Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920 Haydon film)

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Directed by	J. Charles Haydon
Produced by	Louis B. Mayer
Written by	J. Charles Haydon Robert Louis Stevenson (novel)
Release date(s)	April 1920 (1920-04)
Running time	40 minutes
Country	United States
Language	Silent film English intertitles

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1920 40-minute horror film, directed and written by J. Charles Haydon. It is the third adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde to be released in 1920.^[1] (The first 1920 adaptation is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde starring John Barrymore and the second Der Januskopf, directed by F. W. Murnau). The Haydon version is somewhat overshadowed by the version starring Barrymore and released by Paramount Pictures the same year.

Cast

• Sheldon Lewis as Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde
• Alex Shannon as Dr. Lanyon
• Dora Mills Adams as Mr. Lanyon
• Gladys Field as Bernice Lanyon
• Harold Foshay as Edward Utterson
• Leslie Austin as Danvers Carew

Plot

At the first transformation starts with Jekyll's butler exclaiming 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. The police eventually catch up with Hyde, interrogate him, put him in gaol and strap him to the electric chair. Sitting in his chair at home, Jekyll awakes from his nightmare to declare, "I believe in God! I have a soul..." and decides not to create the chemical potion.

Production

The film's producer, Louis B. Mayer, was concerned about copyright infringement relating to the other two film versions of the story released in that same year, so he set the film in New York and altered the plot structure. The final product was so crude that J. Charles Haydon had his name removed from the credits.^[1].

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Hardy 1995, p. 27.

Citations

• Hardy, Phil, ed. (1995), The Overlook Film Encyclopedia, 3, Overlook Press, ISBN 0-87951-624-0, http://books.google.com/books?id=3-ehQgAACAAJ&dq=overlook+film+encyclopedia 

External links

• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at the Internet Movie Database
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at AllRovi