- The Son of Dr. Jekyll
"The Son of Dr. Jekyll" is a
horror film made and distributed byColumbia Pictures in 1951, directed bySeymour Friedman , based on a screenplay byJack Pollexfen andMortimer Braus . The film is a continuation ofRobert Louis Stevenson 's original classic novel "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ", although baring some differences with the horror classic. The film starredLouis Hayward ,Jody Lawrance ,Lester Matthews andAlexander Knox ."Son of Dr. Jekyll" is thought to be an unofficial sequel to the 1941 adaptation of the novel, "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" starring
Spencer Tracy , although the two films have a number of differences in the plot.Jack Pollexfen , the scriptwriter of the film, would go on and write and produce a further sequel in the same vein, "Daughter of Dr. Jekyll " in 1957 starringGloria Talbott .Plot summary
The film begins with a prologue set in 1860, where Mr. Hyde is chased down in the streets of
London ,after murdering his wife at theirSoho flat. He escapes to the house of Dr. Jekyll, where he prepares the potion that will transform him back to the respected doctor. Unfortunately, the mob has already set the house ablazed. The flames drive Hyde at the top floor, and in attempt to leap to the ground, he meets his demise when he falls to the ground. As he dies, he changes back to Dr. Jekyll.John Utterson and Dr. Lanyon (original characters from Stevenson's novel) mourn their unfortunate friend Dr. Jekyll, until Inspector Stoddard brings the two to the Soho flat, where Jekyll/Hyde has left an orphan behind. Utterson agrees to adopt the young Jekyll, since he and his wife haven't succeeded in having children. Thirty years later, Edward Jekyll, now fiance to Utterson's niece Lynn and a student of Royal Academy of Science, is expelled from the academy because of his peculiar and unorthodox experiments. Edward is unaware that he is actually Henry Jekyll's son, and when he inherits the Jekyll Mansion, Dr. Lanyon tells him his tragic father's story.
Edward and Lynn move to the old Jekyll Mansion for the preparations of their marriage, and soon, Edward feels unwelcome by his neighbors. Discovering his father's laboratory, Edward convinces himself to work on his father's experiments in order to clear the Jekyll name. He hires Michaels, Dr. Jekyll's old assistant, and begins researching. Unfortunately, after Edward first tests the formula on himself, a Hyde-like man appears in the house and murders a number of people. Edward is charged for the murders, and thought insane, is tranferred to Dr. Lanyon's sanitarium where the murders continue. Edward begins wandering if it is him who transforms into a murderer, or someone else is trying to drive him to insanity.
Cast
*
Louis Hayward as Edward Jekyll / Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
*Jody Lawrance as Lynn Utterson
*Alexander Knox as Dr. Curtis Lanyon
*Lester Matthews as Sir John Utterson
*Gavin Muir as Richard Daniels, editor
*Paul Cavanagh as Inspector Stoddard
*Rhys Williams as Michaels
*Matthew Boutlon as Inspector Grey
*Claire Carleton as Hazel Sorelle
*Doris Lloyd as Lottie Sorelle
*Patrick O'Moore as Joe Sorelle
*Hamilton Camp as William Bennett, boy throwing rock
*Robin Hughes as Alec, college roomate
*Olaf Hytten as Prosecutor
*Wheaton Chambers as Prosecutor
*Stapleton Kent as Mr. Arnim
*Vesey O'Davoren as Utterson's butlerExternal links
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044061/ "Son of Dr. Jekyll" at IMdB]
* [http://www.1000misspenthours.com/reviews/reviewsn-z/sonofdrjekyll.htm Movie review]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.