Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde [1981] [DVD]

The BBC in the Eighties offered several near-definitive adaptations of science fiction classics, (e.g. 'The Day of the Triffids' or 'The Invisible Man'). The David Hemmings 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde' is comfortably in that league, distinguished by a remarkable performance (pair of performances?) from Hemmings himself and stalwart support from Clive Swift, Ian Bannen, Diana Dors and even Toyah Willcox. It's probably best to approach this version with only the original book and not earlier adaptations in mind - if you picture Hyde as a fanged beast-man clutching a bread-knife, you may be surprised at the eloquence and suavity of Hemmings' Hyde. However, if you know the book you'll find this a far more sensitive adaptation than many - the compromises and ambiguity of Jekyll and the uneasily compelling qualities of Hyde are well-drawn and come straight from Stevenson. Interestingly, make-up is used much more extensively for Hemmings' Jekyll than for his Hyde - in keeping with Stevenson's suggestions that Hyde appears much younger than Jekyll, as though theirs was a parody of a father-and-son relationship. For all that Hemmings' Hyde is fangless and comparatively presentable, he's still more threatening and repulsive than any other I've ever seen, and several Hyde-driven scenes are genuinely uncomfortable viewing. Some aspects of the production have dated - a few of the visual and musical effects in the transformation scenes have a whiff of 'Blakes 7' about them - but this version still carries far more of the flavour and depth of the original Stevenson novella than any other available. (The DVD release is pretty much extra-free - offering basically the original television film plus the option of selecting individual scenes.)

I used to teach the book to my sophomore classes and ALWAYS showed this film. I had taped it from television back in the early 1980's. But lately, when I wanted to use it again, I could not find it anywhere. Finally, the UK started putting it on DVD. Even though it is not available in MY region (US), I'm still glad to have it; at least I can use it on an all-region dvd player.
This performance did not get great reviews from the critics how think they know everything, but I think it's a wonderful presentation. I like the fact that it's not overly dramatic (which is what the critics disliked!). Instead, it presents the doctor in much the way the book does.

A consistently faithfull adaption of the often misrepresented Stevenson classic. I cant say this is general easy entertainment. The story is quite staid which in one way adds to its faithfulness but also makes it plod somewhat undramatically. Still it has lots to offer including a strange synth soundtrack and some genuinly unsettling sequences with some nice camerawork and artistic touches. The sets are interesting and give a convincing 'dark' victorian atmosphere and some unusual angles with roofs present which is rarely seen in television. Overall worth watching but only owning if you are a collector of gothic addaptions or cult wierdness.

This is a fairly difficult story to read so equally difficult to adapt to film and stay true to the original however it was good to give my son another take on the story as he's studying it for GCSE.

This is indeed a very good adaptation of the story, and yes it does, as someone else indicated, stick closer to the original story. No hairy-handed fanged-toothed My Hyde here I'm afraid, just a suave, man about town who does have a bit of a temper. That said, there is one seen early on where, as Mr Hyde, he heads off back to a room with a 14 year old girl and tells her to take off all her clothes. Thankfully nothing was shown, but would that get past the sensors these days? I dont think so somehow. Just a small blip for me. As to the acting, I have to say David Hemmings performance as Jekyll / Hyde didnt quite hit the mark for me. Nor did Diana Dors, who only appears in a couple of scenes. Even Gretchen Franklin (Eastenders' Ethel Skinner) beat her and she was only in one scene. For me, the person who acted everybody of the screen here was Toyah Willcox, as Janet the maid. Brilliant performance from her. Clive Swift also did well for me and made me forget about his other well known persona as Richard in Keeping Up Appearances. All in all, this a good version of the story as I said before. One final minus point, the crap early 80's incidental music was slightly annoying.

The biggest problem I had with this movie, after watching some absolutely fantastic dramatisations made by the BBC in Count Dracula [DVD], The Invisible Man [DVD] [1984], and The Lost World [DVD] [2001], was in terms of pace. To capture the slowly rising crescendo of R.L. Stevenson's novel, and in trying to give a distinctly suave look to the villain Mr. Hyde, BBC had greatly reduced the pace of events. Combine this with the rather poor special effects and routine-looking laboratory of Dr. Jekyll, this film was yawn-inducing, and I had to decamp, despite the efforts made by the actors and everybody else. Quite a letdown, after those especially stellar entertainers, I must admit!