the credit for
this must go to Baggot though, because although the double exposure
camera work was effective, it is Baggot’s portrayal of the
metamorphosis sequences, and the two very different characters of
Jekyll and Hyde, that brings the story to life. As Jekyll he is a tall,
straight-backed and respectable-looking man, but as Hyde he walks in a
crouch and has a permanent stoop that helps to achieve Hyde’s
twisted look. The mannerisms and tmovements he adopts are also very
effective and help illustrate the fact that Hyde is a
monster, a freak,
and something that is not quite
human. Enough from me though. If you’ve read this far you may
as well scroll down the page and watch it for yourself, it’s
only twenty-six minutes long.
Cast
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King
Baggot
Jane Gale
Matt Snyder
Howard Crampton
William Sorelle
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Dr.
Henry Jekyll / Mr. Hyde
Alice
Alice's Father
Dr. Lanyon
Utterson
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Watch it Online
Here:
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Steve-Calvert.co.uk
