Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1973)

not horrible nor great

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

This is a great horror movie. It is also a very good musical. This movie as great acting. Great songs. Great singing. It also has great special effects. This is a very scary movie. It very different. There are not to many musicals based on horror novels. There should be more musicals based on horror stories. It would make them more interesting. Doctor Jekyll finds out that man has two souls. And good soul and an evil soul. He invents a formula that brings out his evil side. It takes him over. This movies is very intense. This is Kirk Douglas's best movie. Kirk Douglas is a great actor. He is also a great singer. Susan George is a great actress. This movie is a must see.

Kirk Douglas co-produced this videotaped NBC production through his Bryna Productions, and cast himself in the lead. It's rumored to feature castoff songs from Lionel Bart's OLIVER! If so, they've been shoehorned somewhat inappropriately into a truncated but serviceable version of the Stevenson tale.The cast and performances are good-- particularly Susan George, Judi Bowker and Donald Pleasence (who displays an impressive singing voice).Some of the songs are fine-- the one Michael Redgrave sings at the engagement party is beautiful-- but others are cringe-making. One may watch this show wincing in dread that another one will start.Despite this, it's an interesting version-- certainly a curiosity-- and worth a look.

If `Oliver!' was Lionel Bart's `Sgt. Pepper,' then `Dr. J & Mr. H' was his `Let It Be.'But I don't blame him nor the brilliant cast for the dullness of this made-in-the-UK-for-NBC production. It would never have been made in the first place if some ratings-hungry hack at 30 Rock wasn't desperate to sell an idea.At the time PBS' `Masterpiece Theater' was scoring Sunday night ratings airing the opulent British costume serials then being made. Said hack had the idea of putting a famous Yank in that sea of British accents. They even made sure they cast Susan Hampshire, who was in just about everyone of those serials, plus some Brits the American audience knew from the movies (Donald Pleasence, Stanley Holloway, Michael Redgrave.) The guy from `Oliver!' has some other songs? And he's broke? Great! Get him, too! Have it ready by such & such date!It was hyped to the nines in the U.S. media, only to crash in the ratings and the columns. I know of this only because of on-line research; I was fascinated why I'd never heard of such a teaming of talent. I even bought an old copy via eBay; I found myself yawning and fast-forwarding.Apparently, great players alone don't make a team; the coach must know what he'll do with them. If they're going to play on their home ground, it helps if they play for their home crowd, too. (`Covington Cross' flopped for the same reason.)

In my opinion this is an excellent remake of the classic story. Kirk Douglas in the role of Dr. Henry Jekyll and his evil counterpart Mr. Edward Hyde, is as good as Fredric March was in the 1931 film, and better than Spencer Tracy in the 1941 version.And Susan George is better for the part of two bit hooker than both Miriam Hopkins (1931) and Ingrid Bergman (1941).Only blemish is the singing, which does not contribute to the atmosphere but almost destroys the tension and excitement.Overall though a very good enjoyable film.