''Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'' is a 1920

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed and written by

J. Charles Haydon James Charles Haydon (March 27, 1875 – October 15, 1943) was an American film director, actor and screenwriter of the silent film era. He directed twelve films between 1914 and 1920. He also appeared in five films between 1912 and 1914. ...

, starring

Sheldon Lewis Sheldon Lewis (April 20, 1868 – May 7, 1958) was an American actor of the silent era best known for his antagonistic roles. He appeared in more than 90 films between 1914 and 1936. Lewis was married to actress Virginia Pearson, and they were ...

, based on the 1886 novel ''Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'' by

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

. The Sheldon Lewis version was somewhat overshadowed by the 1920 Paramount Pictures version starring

John Barrymore John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly att ...

, which had been released just the month before.

Plot

The atheistic Dr. Henry Jekyll (Lewis) embarks on a series of experiments determined to segregate the two sides of the human personality, good and evil, to disprove God's existence. His experiments cause his fiancée Bernice to call off their engagement, and in a rage, he manages to unleash the darkest part of his personality as Mr. Hyde. As the first transformation into Hyde begins, Jekyll's butler exclaims that Jekyll is now "the Apostle from Hell!" Hyde, complete with fangs and scraggy hair, skulks through the city, committing such heinous acts as stealing a woman's purse and killing people. The police eventually catch up with Hyde, interrogate him, put him in jail, and strap him into the electric chair. Sitting in his chair at home, Jekyll awakes violently from his nightmare to declare, "I believe in God! I have a soul..." and decides not to create the chemical potion and to embrace religion instead.

Cast

as Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde * Alex Shannon as Dr. Lanyon *

Dora Mills Adams Dora Mills Adams (October 24, 1874 – July 31, 1943) was an American film actress. She is best known for her appearance in the short film '' Dr Jeykll and Mr Hyde'' as Mrs. Lanyon. Career Mills entered the New York film industry near it ...

as Mrs. Lanyon * Gladys Field as Bernice Lanyon * Harold Foshay as Edward Utterson *

Leslie Austin Leslie Austin (21 November 1885 – May 1974) was an English actor. He appeared in 30 films between 1915 and 1930. He was born in London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of j ...

as Danvers Carew

Production

Sheldon Lewis went on to star in only one other horror film, ''

Seven Footprints to Satan ''Seven Footprints to Satan'' is a 1929 American mystery film directed by Danish filmmaker Benjamin Christensen. Based on the 1928 story of the same name by Abraham Merritt, it stars Thelma Todd, Creighton Hale, William V. Mong and Sheldon Lewis ...

'' (1929), then his career wound down in 1936. Actress Gladys Field died in August 1920 in childbirth, a few weeks after the release of the picture. There were three different adaptations of Robert Louis Stevenson's novel ''

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is a 1886 Gothic novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between his old ...

'' released in 1920. The first being the John Barrymore Paramount version, the second was the Sheldon Lewis film, and the third was ''

Der Januskopf ''Der Januskopf'' () is a 1920 German silent film directed by F. W. Murnau. The film was an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde''. Little is kn ...

'', a German film directed by

F. W. Murnau Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau (born Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe; December 28, 1888March 11, 1931) was a German film director, producer and screenwriter. He was greatly influenced by Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Shakespeare and Ibsen plays he had seen at t ...

. The film's

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

, Louis Meyer (*not to be confused with

Louis B. Mayer Louis Burt Mayer (; born Lazar Meir; July 12, 1882 or 1884 or 1885 – October 29, 1957) was a Canadian-American film producer and co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios (MGM) in 1924. Under Mayer's management, MGM became the film industr ...

), was concerned about

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...

relating to the other two film versions of the story released that same year so he set the film in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and altered the plot structure, although he may have also done it also for budgetary reasons. Contemporary newspaper accounts state this film went into production before the John Barrymore Paramount version, but the Paramount film was released first. Technically, a fourth ''Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'' film was also released in 1920, although most reference sources ignore it. It was a satirical send-up of the John Barrymore film, produced by

Hank Mann Hank Mann (born David William Lieberman, May 28, 1887 – November 25, 1971) was a Russian Empire-born and American comedian and silent screen star who was a member of the Keystone Cops. According to fellow actor and original member of th ...

Comedies and distributed by Arrow just weeks before the company went out of business. Hank Mann played both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the film. It is considered a lost film and there is little information available about it.

Critique

Reviewer Troy Howarth commented "The script allows the character (of Dr. Jekyll) more background detail....but Lewis fails to bring him to life.The makeup is low key; some false teeth, matted hair and a cocked hat.....his frantic overacting makes the character unintentionally humorous....it's hard to believe even audiences of the period would've found him credibly sinister. The film was clearly made on the cheap and rushed through production." The final product was in fact so crude that director

had his name removed from the

credits Credit refers to any form of deferred payment, the granting of a loan and the creation of debt. Credit may also refer to: Places * Credit, Arkansas, a ghost town * Credit River, a river in Ontario, Canada * Credit River (Minnesota), a river in ...

Notes

Sheldon Lewis returned once again in 1929 to play Dr. Jekyll in an early one-reel sound film short.''Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde'', 1929 at silentera.com, a one reel sound short starring Sheldon Lewis
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References

;Notes ;Bibliography *

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920 Haydon film) 1920 films American science fiction horror films American silent feature films American black-and-white films Films based on horror novels Films directed by J. Charles Haydon Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde films 1920s science fiction horror films 1920 horror films 1920s American films Silent science fiction horror films 1920s English-language films