Saturday, March 07, 2015

Who Was Yer Favorite?

I was thinking of all of the various movie adaptation of Stevenson's THE STRANGE CASE OF DOCTOR JEKYLL AND MISTER HYDE that have been filmed over the decades. I have seen quite a lot of them. Not all, but several.

Each film has dealt in a different way with the character of Mr. Hyde. Everything from slightly crazed, drug-addled versions of the "good" alter-ego of the doctor  (such as portrayed by John Malkovich), to simian creature (as played by Frederic March), to super-villain/Hulk-like monstrosity (as done by special effects men and the actor Jason Flemyng).

So, then...who is yer favorite Mr. Hyde?

Probably my favorite screen version of Mr. Hyde. John Barrymore.

Bernie Casey as Mr. White (Hyde).

One of the worst versions ever. That's Boris Karloff under that stupid ape-like makeup. (Or maybe a stuntman pretending to be Karloff.) What a waste of a great and expressive face.

Christopher Lee does his version.

I've always thought that Jason Flemyng wasn't  so much Mr. Hyde as the Incredible Hulk. If only the people who made the Hulk movies had handled the character in this manner. What a missed opportunity.

John Malkovich as Hyde from the lousy film MARY REILLY.

I'm sorry, but March's version of Hyde always makes me laugh. Can you say "hambone"?

Jack Palance as Hyde from the Dan Curtis production.

A more nuanced version of Hyde by Spencer Tracy.

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