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Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde

January 20, 2023

Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde is a 1971 British horror film directed by Roy Ward Baker based on the 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. The film was made by British studio Hammer Film Productions and was their third adaptation of the story after The Ugly Duckling and The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll.[citation needed] The film is notable for showing Jekyll transform into a female Hyde; it also incorporates into the plot aspects of the historical Jack the Ripper and Burke and Hare cases.[1] The title characters were played by the film's stars, Ralph Bates and Martine Beswick.

Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde
U.S. theatrical release poster
Directed byRoy Ward Baker
Written byBrian Clemens
Produced byBrian Clemens
Albert Fennell
StarringRalph Bates
Martine Beswick
CinematographyNorman Warwick
Edited byJames Needs
Music byDavid Whitaker
Production
company
Distributed byMGM-EMI Distributors
Release date
  • October 17, 1971 (1971-10-17)
Running time
97 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Dr. Henry Jekyll dedicates his life to the curing of all known illnesses; however, his lecherous friend Professor Robertson remarks that Jekyll's experiments take so long to actually be discovered, he will no doubt be dead by the time he is able to achieve anything. Haunted by this remark, Jekyll abandons his studies and obsessively begins searching for an elixir of life, using female hormones taken from fresh cadavers supplied by murderers Burke and Hare, reasoning that these hormones will help him to extend his life since women traditionally live longer than men and have stronger systems. In the apartment above Jekyll's lives a family: an elderly mother, her daughter Susan Spencer, and Susan's brother Howard. Susan is attracted to Jekyll, and he returns her affections, but is too obsessed with his work to make advances. Mixing the female hormones into a serum and drinking it not only has the effect of changing Jekyll's character (for the worse) but also of changing his sex, transforming him into a beautiful but evil woman. Susan becomes jealous when she discovers this mysterious woman, but when she confronts Jekyll, to explain the sudden appearance of his female alter ego, he calls her Mrs. Edwina Hyde, saying she is his widowed sister who has come to live with him. Howard, on the other hand, develops a lust for Mrs. Hyde.

Jekyll soon finds that his serum requires a regular supply of female hormones to maintain its effect, necessitating the killing of young girls. Burke and Hare supply his needs, but their criminal activities are uncovered. Burke is lynched by a mob and Hare blinded by lime. The doctor decides to take matters into his own hands and commits the murders attributed to Jack the Ripper. Jekyll abhors this, but Mrs. Hyde relishes the killings as she begins to take control, even seducing and then killing Professor Robertson when he attempts to question her about the murders.

As Mrs. Hyde grows more powerful, the two personalities begin to struggle for dominance. Jekyll asks Susan to the opera; however, when he is getting dressed to go out, he unconsciously takes Mrs. Hyde's gown from the wardrobe instead of his own clothes, realizing that he no longer needs to drink the serum in order to transform. Susan is heartbroken when Jekyll fails to take her out to the opera, and she decides to go alone. However, the evil Mrs. Hyde decides that innocent, pure Susan's blood is just what she needs to finally take over Jekyll's body. She stalks Susan through the dark streets, but Jekyll's will only just manages to thwart Mrs. Hyde's attempt to kill Susan. He then commits one last murder to find a way to stabilize his condition, but he is interrupted by the police after a comment by Hare leads them to realize the similarity between Jekyll's earlier experiments on cadavers and the Ripper murders. As Jekyll tries to escape by climbing along the outside of a building, he transforms into Mrs. Hyde who, lacking his strength, falls to the ground — dying as a twisted amalgamation of both male and female.

Cast

Critical reception

Time Out called the film "enormous fun" and an "admirably successful attempt to ring new changes on an old theme".[2] George R. Reis from DVD Drive-In gave the film a positive review, writing, "In the hands of most filmmakers of the time, such a gender-bending theme would call for maximum exploitation tactics, but not with Hammer. Clemens' script doesn't take itself too seriously, yet justly fuses the legends of Stevenson's titular character with Jack the Ripper and the graverobbers Burke and Hare". Reis commended the film's performances and Baker's direction.[3] Variety called the film "highly imaginative", further writing, "Director Roy Ward Baker has set a good pace, built tension nicely and played it straight so that all seems credible. He tops chills and gruesome murders with quite a lot of subtle fun. Bates and Beswick, strong, attractive personalities, bear a strange resemblance to each other making the transitions entirely believable."[4] John Higgins of Starburst Magazine awarded the film 8/10 stars, praising Beswick's performance and the script.[5]

Accolades

Year Award / Film Festival Category Recipient(s) Result
1973 2nd French Fantastic Cinema Convention Best Screenplay Brian Clemens Won

Home media

The film was first released on DVD in 2001 by Anchor Bay as part of The Hammer Collection[6] in the U.S. and has since been released on DVD in other territories.[7][8] The film was released on Blu-ray in 2018.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde". Radio Times. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  2. ^ "Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde Review. Movie Reviews - Film - Time Out London". timeout.com. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  3. ^ Reis, George. "Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde". DVD Drive-In.com. George R. Reis. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  4. ^ "Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde – Variety". Variety. January 1971. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  5. ^ Higgins, John. "DR JEKYLL AND SISTER HYDE (1971) - STARBURST Magazine". Starburst Magazine.com. John Higgins. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  6. ^ ASIN B00005OSJV, Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde
  7. ^ "Sumogorilla Resources and Information". Stores.sumogorilla.com. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  8. ^ ASIN B0039LAPSE, Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde [DVD]
  9. ^ ASIN B0753Q3JYS, Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (Double Play) [Blu-ray] [2017]

External links

January 20, 2023
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This article is missing information about the film s production and theatrical home media releases Please expand the article to include this information Further details may exist on the talk page May 2019 Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde is a 1971 British horror film directed by Roy Ward Baker based on the 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson The film was made by British studio Hammer Film Productions and was their third adaptation of the story after The Ugly Duckling and The Two Faces of Dr Jekyll citation needed The film is notable for showing Jekyll transform into a female Hyde it also incorporates into the plot aspects of the historical Jack the Ripper and Burke and Hare cases 1 The title characters were played by the film s stars Ralph Bates and Martine Beswick Dr Jekyll and Sister HydeU S theatrical release posterDirected byRoy Ward BakerWritten byBrian ClemensProduced byBrian ClemensAlbert FennellStarringRalph BatesMartine BeswickCinematographyNorman WarwickEdited byJames NeedsMusic byDavid WhitakerProductioncompanyHammer Film ProductionsDistributed byMGM EMI DistributorsRelease dateOctober 17 1971 1971 10 17 Running time97 minutesCountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglish Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Critical reception 3 1 Accolades 4 Home media 5 References 6 External linksPlot EditDr Henry Jekyll dedicates his life to the curing of all known illnesses however his lecherous friend Professor Robertson remarks that Jekyll s experiments take so long to actually be discovered he will no doubt be dead by the time he is able to achieve anything Haunted by this remark Jekyll abandons his studies and obsessively begins searching for an elixir of life using female hormones taken from fresh cadavers supplied by murderers Burke and Hare reasoning that these hormones will help him to extend his life since women traditionally live longer than men and have stronger systems In the apartment above Jekyll s lives a family an elderly mother her daughter Susan Spencer and Susan s brother Howard Susan is attracted to Jekyll and he returns her affections but is too obsessed with his work to make advances Mixing the female hormones into a serum and drinking it not only has the effect of changing Jekyll s character for the worse but also of changing his sex transforming him into a beautiful but evil woman Susan becomes jealous when she discovers this mysterious woman but when she confronts Jekyll to explain the sudden appearance of his female alter ego he calls her Mrs Edwina Hyde saying she is his widowed sister who has come to live with him Howard on the other hand develops a lust for Mrs Hyde Jekyll soon finds that his serum requires a regular supply of female hormones to maintain its effect necessitating the killing of young girls Burke and Hare supply his needs but their criminal activities are uncovered Burke is lynched by a mob and Hare blinded by lime The doctor decides to take matters into his own hands and commits the murders attributed to Jack the Ripper Jekyll abhors this but Mrs Hyde relishes the killings as she begins to take control even seducing and then killing Professor Robertson when he attempts to question her about the murders As Mrs Hyde grows more powerful the two personalities begin to struggle for dominance Jekyll asks Susan to the opera however when he is getting dressed to go out he unconsciously takes Mrs Hyde s gown from the wardrobe instead of his own clothes realizing that he no longer needs to drink the serum in order to transform Susan is heartbroken when Jekyll fails to take her out to the opera and she decides to go alone However the evil Mrs Hyde decides that innocent pure Susan s blood is just what she needs to finally take over Jekyll s body She stalks Susan through the dark streets but Jekyll s will only just manages to thwart Mrs Hyde s attempt to kill Susan He then commits one last murder to find a way to stabilize his condition but he is interrupted by the police after a comment by Hare leads them to realize the similarity between Jekyll s earlier experiments on cadavers and the Ripper murders As Jekyll tries to escape by climbing along the outside of a building he transforms into Mrs Hyde who lacking his strength falls to the ground dying as a twisted amalgamation of both male and female Cast EditRalph Bates as Dr Henry Jekyll Jack the Ripper Martine Beswick as Mrs Edwina Hyde Gerald Sim as Professor Robertson Lewis Fiander as Howard Spencer Susan Brodrick as Susan Spencer Dorothy Alison as Mrs Spencer Ivor Dean as William Burke Tony Calvin as William Hare Philip Madoc as Byker Paul Whitsun Jones as Sergeant Danvers Virginia Wetherell as BetsyCritical reception EditThis section needs expansion You can help by adding to it September 2014 Time Out called the film enormous fun and an admirably successful attempt to ring new changes on an old theme 2 George R Reis from DVD Drive In gave the film a positive review writing In the hands of most filmmakers of the time such a gender bending theme would call for maximum exploitation tactics but not with Hammer Clemens script doesn t take itself too seriously yet justly fuses the legends of Stevenson s titular character with Jack the Ripper and the graverobbers Burke and Hare Reis commended the film s performances and Baker s direction 3 Variety called the film highly imaginative further writing Director Roy Ward Baker has set a good pace built tension nicely and played it straight so that all seems credible He tops chills and gruesome murders with quite a lot of subtle fun Bates and Beswick strong attractive personalities bear a strange resemblance to each other making the transitions entirely believable 4 John Higgins of Starburst Magazine awarded the film 8 10 stars praising Beswick s performance and the script 5 Accolades Edit Year Award Film Festival Category Recipient s Result1973 2nd French Fantastic Cinema Convention Best Screenplay Brian Clemens WonHome media EditThe film was first released on DVD in 2001 by Anchor Bay as part of The Hammer Collection 6 in the U S and has since been released on DVD in other territories 7 8 The film was released on Blu ray in 2018 9 References Edit Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde Radio Times Retrieved 6 July 2015 Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde Review Movie Reviews Film Time Out London timeout com Retrieved 19 August 2012 Reis George Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde DVD Drive In com George R Reis Retrieved 21 May 2019 Dr Jekyll amp Sister Hyde Variety Variety January 1971 Retrieved 21 May 2019 Higgins John DR JEKYLL AND SISTER HYDE 1971 STARBURST Magazine Starburst Magazine com John Higgins Retrieved 21 May 2019 ASIN B00005OSJV Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde Sumogorilla Resources and Information Stores sumogorilla com Retrieved 31 October 2021 ASIN B0039LAPSE Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde DVD ASIN B0753Q3JYS Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde Double Play Blu ray 2017 External links EditDr Jekyll and Sister Hyde at AllMovie Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde at IMDb Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde at Rotten Tomatoes Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde at the BFI s Screenonline Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde amp oldid 1132249586, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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